So, I'm in the midsts of week three of student teaching. Last week I got spring break, which was a much needed vacation, but frankly, I already need another, it feels like. I'm really getting into the full swing of student teaching, and the stress level is ridiculously high. I'm pretty much in survival mode all the time, it seems like, and then things just get more stressful. But at the same time, I do feel like I'm getting better, despite the cognitive load being massive.
I'm realizing I have a lot of problems as a teacher. But then again, that's what student teaching is for, to iron out those problems enough that you can become a real teacher. It's molding me into an entirely new species, and the process is exhausting and can seem almost traumatic at times. This is the hardest I have ever had to work, and despite me spending almost every waking moment either at the school or at my computer working on LPs, I still suck. Usually I'm able to master skills easily, and gain competency with ease, but this, this is genuinely challenging. I'm trying to think of it neurologically, like I'm just building the massive amount of connections needed to handle such a stimulating and mentally challenging job, and that helps a little, but at the end of the day, I still am faced with the reality that I didn't teach a certain topic as well as I should have.
But I must march on, and remember that I will improve. I'll post more when I have time.
-P.
My misadventures in science teaching
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
The calm.
So, I have just completed my first full week of student teaching. The previous week I had a day off for a career fair, but this week I was there all 5 days, teaching 3-5 periods a day, usually around 4. I ran lessons, I disciplined kids, I learned a lot.
I'm now on spring break, which is very nice. I'm going to try to go on a little vacation to Portland at some point, but aside from that, I intend to lay low as much as possible and recouperate, maybe get some lesson planning done for the next two months. I've already planned two units out, and am working on the other two for science, whereas with math I'm a bit lost. I've planned a few lessons out, but due to my background and familiarity with science education, it's not nearly as easy.
My cooperating teacher has been giving me a lot of really good advice, and I've been doing my best to take it. The honeymoon phase has ended, and many of the kids seem rather neutral towards me, rather than the polite, pleasant youths I had gotten to know. I'm now witnessing all the different ways kids try to screw with teachers, which is... Exhausting. In fact, everything about teaching is exhausting at this stage. It's a very tiring job- I come home, and I just want to sleep. Some days I have a chance to, other days I go to meetings and make it home after 7. Still, there's a sense of purpose to it all, and a real want to make the educational experience as positive as possible for the kids- if it isn't, it'll be harder for everybody.
I have learned a lot of lessons, but I'll keep them off till another time. Right now, I'm just glad I survived my first week, and while I need this vacation, I really can't wait to get back into it. Also, I have recently found a goldmine of cool science videos and stuff, which, if I have time to filter through, I might post here. For those of you familiar with SA (somethingawful), they have a science thread on GBS. It's pretty cool.
Also, reading The World is Open and Uncovering Student Ideas in Science. Good stuff.
-P.
I'm now on spring break, which is very nice. I'm going to try to go on a little vacation to Portland at some point, but aside from that, I intend to lay low as much as possible and recouperate, maybe get some lesson planning done for the next two months. I've already planned two units out, and am working on the other two for science, whereas with math I'm a bit lost. I've planned a few lessons out, but due to my background and familiarity with science education, it's not nearly as easy.
My cooperating teacher has been giving me a lot of really good advice, and I've been doing my best to take it. The honeymoon phase has ended, and many of the kids seem rather neutral towards me, rather than the polite, pleasant youths I had gotten to know. I'm now witnessing all the different ways kids try to screw with teachers, which is... Exhausting. In fact, everything about teaching is exhausting at this stage. It's a very tiring job- I come home, and I just want to sleep. Some days I have a chance to, other days I go to meetings and make it home after 7. Still, there's a sense of purpose to it all, and a real want to make the educational experience as positive as possible for the kids- if it isn't, it'll be harder for everybody.
I have learned a lot of lessons, but I'll keep them off till another time. Right now, I'm just glad I survived my first week, and while I need this vacation, I really can't wait to get back into it. Also, I have recently found a goldmine of cool science videos and stuff, which, if I have time to filter through, I might post here. For those of you familiar with SA (somethingawful), they have a science thread on GBS. It's pretty cool.
