1st Year Drama Teacher

thatfunnyblog: If you could vote for anything in the world,...

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:00:38 -0400

If you could vote for anything in the world, what would it be?

YOU’D THINK ZEFRON WOULD BE PRO WILDCAT

JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT LET ME HUG YOUR FACE YOU PERFECT BEING

thatfunnyblog: Haunted house that takes people’s picture as...

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 17:06:20 -0400

thatfunnyblog:

Haunted house that takes people’s picture as they’re walking through.

Wanna LAUGH OUT LOUD?!

My teacher blog!

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 22:31:23 -0400

My teacher blog! :

Follow my journey as a first year teacher!

So I'm awful at keeping this blog updated....

Wed, 02 May 2012 23:00:01 -0400

1 full year of student teaching, and honestly, it’s been such a wonderful year. I love it, and I love the kids!

But I graduate THIS Friday! So crazy how quickly it’s been! I’ll get to finish out the year at my school though so I’ll be there until the end of May.

Have a couple of interviews already so we’ll see!

Here’s me!

I told a 7th grade boy to keep track of students talking during a debate. He handed me a paper at the end of all the debates and titled the paper, "The List of Shame.

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:33:50 -0500

Today a 6th grader asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told him I wanted either a puppy or kitten. He said, "OKAY! I'll get you one!" Should I be worried....?!

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:13:47 -0500

Sixth Graders

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:47:35 -0500

Today I was giving an example in class of one of my goals, which is to lose weight, and they were all, “MS. LE YOU DON’T NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT! YOU’RE PERFECT!”

Sixth grade, brown nosing the right way.

Taking over!

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:52:33 -0400

My mentor teacher is about to have a baby boy, so I will be taking charge (with a substitute) until January! I am a bundle of emotions! I’m really nervous and anxious and I’m a worrier, so my biggest concern is how the students will respond to me.

I know all 180ish of them now and feel like I’ve connected with them, but I’m afraid that since I am “young” they won’t take me as seriously. For the most part, I feel like I can handle all my classes, there’s just this one class that makes me nervous. They’re not bad students, they just talk a lot! ALL THE TIME! And it’s usually having to do with the class, but since it is such a large class, it’s hard to control them all! There’s a lot of time spent trying to get the class under control, on task, and quiet. Should be interesting!

I recently had a breakdown because I didn’t pass my subject area test. It’s the third time I’ve taken it. It really brings me down because I know my subject and I know that I can teach it well, but for some reason I can’t seem to pass this exam! I definitely think it’s test anxiety. I’ve never done well when it comes to these big exams. The pressure of them weighs really heavily and I think I just blank when it’s in front of my face. I cried for about thirty minutes in my car after I found out. It just makes my self-esteem plummet and it makes me doubt my knowledge. I just feel like I’ve let not only myself down, but my university down too. One of my professors is going to tutor me though, so hopefully I will pass this next time!

We’re on Fall Break now for 2 weeks, so I have a good amount of time to get myself together and prepared to teach and fly solo for awhile! I just have to make sure I’m completely prepared, and I know I will be! Creating some Prezi’s to keep them more engaged and I’m trying to figure out fun ways to teach some subjects, but it’s hard!

Anyway, update later! Gonna go read some!

Taught the whole day!

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:49:56 -0400

I literally taught the whole day today! It went well for the most part. The biggest “trouble” classes are the last class in both A and B day (block schedule). I know they’re tired and ready to leave, but they go CRAZY!

It takes so much to just simmer them down to get them to listen! Explaining things takes a century because someone is always talking so then they’re always asking me a question about something I literally had just gone over 30 sec. ago. I have no idea how to get them to sit, stay quiet, and listen. It really is just the last class, too!

How do you handle loud and rowdy classes? What advice can you give me?

I don't know they blocked it at the school!

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:54:19 -0400

veronicanicolefennell answered your question: Lesson Plans for Mock Trial

Why isn’t youtube available?

Omg these are awesome thank you!

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:54:02 -0400

mrempey answered your question: Lesson Plans for Mock Trial

keepvid.com to rip youtube videos, xtranormal.com to make the writing assignment engaging.

THANK YOU

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:53:12 -0400

mpalms answered your question: Lesson Plans for Mock Trial

use keepvid.com! you can download and save any youtube vid to your computer desktop!

Lesson Plans for Mock Trial

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:52:33 -0400

I will be teaching 7th and 8th graders how to write an opening statement for a trial soon! It’s so hard to find a “fun” and engaging way to come up with this lesson! The hardest part is that the students don’t like to write! Getting them to write in complete sentences can be difficult and now they have to write a three minute speech!

I have a couple of ideas of things I could do. I definitely do not want to just stand there and lecture and give them the structure of the speech and things that should be in their speeches, because that would be boring and they would become disengaged so quickly. I wanted to show them a movie clip example of an opening statement but I keep forgetting Youtube isn’t available to us and I have no clue how to download and burn a clip from a movie….

I wonder if me memorizing and giving an example of an opening statement would be okay.

It’s so hard! I want to make this a fun experience for them and I want it to be interesting and something they really get into!

Back to the drawing board! Any suggestions or ideas you’d care to share?

OSAT

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:44:17 -0400

I’ll be taking my subject area test this September 17th and I am so nervous. I have really high text anxiety, especially when the tests are 3 hrs long.

WISH ME LUCK.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:55:00 -0400

Attended my first ever Parent-Teacher conferences today!

