This week in my PDS, I learned about making changes. I had planned on teaching grammar to my juniors at the beginning of the week, then moving on to the introductory section of the literature book. We would talk about the foundations of America, while focusing on Puritan and Native American Literature. I had planned for this introduction to take about two weeks, after which we would move on to discussing the Crucible by Arthur Miller.
Everything was going according to plan until my host teacher received word from the office that the juniors would have to complete their research paper by the end of first semester. My host teacher informed me that I had seventeen days to finish The Crucible. This changed my plans drastically. Instead of spending up to a month on the text, I would only have a few short weeks to fit in all of the activities I had planned to do.
Thank goodness my host teacher was so helpful. She gave me all sorts of unit materials she had used in the past, mapped out a day-by-day schedule, and helped me rearrange my lesson plans so that I could time everything to work out. Although I will have to condense much of the information, I have confidence that I will be able to fit in everything that is necessary. On to another week!

And so it begins...

The end of the first full-week of school is here and I must say, it is welcomed. Although I have very much enjoyed my students, all I'm thinking is, "I need a nap!"

The week started out well with my students and host teacher. The 11th and 12th graders worked on an introductory essay which helped my host teacher and I get to know a little bit about them. It was also nice to get an early look at their writing skills. After hours (Yikes) of grading we were able to come up with a starting point for teaching editing and grammar.

I was nervous about working with seniors, but I must say that I am really enjoying it. They're a fun group of kids, but they're also very respectful and hard-working.

I have one 11th grade student whom I am concerned about. He puts his head down as soon as he enters the classroom and he refuses to do any work. I've been warned not to address him about this in class because he will retaliate. I decided to write a note and place it in his grammar book for him to find. That might be a challenge considering he never opens it, but hopefully it will help out a bit.

I already took over full-time instruction for the juniors, but I will be waiting a week or so to take on the senior classes. I just want to make sure that I am 100% in the swing of things before I begin, that way I don't become too overwhelmed.

So far I really am enjoying myself. My host teacher is wonderful and the staff has been very helpful. I'm looking forward to another week of grading papers and learning names, (hopefully without the earthquake)!

Practicum Plan

The practicum plan was a helpful tool at the beginning of the semester. It was nice to sit down and organize all of my assignments into one large list. I usually do something like this on my own by writing all of my assignments in a planner, but the practicum plan was different because it was something that my teacher and I could look at together. In theory, the practicum plan was a nice idea for the participants. That being said, once I completed the practicum plan I did not use it. I used my checklist and syllabi to keep track of assignments. There is a lot of paperwork required to fill out and the practicum plan was just overlooked.

Characteristic 3 - We believe that the novice teacher should recognize that teaching is a professional, moral, and ethical enterprise, should understand moral issues and ethical practices in educational environments, and should have developed ethical frameworks which facilitate effective teaching.

This particular characteristic, one of ethical and moral enterprise, was initially difficult for me reflect on. However, I had not realized how regularly teachers, including myself, implement this into their classroom. Throughout the semester I have been teaching the young adult fiction novel, Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry. This story focuses on an African-American family during the 1930s. The children are treated poorly by their community, teachers, and peers. While teaching this piece of literature I have made it a point to remind the students that everyone is equal. We should treat everyone with respect, regardless of race, culture, religion, gender, etc. The students have participated in class discussions in which they discuss the issues of segregation and racism in the United States. For an artifact for my portfolio, I would include a lesson plan from this novel in which the students discussed the moral and ethical issues and completed an activity related to the discussion and the issues in the novel.