Also, reading The World is Open and Uncovering Student Ideas in Science. Good stuff.
-P.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Student teachings.
So, I'm student teaching full time now. It's going well- today went amazingly well. Yesterday, I practically lost control of two periods, and just managed to finish everything. Every day I'm getting better, but there are still really awful periods to remind me that I've still got things to learn, which I am becoming more and more aware of on a daily basis.
A few things-
Let kids own their learning. Instead of doing regular notes for the immune system, one of the cooler body systems, I had them help me write a story about a gang of (they came up with the bad guys) who had a war with the police force. The students owned the story, and then I gave them the opportunity to just copy down the notes and summarize how the parts of the immune system work, or to make a story, comic, picture, etc, that got the gist of it down.
They owned it. It was amazing. They were motivated, and I saw some amazing work coming out of them that showed really strong understanding. Ironically, the students who tend to not get it as strongly did the generic notes, whereas many of the students who are either unmotivated or do the best academically did really amazing work. While I like foldable lecture notes, I'm thinking I should give them an option to design their own learning creatively more. It was my cooperating teacher who kind of spurred me in this direction, and she was wise to do so, as it is really helping me break free and find out my own teaching style, and how to make it effective.
Next thing is to eat well. I'm saying this on a grumbling stomach, but that's because I wasted a bunch of time catching up with family, which is a whole different type of self care. Still, I notice a major difference between me being well fed and me starving- although at the same time, I'm very worried about putting on weight as I don't have as much exercise time as I once did. That being said, I weigh 135 lbs last I checked, so I'm probably okay. Teaching really takes a lot of energy, and one of the things I'm noticing is I'm a pacer- I am constantly using proximity as a classroom management tool, and I really enjoy being dynamic and moving all around the classroom, it keeps the kids on their toes.
There are simple things, too- pause before picking on the first person that raised there hand. You always get the enthusiastic boy that loves to answer stuff, but after a few seconds, you might get someone else. Another thing, if a student asks a question, don't address them directly. Tell the entire class what they just said, so you don't lose them. It took me a while to realize that, but it's painfully obvious.
I wish I had a list of these painfully obvious things.
Anyway, I need to sleep.
-P.
A few things-
Let kids own their learning. Instead of doing regular notes for the immune system, one of the cooler body systems, I had them help me write a story about a gang of (they came up with the bad guys) who had a war with the police force. The students owned the story, and then I gave them the opportunity to just copy down the notes and summarize how the parts of the immune system work, or to make a story, comic, picture, etc, that got the gist of it down.
They owned it. It was amazing. They were motivated, and I saw some amazing work coming out of them that showed really strong understanding. Ironically, the students who tend to not get it as strongly did the generic notes, whereas many of the students who are either unmotivated or do the best academically did really amazing work. While I like foldable lecture notes, I'm thinking I should give them an option to design their own learning creatively more. It was my cooperating teacher who kind of spurred me in this direction, and she was wise to do so, as it is really helping me break free and find out my own teaching style, and how to make it effective.
Next thing is to eat well. I'm saying this on a grumbling stomach, but that's because I wasted a bunch of time catching up with family, which is a whole different type of self care. Still, I notice a major difference between me being well fed and me starving- although at the same time, I'm very worried about putting on weight as I don't have as much exercise time as I once did. That being said, I weigh 135 lbs last I checked, so I'm probably okay. Teaching really takes a lot of energy, and one of the things I'm noticing is I'm a pacer- I am constantly using proximity as a classroom management tool, and I really enjoy being dynamic and moving all around the classroom, it keeps the kids on their toes.
There are simple things, too- pause before picking on the first person that raised there hand. You always get the enthusiastic boy that loves to answer stuff, but after a few seconds, you might get someone else. Another thing, if a student asks a question, don't address them directly. Tell the entire class what they just said, so you don't lose them. It took me a while to realize that, but it's painfully obvious.
I wish I had a list of these painfully obvious things.
Anyway, I need to sleep.
-P.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Student teaching.
This marks the end of my first week of full time student teaching. It's been a blur, and it hasn't even been a full week, as Thursday I went to a job fair. Even so, it's been exhausting, and a massive learning experience, despite it being one of the hardest weeks of my life.
