Blogging...

In starting this Methods of Teaching English class, I absolutely hated the thought of blogging. It definately sounded stupid and something that I really did not want to participate in doing.

Since the beginning of this semester I have changed my opinion of blogging. I do think it is a creative way to journal things that are going on within your classroom. It is also a great way to incorporate the use of technology into the classroom environment for students. I can also see where it will really help me in my future as a teacher. Blogging in the future and reading other teachers blogs will help me come up with creative new ideas to use in the classroom.

My thoughts on blogging...

When I was first introduced to the idea of "blogging" I have to admit I hated it! I hated the idea, I hated the word, and I basically thought it was a waste of time. However, I have since changed my mind.

Now I think blogging is a useful tool. Though it still scares me to post blogs for the whole world to read, I have found myself searching other people's blogs in order to find ideas for my class. I have found some very useful materials on blogs that I have found very helpful in teaching certain subjects. I have also found some ideas that made me think, "I have thought of that idea before! I could have posted it on a blog and been credited!"

Though it may take me a while to warm up to the idea of posting blogs myself, I will definately continue to search blogs in the future for information. And who knows, once I graduate from Lyon and actually have some free time you may Google my name and find me blogging like crazy...

Dioramas...

In my seventh grade class we just finished our unit over The Outsiders, and my ninth grade class has just finished their unit over The Odyssey. Each class was assigned a big project grade that was going to be worth 300 points. I really wanted to let the kids do something fun that went along with each of their units. I decided to assign dioramas for bonus points...


The kids really seemed to get into doing the dioramas. I asked them to be very detailed with their scenes from the stories. My favorite ones came from my ninth grade class. I had students using clay to create a cyclops, and they also made some really neat ships and water with different matierials.


I am always surprised at the level of creativeness these young students can have when they actually want to have it. I just wish they would be as creative as they can be all the time...

The End?

Wow! Where did the semester go?

Tomorrow is our last class before finals. I look forward to viewing your portfolios and hearing your reflections on your accomplishments this semester.

I will also give you your "take-home" exam tomorrow that you may email to before our "official" test time.

I will need part of the class tomorrow to touch on some of the topics we have not discussed.

See you then!

Failing grades are my fault?

I find it comical that right before grades get sent out to parents, students REALLY start to care about their grades. They want to see how bad their grades are, and then argue with me about how bad they are.

What I don't understand is...when students have failing grades because they haven't turned in multiple assignments, how is it MY fault? I had a student this afternoon blame ME for her 16% average, because I did not come to her individually to tell her when her assignments are due. Writing the due dates on the board and announcing them in class daily was obviously not good enough.

I just wonder how many other teachers are blamed for not telling their students individually when to turn in assignments..........

Facing Social Networks

I came across this post entitled "facebook is not a seedy, back-alley teen club" on Dawn Hogue's blog The Polliwog that reiterates some of our discussion in class the other day about the use of Facebook.

Please read!

Stepping up to Writing?

Please click below for two samples of Step up to Writing in action.

• A Loyal Pioneer for my English 11 class
• Hollywood to the Rescue for my Pre-AP English 10 class. Yes, my Holly was the inspiration for this character!

Good luck with using this method!

Thoughts on Richardson's essay...

I agree with Richardson when he says that "digital footprints" are becoming more and more "woven" into our lives. The things that you find online about poeople are definately, in a sense, like a portfolio of your life to date. I do think that what is put on the internet can be both a good and bad thing. This article should make people stop and think about things that are posted on various internet sites. We can and should be able to turn this "digital footprinting" into a positive learning experience for all different ages.

Staying Safe Online

Please go to this link and read another English teacher's (Dana Huff from Georgia) comments about Internet Safety.

Just could not say this any better myself!

Make-up Class...thinking digitally

To make up for last week's class, please read Footprints in a Digital Age, an essay written by blogger Will Richardson. I also emailed this essay to your email.

Upon finishing the essay, please blog your thoughts: do you buy..or blog... into Richardson's thoughts?