Characteristic 2 - We believe that the novice teacher should be an effective communicator.
I truly believe that communication plays one of the most major roles in the education system. In order to manage a classroom successfully and effectively, it is important the parents, students, and teachers are in constant communication with each other. Often times, parents only hear from teachers (and vice versa) when there is a problem. There is rarely communication for any positive reason. In my classroom I plan to set up a journal for the students which they fill out each week. They can reflect on what they've learned, pick out what they liked/did not like, or ask any questions about something they were unsure of. It would also be nice to set up a student-centered blog for similar purposes. As a pre-service teacher I have already sent out a welcome letter to the parents of my students to introduce myself and provide them with a way of communicating with me. I communicate with my host teacher regularly and discuss lesson ideas and teaching strategies with fellow Benedum participants on a weekly basis. For my portfolio I could include excerpts from the student journals (with their permission). This would include both the student comments and my responses and/or questions to them.

Practicum Plans & Progress

First of all, this semester has been wonderful. I really enjoy working with my students and my host teacher has been extremely helpful. She allows me to work with the students every single day; it has truly been a learning experience!

One of my learning goals is to initiate activities more effectively and efficiently in the classroom. I have implemented this learning goal by introducing and completing the daily grammar warm-ups and writing into the day with the students since my second day in the school. Initially, I struggled to get the students settled in as they entered the classroom, but gradually (with the help of my teacher) I've learned ways to keep the class on task and ensure that they begin working as soon as class begins.

Another learning goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year was to utilize various instruction methods in the classroom. In addition to regularly practicing co-teaching strategies like one-teach, one assist and supportive co-teaching, I also planned and completed a lesson using stations. The students practiced revising and editing in one station, using transitions in the next, and finally completed silent reading in their third station. The lesson went really well and it was really interesting to practice a different style of teaching, especially with the help of another teacher in the classroom. I've certainly grown more comfortable in my ability to use different methods/strategies for instruction.

I have made great progress in completing the activities on my practicum plan. My host teacher and I regularly review the required assignments, and because I get to work with the students every day that I am there, it seems that most of the assignments/requirements just fall into place. Although there are some assignments I still have to complete, (for example, the video assignment), I feel confident in my development thus far as a participant at Suncrest Middle School.

Characteristics of a Novice Teacher

Characteristic number eight is the belief that the novice teacher should be a reflective practitioner. Throughout my experience in the Benedum Collaborative program at West Virginia University, I have used several modes of reflection. Although I regularly reflect on my lesson plans, my most helpful and perhaps most connected to 21st century learning would be the use of our online blogs. Although these postings are not made very often, as a whole they show great improvements I have made as a teacher. As I look back now, I am able to answer some of the questions I once had and keep track of my growth as a pre-service teacher.

Characteristic number ten is the belief that the novice teacher should be liberally educated. In one of my curriculum and instruction courses we were required to write a philosophy of literature instruction. There were certain criteria to be met, but mostly we discussed various strategies that we would use and ways in which we feel literature should be taught. In this particular piece, I discuss my ideas for promoting diversity and encouraging technology use with literature. I also mention that each class should be personalized to fit the students' interests, as opposed to what the teacher is most comfortable with.

My Semester as a Participant

Reflect on your work in your PDS this semester. How have you benefitted from the mentoring relationship you have with your mentor teacher? What actions have you taken to be sure that the mentoring relationship is beneficial to you both? When commenting on your partner's posting, reflect on your prompt and your partner's prompt, then discuss what you plan to do next semester to ensure that this mentoring relationship is successful.

This semester as a participant at North Marion High School has been an incredible learning experience. My mentor teacher is a third year teaching of 10th and 11th grade Language Arts and he also teaches Journalism for one class period. Fortunately, I have been able to work a bit with the journalism students and it has really been great. My host teacher has a background in folklore and he is also a musician so it has been interesting to see him incorporate this into his teaching.
I plan and teach a lesson on my own once a week. I usually ask my host teacher what the students are working on that week and guide my lessons from there. I rarely sit back and observe the classroom. On the days that I do not plan my own lesson, I typically co-teach for three class periods. We have a lot of class discussion and the students seem to enjoy having two teachers to interact with. My host teacher and I also share many of the same (though not all) beliefs about education. I have learned a great deal this semester about myself as a teacher and my students. I am completely comfortable in front of the classroom and I am confident in my teaching abilities.