Wednesday, I had classes fall apart. They barely got their notes done, and in one class, they didn't even get to that. I was nervous, I couldn't get control, and it was just a mess. However, today, I managed to yell. I've been afraid to use my voice, as I am a very soft spoken person, but I managed to raise it enough to grab their attention, and continue the lesson. I hate doing that, as it feels like using a grenade when the problem is solvable by a few well aimed strikes, but it worked. The classes got where they needed to be, and while they were shocked to hear nice Mr. J yelling, they got the work done. I need to get better at this, though, as raising my voice really kills it. Hell, just talking at a moderate volume for too long does that, so I'll just have to be careful.
The job fair went very well. I went in with my online education viewpoint, and with a few districts that had online education, networked very well. In fact, one gentleman from Tacoma tracked me down and we had a chat- it's a good sign when they're trying to find you. My goal for this weekend is to update my resume on all the online stuff.
I'm frankly exhausted. I was so stressed out earlier this week I got a nosebleed, and there have been other physiological symptoms of stress popping up. I can't wait for spring break, as even though today went very well, I need some time to decompress not only from the first few weeks of student teaching, but both my grandparents dying and finals week. One more week, one more week.
In the mean time, here's a science flash simulation I showed a few students who came in during lunch. It shows the relative scale of everything. It's really amazing.
-P.
Wednesday, I had classes fall apart. They barely got their notes done, and in one class, they didn't even get to that. I was nervous, I couldn't get control, and it was just a mess. However, today, I managed to yell. I've been afraid to use my voice, as I am a very soft spoken person, but I managed to raise it enough to grab their attention, and continue the lesson. I hate doing that, as it feels like using a grenade when the problem is solvable by a few well aimed strikes, but it worked. The classes got where they needed to be, and while they were shocked to hear nice Mr. J yelling, they got the work done. I need to get better at this, though, as raising my voice really kills it. Hell, just talking at a moderate volume for too long does that, so I'll just have to be careful.
The job fair went very well. I went in with my online education viewpoint, and with a few districts that had online education, networked very well. In fact, one gentleman from Tacoma tracked me down and we had a chat- it's a good sign when they're trying to find you. My goal for this weekend is to update my resume on all the online stuff.
I'm frankly exhausted. I was so stressed out earlier this week I got a nosebleed, and there have been other physiological symptoms of stress popping up. I can't wait for spring break, as even though today went very well, I need some time to decompress not only from the first few weeks of student teaching, but both my grandparents dying and finals week. One more week, one more week.
In the mean time, here's a science flash simulation I showed a few students who came in during lunch. It shows the relative scale of everything. It's really amazing.
-P.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Student teaching, week one.
So, I'm student teaching full time now, and I have free reign of the class for 3 periods a day.
It's kicking my ass. I'm not very good at classroom management, time management, discipline, lesson planning, formative assessment, thinking on the fly, and flexibility. Which is kind of the point, apparently. My cooperating teacher and I had a talk about how I did today, and she told me that if there were any red flags, I wouldn't be there. That being said, we both agreed that I have a lot of areas to improve on, but that's to be expected from a student teacher in his first week.
That doesn't mean I don't feel awful about not being able to teach these kids as well as I'd like, but at least I know the main three issues- I need to manage time better, learn how to discipline kids, and watch the kids more. All of these will happen with time. And then I hope I can keep up the energy and passion I have now (or at least before this week began) for my students. Although to be honest, this is the end of the honeymoon period. They know me well enough to start testing my limits, and I think I've been failing by them by not disciplining them, and part of that has been my lack of knowledge on the school disciplinary policies. I have since got them, so now I have that tool. Hopefully it will help.
One of the high points in the day was that several students came in to eat lunch in my room, wanting to hang out with me. So, I taught them about time dilation. It's one of the things that got me really into physics, and I learned it around their age. I hope I can spark the same passion in them.
Anyway, I watched Salman Khan's TED talk last night. I think the bricks and mortar school using the Khan Academy for math is awesome, but I'm curious to see how they do the other subjects.
That's all for now.
-P.
