Week 16

Words of wisdom, something I should be good at being a coach and an athlete. Work as hard as possible for the time you’re a student teacher. It's the first sixteen weeks of the rest of your life, you will be a teacher and this is just the beginning. Do not take all criticism personally; it's there to make you a better teacher not to put you down. Put in extra time and effort into everything you can possibly do, be the absolute best at your job. Take advantage of having other Business Education student teachers, they are going through exactly what you are so talk to them, collaborate with them, and take full advantage of everything and everyone around you. They are there to help you and guide you along the way. Most of all have as much fun as possible because your job should be fun.

Week 15

This week is getting more hectic than I could ever imagine. Everything winding down, having to grade so many papers and projects before I leave the school, it’s hard. The aspect of the week I would like to change would be to have better time management during my prep periods. I start to grade papers for classes and I catch myself being distracted from my work and interested in something completely different. If I can just focus the last couple days I can everything completed in time.
The aspect I found most valuable was the support that the faculty and staff given me throughout this last week. They are helping me with anything and everything that is needed, and are giving me good advice when it comes to finding a job. Teachers are a great community of people who are out to help each other; I can’t wait to work with them someday when I get a job.

Week 14

These last few weeks have been flying by; having to plan your lessons and get ready for finals is a very tough task. The aspect of the week that I found most valuable would be seeing how the students would react once my co-op came back into the classroom. Some of them even said I totally forgot she was still out teacher, it made me feel good to know that these students see me as their teacher and not just someone student teacher who will only be here for a little longer. This shows they respect me and they know that I am in charge.
The aspect of the week that I would change would have to be starting my papers for finals a little earlier, I started on Wednesday which gives me enough time to complete but I wish I would have started them earlier than that so I could have more free time to read over them and adjust. I am not the strongest writer so completing them earlier can help when I need to proofread so I can get the best grade possible for that particular assignment. ONE FULL WEEK LEFT!!!!!! Who is excited?!?!? I AM. I hope your last full week goes well, enjoy it, I know I will.

P.S. - Does anyone ever get annoyed with typing the conformation words after you post? Just asking, think about it.

Podcast

EASTER

The most valuable aspect of this week was the ability to teach without my co-operating teachings presence. She was out all week because her daughter had a baby and being able to take over the classes without her being in the room was an awesome experience. I felt as if this is my class, the students were very well behaved and worked very hard all week. For a long time I wanted to teach my classes without my co-op being present and when I was finally able to do this for 3 ½ days was awesome. During one period when I least expecting it the vice principle came in to observe me, I was a little nervous but that would have been worse if I didn’t already know that they were not rehiring my co-ops position after retirement. He wrote me a great review and later we discussed my lesson and what he thought about it, he and I were both very pleased with the outcome.
The one aspect of this week I would change would be to talk to my co-op more about where to go with the classes before she left to stay with her daughter, I would just have liked a little more confidence when creating my lessons to know exactly where she wanted the class to go and if I was on the right track. Overall everything went great and I am very please that I was able to have the experience that I did. I believe that in the future, student teachers should be able to teach a complete week without the cooperating teacher. The experience is great and allows the student teacher to see if he needs to work on classroom management. The chief wishes you a great Easter break.

Week 12

The most valuable aspect of week twelve was spending three days at the FBLA conference in Hershey. I was absolutely amazed by it, it was bigger than I ever expected and it was run mostly by students. This conference allowed me to socialize with other teachers and get a break from the classroom. The first test I was supposed to proctor was desktop publishing, however, the chief administrator and vice administrator did not show up and I basically volunteered to be the chief administrator and run the test. It was a shock to me at first but I just went with it, it worked out well, there were no problems with the test and I had the chance to do it. When you see me in class I have a new name, it’s not Rich, and I would prefer you to call me Chief.
There really wasn’t an aspect of the week that would change, it went very smooth, the students were all working on projects and most had completed and from grading them they have done very well on them. This shows that I explained the project very well before I left for those three days and they had good understanding of what I expected from them. I’m not saying the week was perfect, but overall it went well and I really had no complaints or problems. I can always hope next week will be the same but there is always something I can improve on.