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.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Week 11
The aspects of the week I found to be most valuable was planning and creating lessons for the three days I will be absent this next week. It’s even more work than planning for school when I will be there. Making sure your lessons are perfect for the substitute or whoever is covering your class knows, so they know exactly what to do. Going through each class lesson by lesson making sure the students are prepared for your absence. I hope that when I get back the students will be on task and up to date with the information for the class.
If I could change one thing about this past week it would be to teach the introduction lesson to access slower than the manner in which I taught it. Access is something students are not familiar with and most have no idea what a database is, as a result when the students received their quiz grade they were disappointed. I blame myself for their poor quiz grade because they are the first class to get each lesson in access, as I teach it more and more the lesson becomes much better. My forth period class did terrible on their quizzes but 5th and 10th did excellent. I create a new quiz add more material and allow them to retake it and allow them to choose the better score.
If I could change one thing about this past week it would be to teach the introduction lesson to access slower than the manner in which I taught it. Access is something students are not familiar with and most have no idea what a database is, as a result when the students received their quiz grade they were disappointed. I blame myself for their poor quiz grade because they are the first class to get each lesson in access, as I teach it more and more the lesson becomes much better. My forth period class did terrible on their quizzes but 5th and 10th did excellent. I create a new quiz add more material and allow them to retake it and allow them to choose the better score.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Week 10
The aspects of this week that I found to be most valuable is picking up a full schedule of six classes. The amount of preparation work that goes into a full schedule is something I never expected. It is a lot of work and if you are not prepared for your class you will be lost. Its a lot of fun when you are well prepared because you are so confident in your content. Having the ability to move from one class to another and not worried if you missed anything becuase over preparing is better than not being prepared.
The aspect of the week that I would change is an activity I did in my International Business class. The directions of the activity were not as clear to the students as I had hoped and they were very confused. I should have made a PowerPoint or a handout on exactly what I expected from them rather than just telling them. A visual is always better than a verabl for students. In the future I will always be overprepared than underprepared becuases the confidence level is so much higher and things run much more smoothly.
The aspect of the week that I would change is an activity I did in my International Business class. The directions of the activity were not as clear to the students as I had hoped and they were very confused. I should have made a PowerPoint or a handout on exactly what I expected from them rather than just telling them. A visual is always better than a verabl for students. In the future I will always be overprepared than underprepared becuases the confidence level is so much higher and things run much more smoothly.
Week 10
The aspects of this week that I found to be most valuable is picking up a full schedule of six classes. The amount of preparation work that goes into a full schedule is something I never expected. It is a lot of work and if you are not prepared for your class you will be lost. Its a lot of fun when you are well prepared because you are so confident in your content. Having the ability to move from one class to another and not worried if you missed anything becuase over preparing is better than not being prepared.
The aspect of the week that I would change is an activity I did in my International Business class. The directions of the activity were not as clear to the students as I had hoped and they were very confused. I should have made a PowerPoint or a handout on exactly what I expected from them rather than just telling them. A visual is always better than a verabl for students. In the future I will always be overprepared than underprepared becuases the confidence level is so much higher and things run much more smoothly.
The aspect of the week that I would change is an activity I did in my International Business class. The directions of the activity were not as clear to the students as I had hoped and they were very confused. I should have made a PowerPoint or a handout on exactly what I expected from them rather than just telling them. A visual is always better than a verabl for students. In the future I will always be overprepared than underprepared becuases the confidence level is so much higher and things run much more smoothly.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Week 9
The aspect of this week that I would change was viewing the content of students PowerPoint’s before they presented to the class. I did this with all my students however for to check this one student’s PowerPoint because I really needed him to present. In my computer apps class this student had to present his PowerPoint topic on Thursday. Well before he presented it he added a video that he did not get approved by either me or my co-op. It was irrelevant to his topic and used the word “ass” and on the video someone actually said, “I want to tap that ass”. Needless to say I was in shock and furious at the same time, not to mention the stare I received from my co-op. Class ended just as his video ended, I told him he can’t do that and we will talk later. Well, he left school early that day and was absent on Friday. This talk will have to wait till Monday. I forgot to mention this was a class of 9th graders who thought the whole this was so ridiculously funny, so I will have to talk to the class and let them know what he did was not funny, it was against school policy and he is going to be punished for it.
The aspect of the week that I found to be most valuable was picking up two sections of International Business. This is my first content class and it is much different from the technology based classes that I currently have The planning is much longer than the technology having to create the lessons, notes, and the test take a long time to accomplish. The first couple classes were a little difficult for me however by the second class of the second day I felt really comfortable with the content, understanding that I need to repeat myself often and give students more time when I ask questions. I had a habit of asking, then if I did not receive a response to give them the answer to quickly. Allow the students more time to think and giving them key words that could trigger their response.
On another note one of my students created a PowerPoint rap that was absolutely hilarious, I actually snorted in class I was laughing so hard. The student then gave me a copy if his rap and I want to share this with everyone on Monday.
The aspect of the week that I found to be most valuable was picking up two sections of International Business. This is my first content class and it is much different from the technology based classes that I currently have The planning is much longer than the technology having to create the lessons, notes, and the test take a long time to accomplish. The first couple classes were a little difficult for me however by the second class of the second day I felt really comfortable with the content, understanding that I need to repeat myself often and give students more time when I ask questions. I had a habit of asking, then if I did not receive a response to give them the answer to quickly. Allow the students more time to think and giving them key words that could trigger their response.
On another note one of my students created a PowerPoint rap that was absolutely hilarious, I actually snorted in class I was laughing so hard. The student then gave me a copy if his rap and I want to share this with everyone on Monday.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Short Week
The aspect of the week that I would change would be switching the the way I presented the to the student's about presenting PowerPoint. Teaching them how to speak and act professionally while they are presenting is something they should know but I don't believe they will do. I want them to be the best presenters possible and what I taught them was good but I should have explained this through a PowerPoint presentation explaining what I expect to see. Showing them what I expect rather then explain what I expect would have been much more productive.
The aspect that I feel most valuable would be managing my time effectively. Having a lot of work to accomplish before leaving for the weekend was very challenging. Getting all my work completed and still creating good lesson plans was hard but eventually accomplished. At fist spending all my time and effort doing work is hard but it is worth it. Allowing myself time to relax is something that I should work on. Being ahead of schedule allows me to do other things which makes me more relaxed. Teaching has become so fun that I really enjoy going to work. The one thing I wanted in a job is to have fun and found that. I am very happy from what I choose to do with my life.
The aspect that I feel most valuable would be managing my time effectively. Having a lot of work to accomplish before leaving for the weekend was very challenging. Getting all my work completed and still creating good lesson plans was hard but eventually accomplished. At fist spending all my time and effort doing work is hard but it is worth it. Allowing myself time to relax is something that I should work on. Being ahead of schedule allows me to do other things which makes me more relaxed. Teaching has become so fun that I really enjoy going to work. The one thing I wanted in a job is to have fun and found that. I am very happy from what I choose to do with my life.
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