It's kicking my ass. I'm not very good at classroom management, time management, discipline, lesson planning, formative assessment, thinking on the fly, and flexibility. Which is kind of the point, apparently. My cooperating teacher and I had a talk about how I did today, and she told me that if there were any red flags, I wouldn't be there. That being said, we both agreed that I have a lot of areas to improve on, but that's to be expected from a student teacher in his first week.
That doesn't mean I don't feel awful about not being able to teach these kids as well as I'd like, but at least I know the main three issues- I need to manage time better, learn how to discipline kids, and watch the kids more. All of these will happen with time. And then I hope I can keep up the energy and passion I have now (or at least before this week began) for my students. Although to be honest, this is the end of the honeymoon period. They know me well enough to start testing my limits, and I think I've been failing by them by not disciplining them, and part of that has been my lack of knowledge on the school disciplinary policies. I have since got them, so now I have that tool. Hopefully it will help.
One of the high points in the day was that several students came in to eat lunch in my room, wanting to hang out with me. So, I taught them about time dilation. It's one of the things that got me really into physics, and I learned it around their age. I hope I can spark the same passion in them.
Anyway, I watched Salman Khan's TED talk last night. I think the bricks and mortar school using the Khan Academy for math is awesome, but I'm curious to see how they do the other subjects.
That's all for now.
-P.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Oh hey, look. I'm on /.
http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/03/20/2015209/Ask-Slashdot-Online-Science-For-8th-Grade-Students
Awesome. I love how the first comment descends into a microcosm of what's going on in the media with people saying that either teachers are valuable people and should be appreciated more, or that teachers are overpaid babysitters. There is some good advice there, though, and some of the comments I clicked on were highly insightful. I'll have to sift through them this weekend. Plus, a few people have emailed me personally, which is very thoughtful of them.
First day of student teaching. I'm already planning for math. Graphing systems of inequalities, then functions. This should be fun. Then I have a full week of planning more with functions and whatnot, and then spring break.
-P.
Awesome. I love how the first comment descends into a microcosm of what's going on in the media with people saying that either teachers are valuable people and should be appreciated more, or that teachers are overpaid babysitters. There is some good advice there, though, and some of the comments I clicked on were highly insightful. I'll have to sift through them this weekend. Plus, a few people have emailed me personally, which is very thoughtful of them.
First day of student teaching. I'm already planning for math. Graphing systems of inequalities, then functions. This should be fun. Then I have a full week of planning more with functions and whatnot, and then spring break.
-P.
Friday, March 18, 2011
An apology for Salman Khan
So, my head professor just sent me this youtube video critiquing KhanAcademy's science portion. I proceeded to watch it, then send my professor a lengthy email back, but it has since got me thinking about online education. As stated before, I am a huge supporter of online education, but with science, there is a unique problem- how to address misconceptions. Khan Academy does not really address misconceptions in what science videos of his I've watched, and while they are a great refresher for me as an adult with a good science background, I do feel that they might not be ideal for students as a sole source of science education.
But then again, I've never felt that KhanAcademy alone should teach students. There will always be a place for that one on one, human interaction. It is always amazing to see a student who has been struggling with material for a while finally come to you for help, and after a minute of pointing out misconceptions, they immediately understand it. KhanAcademy can't do that, but there are still strengths. It is good for review, or an alternate representation of material for students who are having difficulties. Once the initial misconceptions have been dealt with, I think they are great for providing information. Also, the fact that they are freely available on youtube is an added bonus. Their math videos are very intuitive, and he is a phenomenal lecturer.
But most students need a bit more. And that's why it's important to have someone who can help them through it, and troubleshoot their difficulties directly. I think a lot of schools, both online, and bricks and mortar, fail. Often times, in a class of 32 students, a teacher doesn't have time to address individual misconceptions, and students, sensing this, simply don't ask. However, if there was a way to cut down lecture time and simply focus on misconceptions and specific learning barriers, I think students would be better off.
That's my dream of online education, a plethora of amazing information for students to access that appeal to all sorts of learners, while there are staff available to guide students through their difficulties. KhanAcademy is a great single resource, but there are so many others out there.
