High School/Final Reflection

At the end of this placement, I came away feeling very satisfied that I had seen a nice balance of how teachers deal every day with last-minute changes and still set the bar high for their students.  The seniors, who should be wrapping up their senior projects, are struggling to keep their head in the building.  Like previous viewings, I'm convinced that those who picked a topic they are involved in somehow, ended up with the most compelling narratives.  It's at this point where you see that, unfortunately, sometimes you drag kids through certain school experiences, kicking and screaming.  I still say there is inherent value in this type of project.  It really does force them to look at the world as bigger than the school building.  Even if they don't want to participate in this field of work in the future, they must look closely at someone who does.  Again, the role of the audience plays a big part; give feedback and suggestions, don't simply sleep through spring of your senior year!
I witnessed a cool thing last week; a teacher showing each individual student their average for the quarter that just ended. The grades are in, nothing can change; and yet why not build this bridge between teacher and student?  Not one of the students had a negative reaction that I could see.  Certainly, there should be no surprises at this point.  I also heard a magic number thrown out to my comrade and I; a morsel of information which would, I suspect, have seemed elusive otherwise.  Shoot to post two grades weekly in a grade book per student.  Hmmm. . .no time to ask why?  I'll store it, for future use.
Our instruction went well, overall.  Some engaging was forthcoming; I've seen them do it before, and it happened for us too!  It was great to finish the text with them;  our period seven sleepy-eyed wonders!  I'm still confident that the classroom is the right place for my personality.  Onward to my goal for the next fifteen days: comprehension of the semester, depth over breadth!  Successful completion of my teacher candidate work sample!!

High School Reflection Week Two

Week two at North Providence High School was enlightening!  The seniors are working on their senior projects, and we got to hear some topics.  As we listened, we were able to hear  students  who had some passion for their topic and some who didn't-who were just going through the motions.  For example, one student has been involved with Special Olympics and so the topic came very easily to him, and he was charged.   I have the hand-out she gave them on possible presentation structure for this. I believe this school is a model for senior project, so it's great to be here for this.  My own child at NK is in the midst of this, and she is very challenged by the scope of the assignment.  I saw similarities at NPHS-from the mentor component to the timed fator of each element. At the beginning of the week, they finished up their Catcher in the Rye presentations.  I got a lot out of this, and I like how it focused on depth of the book, instead of breadth.  The exercise they did which supported my view was to focus on a thesis statement, and show evidence to support it from the text and argue why it makes sense.  She requested written feedback after they finished the book, since it is only her second time teaching it.  Her form was helpful to me for a future time.  She listed for them all the activities they had done surrounding the reading, and all supplementary readings that were part of the unit.  Then she asked them to cite their favorites and least favorites from the list.  They had a lively conversation about the book after all this was completed, and this was my personal favorite event since I've been in this school.  I think the reason is these are seniors, and they've been mostly un-engaged.

Writing Workshop/Sophomores were working on a portfolio reflection, in which they had to pick a poem or essay they had written and explain how it fulfilled performance based graduation requirements. The teacher encouraged them to do a poem for some reason I didn't hear.  Joey and I edited some of these works as they were typing, and they took suggestions well, I felt.  They're also continuing with Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  They seem to enjoy this book,  and this usually turned off group (2, actually!)  wipes the sleep from their eyes and makes noises!

  Her classes were encouraged to share any writing from the semester since three shares in a marking period equals a quiz grade, and this week was the end of the third marking period.  I'm planning to take special note of any changes in students as the end this one and begin another.  Surely, some students will be feeling pressure to buckle down, as my Dad used to say.

The juniors worked on poetry presentations.  These were the steps in the oral presentation:
1. read it
2. give author info.
3. give a brief summary of the poem
4. cite any figurative language which stuck to you
5. cite any sound devices the author used
6. speak to the literary theory

My thoughts about what I see so far?  I see a school setting which has some calmness to it.  It makes me wonder at the effects of teaching where the National Writing Project has a strong influence, such as this school.  I'm aware of some ongoing scenarios where there are uncomfortable connections between kids, and I see staff members aware of things.  There is a vibe which I'm picking up on, that is positive.  This teacher is a positive example of a professional.  Her boundaries with her students are clear, and I admire the way she picks her battles with the kids.  She accomplishes plenty each day, and this trait is the reason.

High School Reflection Week One

So much has happened in this short week, with so much appearing different from middle school.  Aside from the obvious developmental differences, there have been surprises and similarities.  While they don't appear to be eager to learn or enamored with their teacher (which I saw right away in MS) it only requires sitting with them several times before it becomes clear they like to surprise us adults with their thoughtful responses and their loving banter with Mrs. Parillo, whom I suspect they like/worry about disappointing  in equal parts.    Here are the highlights/activities of week one:
Seniors/English IV:Catcher in The Rye with the following activities:
1. Socratic Seminar-finished this the day we arrived
2. -in groups of three students worked on supporting a given thesis statement with evidence from the text and presenting their argument for their statement with inferences they derived from reading
3. Anonymous evaluations of the unit/activities/supplementary readings for feedback since this is only her 2nd time teaching it
Juniors/English III: Poetry Unit with the following activities:
1. Read one and study it, looking for the following devices: rhyme, alliteration, assonance, onomatepei, present your findings orally for the class
2, Poetry writing assignment to be included in their portfolio piece for the quarter, they were allowed to choose from five poetry categories: "I am" poem, "When I" poem, imagery poem, kitchen sink poem and Lullaby weave poem, give at least one example of a sound device and one of figurative language
Sophomores/Writer's Workshop: Reading The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian with the following activities:
1. Respond to prompt: Write about a time when you had to give up something in order to make room for something new you wanted OR write about CHANGE, after completing several students shared out
2. 3-2-1 prompt: Write 3 things you learned from the days' reading, 2 things that surprised you and 1 question you had about the story (this relates to one of the focusing questions of the book which was: Can a person really change their life?
3.  Reading Sherman Alexie poem "On The Train from Boston to New York City" and underlining three lines which stuck with you, then share-outs on one of the three with explanation of inferences