Please be prepared to report in class on Thursday on your continued use of poetry and graphic organizers within your class(es). We also have a reading assignment due: Classroom Instruction That Works ~ Ch. 10 and Instructional Strategies ~ pg. 183+.

Remember Tuesday is Election Day...using this unique election as a topic-starter within your classes?

Have a great week extending minds!

A certain light was beginning to
dawn dimlywithin her.

Student or Student Teacher

The last couple of weeks has been very overwhelming for me to try balancing teaching students and being a student myself. At times I find myself thanking God that I don't have a job to balance in as well.
As a student I have had papers due, midterms to take, and nightly homework that I have struggled to fit in. As a teacher I have had papers to grade, 9 weeks tests to prepare students for and grade, and lesson plans to prepare and teach.
I have realized that at this time, all I can do is count down the days until graduation, and practice my poker face so my students don't know how frazzled I am.

To teach or to intern?

We had some interesting discussion in class today...and I want to reiterate one point. Bear the burdin of teaching and all that comes with it, including student confidences, homework assignments (or lack of!), student apathy...bear it only to the point that a school representative needs to become involved, even if that invovlement is just listening to you talk about the concern.

While at times such responsibility makes one feel needed, important, yes, responsible, this responsibility does ulitimately lie with the classroom teacher; thus, the teacher needs to know of issues with which you might be dealing.

Both of you will be wonderful teachers. How do I know this? You care. You want to do more, more for your students, more for your schools.

Thanks for caring!

Back on Track

Time to refocus! Please continue using graphic organizers in your class and plan a way to utilize a cooperative learning group (this the topic of this week's reading assignment).

May we also discuss using a poem within a lesson? Did the students like the poem? Why or why not? Were/are you comfortable teaching poetry?

I hope that as you take time to reflect on your first nine weeks of teaching that you discover many moments, for you are both doing an excellent job!

Have a great week!

Trash Ball

Grammar lessons in seventh grade were never fun. I have noticed that the students get very bored when we are talking about comma rules, capitalization, or sentence structures. I decided to play a game in the middle of one of my lessons a few weeks ago. One of my good friends told me she used it while she was a student intern. I have found that trash ball is an excellent way for students to learn grammar rules and have fun at the same time.

This game keeps their attention and also puts a competitive spin on learning. I usually will offer a couple of bonus points to the winning team when we play this game. This drives them to want to win even more.

The Rules:

1. Divide the kids into teams. I usually will number them off, and I generally only have two teams.

2. Let them make their own trash ball! They love this idea...they get to crunch up a bunch of papers or anything they have in their backpack to create either a small trash ball or a huge trash ball. I noticed some of the boys were even competing to make the best trash ball!

3. Once you have decided who goes first, kids must shoot their trash ball into a trash can to answer a question. If they miss, they forfeit their turn to the opposing team. If they make the shot, they get to come to the board and correct a sentence. If they completely answer the question and/or correct the sentence then they recieve a point.

4. With this game I mix up if I am going to let this be group oriented or if I want only individuals answering questions. The kids like to play it either way.

I have already used this game several times in class. The kids now beg to play everyday we have a grammar lesson! I usally will let them play the last ten or fifteen minutes of class if we make it through all of the lesson. When I first tried this game I didn't realize how much the kids would love it. I am very glad to have found something that makes them WANT to LEARN grammar!

Time to "fall"

Just a reminder...no class this week in honor of Fall Break!

I hope you are having great success utilizing a graphic organizer (or two) within your classes.

Enjoy!

Too Graphic?

No way! Remember this week we are using at least one graphic organizer so that we can each report on our experience in class this week.

Sites abound where one might find such tools. Here is a link to my Delicious bookmarks for some sites that I have discovered.

Also please feel free to check out my wiki where on the 8th Grade Lit Lab class I have posted the graphic organizers my students and I are completing during my mini-lesson on whatever the literary term for the day is.

Enjoy!

Accommodations

As I am sloooooooooowly assuming responsibilities in my 10th grade class, I'm finding it very difficult to teach those students who have learning accommodations in the classroom. Since most of the students are on close to the same level, I find myself teaching more toward them rather than toward the lower level minority.