I recently submitted an article to /. about online science resources for kids. Hopefully it'll get published, and I'll gain some cool stuff to use with my students. My cooperating teacher has sent me a few worksheets and labs, some of which are from university science departments and are amazingly well written and freely available, but it seems that these resources are rarely in a central location, which seems incredibly illogical- Wait, I decided to google it, and found the Open Directory Project Science Ed section. Cool. I'm sure there's more stuff, but from what I saw, that was cool. However, what I *really* want to find are citizen science things, not just worksheets and whatnot. I want stuff like galaxyzoo, where kids are helping astronomers classify galaxies, or fold.it, where students are learning how to fold proteins, and their results are actually used in science. Anything like that is right up my ally as far as things I would love to get students involved in.
But then again, anything and everything helps. As a beginning teacher, I'm realizing I'm not the best activity designer, and while practice makes perfect, I see no need to reinvent the wheel. If some people at the University of Ohio's genetics program have made an amazing genetics lab aimed at 8th graders, I think it'd be a crime to substitute my haphazard attempt when a superior one is available. Teaching is an open source medium, the only goal is to provide the best learning experience for your kids, and it's wonderful how willing people are to freely share their stuff.
Of course, this could segue easily into a rant about educational materials publishers, but I'd rather not get into that right now.
Also, I found out from a friend that he's reading this blog. I'm mostly writing this for myself, but if there's anyone out there who is reading this, I'd love to know so I can start answering questions, or addressing issues they're interested in. Feel free to comment, I'd love to hear from you.
-P.
But then again, I've never felt that KhanAcademy alone should teach students. There will always be a place for that one on one, human interaction. It is always amazing to see a student who has been struggling with material for a while finally come to you for help, and after a minute of pointing out misconceptions, they immediately understand it. KhanAcademy can't do that, but there are still strengths. It is good for review, or an alternate representation of material for students who are having difficulties. Once the initial misconceptions have been dealt with, I think they are great for providing information. Also, the fact that they are freely available on youtube is an added bonus. Their math videos are very intuitive, and he is a phenomenal lecturer.
But most students need a bit more. And that's why it's important to have someone who can help them through it, and troubleshoot their difficulties directly. I think a lot of schools, both online, and bricks and mortar, fail. Often times, in a class of 32 students, a teacher doesn't have time to address individual misconceptions, and students, sensing this, simply don't ask. However, if there was a way to cut down lecture time and simply focus on misconceptions and specific learning barriers, I think students would be better off.
That's my dream of online education, a plethora of amazing information for students to access that appeal to all sorts of learners, while there are staff available to guide students through their difficulties. KhanAcademy is a great single resource, but there are so many others out there.
I recently submitted an article to /. about online science resources for kids. Hopefully it'll get published, and I'll gain some cool stuff to use with my students. My cooperating teacher has sent me a few worksheets and labs, some of which are from university science departments and are amazingly well written and freely available, but it seems that these resources are rarely in a central location, which seems incredibly illogical- Wait, I decided to google it, and found the Open Directory Project Science Ed section. Cool. I'm sure there's more stuff, but from what I saw, that was cool. However, what I *really* want to find are citizen science things, not just worksheets and whatnot. I want stuff like galaxyzoo, where kids are helping astronomers classify galaxies, or fold.it, where students are learning how to fold proteins, and their results are actually used in science. Anything like that is right up my ally as far as things I would love to get students involved in.
But then again, anything and everything helps. As a beginning teacher, I'm realizing I'm not the best activity designer, and while practice makes perfect, I see no need to reinvent the wheel. If some people at the University of Ohio's genetics program have made an amazing genetics lab aimed at 8th graders, I think it'd be a crime to substitute my haphazard attempt when a superior one is available. Teaching is an open source medium, the only goal is to provide the best learning experience for your kids, and it's wonderful how willing people are to freely share their stuff.
Of course, this could segue easily into a rant about educational materials publishers, but I'd rather not get into that right now.
Also, I found out from a friend that he's reading this blog. I'm mostly writing this for myself, but if there's anyone out there who is reading this, I'd love to know so I can start answering questions, or addressing issues they're interested in. Feel free to comment, I'd love to hear from you.
-P.
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