Final Reflection on Middle School Post

Debate Lesson Plan on All Summer In A Day The question they debated was-Should people conform/adapt to new cultures or not? It felt GREAT to be in charge of the classroom!!! I am a control freak, so why not!?# No, in all seriousness, I loved it. The kids had shown excitement for this lesson yesterday, and they did not disappoint their adult audience today. This advanced class is such a privilege. In my time substituting I've been in more Inclusion classes so I'm not concerned about having culture shock when I get back to that, I just appreciate when I get a chance to see this type of engagement. I was surprised at how concerned they were that they had gotten too far off the topic question in the debate process, but we reassured them that it was good mental exercise for the many debates ahead of them. I discovered that it helps me to look up definitions of words still, especially because of the many layers of meaning in words in our language-the example I'm thinking of is culture.

RIWP Conference Reflection I added many tools to my teaching toolbox at the RIWP conference yesterday. I’m convinced my attendance gave me facts about teaching that will sustain me as I continue my studies in class, my work as a preservice teacher, and beyond into my own classroom. As I expected, Tom Newkirk raised my awareness on a number of levels. The thought that stuck to me from his mention of Common Core was to do some high level thinking about them, just like we ask our students to do with the text we expose them to. He challenged me to think about the words, the phrases and sentence structure. He asked us to consider words like aliignment and compliance as they relate to the Common Core. I suppose I will not hesitate to be ready and willing to adhere to them, after all I will have a boss! What I will do, though, is reflect on my teaching practice in an effort to use them to my students’ benefits. He convinced me that it is not important to make students read more complex text, but rather to have them relate the text to their own lives through narrative writing. The introduction to this keynote speaker was very telling. He took the works of a frazzled doctoral student and sent her on her way with renewed vigor with two simple statements: “Here’s what I learned” and “So here are my questions” -after he read her work. That tells me he believes he can learn from everyone, he is not the conveyor belt of information to his students. I appreciate his words of encouragement about seeing narrative as the basis for all writing. I was a “reluctant writer” (an expression I heard yesterday) and I will meet them in my students, so using narrative to build a love for writing is something that worked on me and will work with my students. The two workshops I attended were about the Summer Institute and the use of Shakespeare in middle school curriculum. The institute is clearly for teachers who are already practicing and who wish to step back and rejuvenate their work through summer study in new areas. I appreciated that middle school teachers were running it and it was not lost on me that that subculture can drain a teacher-one of the participants was just two years into his practice! But then I met up with him again in the Shakespeare workshop and I realized why he did the summer study-he is simply charged by his work and opens himself up to new avenues of study. He was nearly breathless, trying to share with us all that he does with the bard and his sixth graders. He has found infinite entry points for this complex, yet incredibly appealing text. Another tool that I added came from seeing the work that the RIC archives librarian did (and does) and how I can tap into this when I do units which include living history. Using this activity may be especially effective if i teach in a setting where students’ families are from other cultures where the role of narrative in the home is larger than written communication.

Week Two Reflection

Week Two Reflection So, this week I had the honor of watching how a teacher layers her units. I feel this teacher uses time wisely, in this sense. It seems to come from a combination of what is stated daily/weekly on the board and constant communication with students about these ongoing assignments. This class is student-driven, so they are learning the crucial skill of self-regulation at an early age, it seems to me. She is always there to answer questions, reinforce points, and manage students' behavior. But so much is left to them to decide how to manage their time with each assignment. The groups vary, obviously. Her two higher levels groups do better with this. All the groups work hard and respect her. The Socratic Seminar was fascinating. They love to argue at this age, so they are being given reminders to say I agree with . . . (the idea, not the name)or I disagree with . . .so that it does not become personal. Some students are clearly more argumentative than others. My overall feeling about the exercise and her students is that they are working very well at critical thinking. I kept resisting the urge to jump in and say "this event in history (Greensboro Sit-In)is like so many in that it was a perfect storm" and by this I mean the events and people converged at the exact right moment to change things. They want to play the "what ifs" until they are exhausted. I'm glad I resist because I realize they need to do this, it's higher order thinking! I was glad to get the opportunity to proofread students papers-"Text to Talk-Greensboro", since it gave me a chance correct and give suggestions that were clear and I spoke with each student as I went. There will be so many times in my teaching career where I won't be able to talk directly as I proof, so I took full advantage of it and didn't rush.

Student Views of Writing Audiences

Student Views of Writing Audiences