The school I’m student teaching at does conferences in a way I’ve never seen or heard of before.

Pretty much, all teachers can request a conference with parents and vice versa. Then a master copy is made of times with the students and parents names on it and it gets emailed to all teachers.

If, say, a student named John had a conference, then they go to a designated classroom and all teachers that have John attend as well. They kind of do a round robin conference. It works because all 7th grade teachers can see what students show up and if they are having problems with that student than they attend that conference at that certain time. So the parents and student sit at a table and all his teachers take the other half and one-by-one they will share the students’ success and what they need to improve on. Since the community of the school is strong it lets the parents know that all of the teachers back each other up, and it also makes the teachers aware of the students work load and why he/she might be failing, etc.

If a teacher happens to have two students scheduled at the same time, they would simply just talk first, and then hop to the next meeting.

I really like the way this was done because it went really quickly and smoothly!

I attended three and what I learned was that some teacher’s delivery speech of what the child was having problems in could be harsh. It definitely makes me aware of how I would phrase and word things.

I am shocked though at how many parents declined requests or didn’t schedule at all. These kids can be sneaky! I know I was, I hid all kinds of bad grades from my parents in middle school and totally got away with it! Haha But I understand schedule conflicts and time can be difficult.

Other than that, it was an illuminating experience! No school tomorrow for us since there will be parent-teacher conferences from 8 until 12!

A Bit Personal

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:48:00 -0400

Not a post about student teaching today! Just wanted to voice a few things about myself and my recent thoughts and concerns. ^_^

I have been super busy since I was sixteen years old. During the summer before my Junior year in high school I started cosmetology school. It wasn’t a metro-tech it was a completely separate thing. Once school started again, I went Monday, Fri and Saturdays to cosmetology school after classes from 5 until 9. It took me a year and a half to graduate, but I graduated a couple of months before graduation.

Right after high school I went straight into college and straight into a salon to work. I stayed at the same salon for five years and recently just quit in July because I knew I wouldn’t have time since I had student teaching for a whole year. I considered staying at the salon and working over the weekends but then I would literally have no break at all and I would drive myself nuts! The good news is I still do a lot of my clients’ hair. I told most of them and my favorite customers have kept in touch and I still do their hair outside of school.

The point I’m getting at is I’ve been busy. I like being busy and I like a challenge. The bad news is that I’ve been really closed off to relationships.

I’m 23 and I’ve never had a boyfriend, and honestly, I have not a clue on how to begin to meet people! The pub/club/bar scene is not my thing. I don’t go out very much. I’ve had the same group of friends since high school and some additions during college of course. I also have no idea how to “flirt”. When someone hits on me, I’ll either completely miss the hint, or if I happen to realize that they are hitting on me, I get annoyed and creeped out!

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!

The only other thing I can think of is the whole internet dating but that does not appeal to me whatsoever.

I’m just now starting to open up to the possibility of having a boyfriend. I don’t think I’ve ever truly been ready and I’m not even sure if I am ready now! But I’m 23 and by the looks of how my love life is going I might not ever have one! Especially when I get my first actual teaching position, I’ll be way too busy to worry about relationships then!

I just have mixed feelings about it. I’ve been single for literally my entire life so it’s not like I’m missing anything because you can’t miss something you’ve never had. I’m very comfortable and content with my life, but a little disruption would be nice. I mean, thinking of being “wooed” is wonderful and what most women want, but I think I would be so terribly awkward!

I’ve only ever been on two dates. Well… I’m not so sure about one since I paid for myself, but I still count it.

I’ve been told on several occasions by different people that I am “intimidating” which I find to be ludicrous! But apparently I’m not intimidating in the way that’s threatening, but more in the “she’s the kind of girl you marry, not date”. A guy said that to me once, which I found odd and nonsensical. I don’t think I’m intimidating…. *shrugs*

Anyway, so there are my recent concerns and thoughts! Feel free to give me your opinion, suggestions, or advice!

Timing/Pacing Lessons

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:22:37 -0400

I have the HARDEST time timing and pacing my lessons. I seem to just FLY through my lessons! Even when I write it out on notecards, I just for some reason keep wanting to jump ahead and hop around different points of the lesson.

I know it’s nerves. I get all stuttery and mumbly…..

I know the more I spend in front of the students the more I’ll have a better hold on time and pacing, but right now it frightens me!

Graded a stack of Speech and Debate papers for my mentor...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:30:24 -0400

Graded a stack of Speech and Debate papers for my mentor teacher!

Student Teaching, COMMENCE!

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 03:32:26 -0400

I am about to start my student teaching experience and I am so nervous but very excited at the same time!

I live in Oklahoma and my University started this wonderful program called the “Urban Teaching Preparatory Academy”. Instead of student teaching for one semester, you get to student teach an entire year. I think that’s wonderful because it not only sets you apart from everyone else, it also adds a lot more experience under your belt and since I have anxiety about whether or not I’ll be prepared going into my first actual year of teaching I feel that this experience will help me better prepare. The main point of the program though is to put student teachers into inner city schools where they need the most help and they hope that in putting students in these schools that it would push us to eventually go into teaching at an inner city school.

Honestly I never really thought about inner city schools, but now that I’m involved it is where I want to be. It is where I feel like I could make the most impact and that’s the reason why I wanted to become a teacher in the first place!

I have Classroom Management class starting July 5, and then the school year for Oklahoma City Public Schools will start August 1st!