"You can handle them all!"

My teacher introduced me to a great app.  It gives you a list of different students, the clown, the last word, the drama queen.  It also gives you symptoms by which to diagnose them.  It tells you what behavoirs to look for.  It tells you how this behavior affects teachers, classmates, and parents.  It will also give you primary needs being revealed, secondary needs being revealed, and primary causes of such behavior.  Then it gives you several ways to work with the student.  It will aslo give you a list of thing NOT to do with these types of behaviors.  It will also give related behaviors.  It is fantastic!!!  I think the app may be $3.99.

The Internet version is www.disciplinehelp.com.  You do have to register for it.  This is a great weapon to have in any teacher's discipline arsenal.  

Frustration Abounds

How To Handle A Discouraging Professor?

Today I went to my Japanese professor to ask her about my application for the JET program.  When I walked in I said the standard greeting  which is  respectful way to say excuse the interruption when entering some one's office.  Without looking up from her desk she had a smile on her face and replied for me to come in and sit down.  Once she looked up at me her face turned into a frown and she said "Oh it's you.  I was expecting someone else." 
I continued anyway informing her that I was beginning my application to the JET program and I asked if she had any of the past participant's statements of purpose that I could review to get an idea of formatting and content.  She told me she did not understand my question and I had to explain again that if these former student had been accepted then obviously they had an understanding of what was expected.  She told me that she would not let me copy some one's work.  That is not what I wanted to do.  Obviously I would not cheat or copy anyone else's statement of purpose because it would not be MY statement of purpose.  She began to berate me about how I was not equipped for the position, and that she thought that I would probably "offend MANY Japanese people" because I did not understand Japanese culture.  I politely asked her if she would at least review my application and tell me what needed to be done.  She told me she would, but that she would not recommend me.  I then asked her if she was going to go out of her way to give me a bad recommendation.  She said "I want nothing to do with your application."  This interaction was very disheartening.  Am I really equipped to go through with this dream, or is it just that a dream that I am not qualified to fulfill?  How do I go about proving myself to someone who is so pivotal in the application process for this program?

How do you help the student who doesn't want help?

In one of my classes is a student who lost his mother in a car accident.  It seems the father has shut everyone out of his life after the accident so much so that he won't seek help for his son who may have dyslexia.  All attempts by the school to offer to diagnose the boy and give him help has been met with animosity.  Even offering help without his parent knowledge is rejected.  I am not sure if the father has brainwashed the boy so much that he thinks he doesn't need help.  Perhaps, the boy was told he could never play football is he had to get help in school.

How can I help him without him realizing he is receiving help?  He is very smart, but with his trouble of mixing up letters, I'm afraid he won't reach his full potential.

Facilitating Conversation in the Classroom

I was in class on Tuesday and came across a situation that was a little frustrating.
During a class discussion in my American Literature 1 class, a hush fell over the entire classroom, save myself.  I had read the literature and truly enjoyed it, so I was ready, willing, and able to discuss it.  There were about two other people who randomly had comments, but as a majority no one had anything to say in analysing the work. 
The professor obviously got perturbed by this lack of interest and conversation.  He commented, "You all look asleep or uninterested in this reading." 
As a student who read the material and was genuinely interested, I felt bad for dominating the conversation, and likewise felt bad for the professor for putting together a class room discussion that did not actually happen.   
How do teachers deal with facilitating conversation in the classroom when it is obvious that the students have either not read the material, or are not willing to openly discuss the topic during class. 

Who Am I and Why Am I Here

My name is Trent Baker and I am a senior at Lyon College majoring in English with a minor in Philosophy.  I have an interest in teaching English as a foreign language in Japan. 

Foreign language is an important part of any student’s college experience, but choosing Japanese was more of a personal decision for me.  Before attending Lyon I met a Japanese language student that attended Lyon who made a huge impression on me.  That student’s name was Josh Looney.  He was an English major but took Japanese as his foreign language while studying at Lyon.  I would talk with him at the coffee shop where I worked while he did his Japanese homework and I was thoroughly impressed with his retention of a language that looked so foreign to me.  After talking with him on and off throughout the school year he shared with me his future plans to teach English in Japan as a foreign language.  The idea of education, travel, adventure, and exploration intrigued me.  After meeting Josh, I decided to follow in his footsteps, not only by going to Lyon, but also in attempting to learn the language and culture of Japan in hopes of teaching there after graduation. 

Since being at Lyon, I took Japanese 101 and flippantly applied myself, not fully grasping an understanding of  language nor culture.  Then after a devastating house fire I had to drop Japanese 102 because the course load was too much for me to handle; I was bound for failure.  It was only after a Nichol’s trip to Japan this summer that my interest in previous goals was once again solidified.  I want a genuine understanding of the religion, culture, and language and am determined to apply myself in hopes of success in not only the language classes but also in my endeavors to teach in a country whose people I am extremely interested in. 

Why Tonya is who she is

I have always wanted to be a teacher.  I remember teaching my teddy bears and stuffed animals when I was in elementary school.  I also set up a horse riding class in high school.

My passion was science.  I wanted to be a biology teacher right up until Dr. Thomas showed me all the math involved in being a science major.  Not knowing what to do my concentration in, I chose the discipline that would only take me four years to complete.  So, here I am, an English major. 

During my past three years, Dr. Tebbetts and Dr. Boling has influenced me the most.  I learned I could write professionally through Dr. Tebbetts.  I learned I had a love for Shakespeare through Dr. Boling.  If I decide to specialize in an English subject, it would be Shakespeare.  I am excited the Common Core has a section on Shakespeare.  My current co-teacher has already told me she wants me to teach that section.

I plan to get my masters in something, but I haven't decided if it will be in English or teaching.  Maybe I will master both.  I eventually want to teach English in a 2-year college or community college or become a principal of a school.

I look forward to learning everything I can from Mrs. Gillmore.  She is so knowledgeable and has so much to teach us.

Why I Am Who I Am

First, welcome Jon-Micael, Tonya, and Wesley to the class and to this blog!
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Many people should be thanked for their assistance in my becoming who I am right now in my career, for as Hillary Clinton's book persuades...just as it takes a village to raise a child, so it takes a conglomerate of individuals to build a twenty-one year career.

First, to my high school English teacher Mrs. Smith, my heroine, absolutely without a doubt, I would not be an English teacher had it not been for the example she sat every day of every week.  She worked us, holding us to higher expectations than most of us wanted, yet she loved us, and we knew it.  

Second, to my college instructors Dr. Tebbetts and Dr. Wray...one being the extreme, energized, definitely a sage on the stage of my life, the other, solid, direct, forcing our writing styles to become what they were not. Because of them, I inherited a much more solid literary background, one recognized when I later attended grad school and was told that I must have graduated from Lyon (or some high quality program) because of the caliber of my work.  Yes, I stood a little taller!  Thank you, Dr. Tebbetts, Dr. Wray...and the late Dr. Oliver.

Third, to my peer Lisa Huff who shared her love of technology as a tool, which then began the big change in my presentation methods.  This blog (and several others) and multiple wikis are a testament to her. Professionally, I have grown and now freely assist my peers as they take baby steps, steps that, to them, feel like giant leaps at times, all in an endeavor to better prepare all our students for the "real" world or, as the latest jargon encourages, to be "college and career ready."

Many more names should be mentioned here, for I have many to thank for the gift of my career, for without them all, I would not be who I am today.