I have one student in particular that asks me to explain quetsions from the book in further detail or explain a passage from an Accelerated Reader book. When I do so, he still finds it hard to understand. I try to break it down to the lowest level I possibly can and he still struggles to understand.

I hope as time goes on I will get better at breaking things down. I would hate for students to struggle or make poor grades just because I cannot break it down to their level.

When I Grow Up...

Senior year is now in full swing, and I am finding it harder and harder to believe that I will be graduating in the spring ready to set off to begin a new career in teaching and coaching. As each day comes and goes, I realize I can't say "when I grow up..." anymore. Instead, I am now finally coming to understand that my adult life and career are about to take off.

It seems like only yesterday I was starting freshman year at Lyon College attempting to figure out which direction I wanted my life to go. Now, as a senior and in the middle of my student teaching experience, I look at my young, bright-eyed seventh graders that I have begun teaching and think "Guys, the "real-world" is knocking at your door...and you have no idea how soon you will be right where I am!"

These hopeful kids have their who futures in front of them. I only hope I can help lead them in the right direction this year in both teaching them and also in being a good role model for them.

Oh, the Stress!

Stress is the middle name of interning...okay, maybe stress is the first and the last name...with some good times placed in the middle (you just got to love seven graders, right?!).

Reflection time with a little hope mixed in...
When I student-taught (as we called it then) for what was Arkansas College (okay, I'm a traditionalist, for there's a part of me that will always belong to good ol' AC!), I spent one semester in the classroom...every day, all day. (As we discussed last week, perks do exist to both ways.)

My classroom: English 10 at Batesville High School

My memories from interning include

1. returning to BHS and walking into "my" classroom...nearly twenty years later! At that time, it was still an English class; now, drama and oral com have moved in.
2. my mentor teacher Mrs. Kimes having to have surgery...and my becoming THE teacher.
3. meeting some great kids...those adults I now meet and greet as I see them at Wal-Mart and sporting events and could it be...their children walking through my classroom door?
4. copying all Mrs. Kibe's resources that I could get my hands on!
5. learning more about teaching in that one semester than all my college classes had taught me.

Number five is where the hope lies, for with application comes learning and retention.

My hope? That this class will be one of those tools that makes this internship be less stressful.

Keep me posted!

Thanks for the Seat in This Class!

As my two grand students in Secondary English Methods are reflecting and writing about those people in their lives that have helped earn them a seat in this class...a class that signifies the end of one adventure in life and the soon-approaching new adventure...yes, teaching!...I, too, would like to take a moment to thank those who helped mold and make me into the professional I am today.

First, to Mrs. Smith...my high school English teacher, to the one who worked us, believed in us, and held us to very high expectations, may I strive to achieve even a little of what you accomplished throughout your career at Mammoth Spring High School. I know that if I needed that lady today...she is just a phone call, just an email away. Some bonds truly are thicker than blood. Thank you!

Next to Dr. Tebbetts, a professor at Arkansas College...okay, Lyon College! What an inspiration! My goal? To have half the energy within my classroom that you displayed, demonstrated for us and to all your many students since and to those those in your classes today. So knowledgeable, so friendly. Such a role model. Thank you!

Finally, to Lisa Huff, my technology mentor and friend. I tell her I am always about ten, twenty, maybe even fifty steps behind her, but she is always so willing to help. To her, this blog is a tribute, for none of this blogging for my personal reflection and for and with my students would be occurring had it not been for her patience and encouragement. Thank you!

Yes, there are many others...and to all I say thanks.

I truly enjoy my job, my profession, my hobby. Thanks for giving me my passion for teaching!


Please check back here for soon-to-be posted entries from the seat-takers in this class!

Welcome to Secondary English Methods!

Please join me in a semester of blogging, reflecting, teaching...then blogging, reflecting, teaching again.

My hope is that this class simply enhances and is a strong source of support throughout your first semester of student teaching.

Good luck...and may we begin?