I am a science-Peter.

So, my sister drew me something for my blog, and I really like it. I have a few other sketches people have done, and eventually I want to set up a rotating banner, when I have a bit of free time to scan them and resize everything.


Commission, "Science Peter" by ~TheJung on deviantART

Things have been really busy lately. I am student teaching 3 days this week, which is also finals week. If I am not asleep, I am busy. I have very little time to myself, but hopefully once student teaching starts I will be able to cordon off a little bit more me-time. Student teaching starts next week, although I will miss a day due to a mandatory job fair. The following week, I finally student teach for an entire week, and then I have spring break to recuperate from everything. It will be hard going away from grad school, which has been my life for the past 9 months, my cohort, a small group of 17 that have become like family to me, and a lead professor who has been both a hard taskmaster and an insightful mentor, but student teaching will keep me busy.

I went to a job fair Monday, which was a lot of fun. I went to employers with the very directed question- "Do you have an online academy?" Against my expectations, about 50% of them said yes. I even met the principal of one, and he wrote "ischool" on my academy, and I will be emailing him soon.

Oh, wait, I haven't talked about online academies in depth yet, have I?

So, online academies. For one of my projects, I had to do a wiki article about a subject of my choice. I chose online academies, as having done IT work in the past and being a huge computer nerd, online anything generally equates to better anything in my book. So, in my research, I actually visited an online academy and got to geek out with the staff, who really reminded me of an amalgamation of IT people and teachers. The building itself was half classroom, half server room, and while a lot of things were still in development, I was very impressed with what I saw. I don't believe online learning is for all kids, but I do feel that a lot of kids benefit from that type of learning over general school learning, and that this online academy did a very good job at keeping the kids motivated by requiring usually one day at the bricks and mortar location per week, and using a vast array of software to help meet students learning needs.

So, going there was sort of like going to Disneyland. Then, I hooked up with the information literacy people, and realized that information literacy and online academies could work amazingly together. That grew to be my general spiel for talking with districts that had online academies. Other districts I just learned about, and there were some that were really interesting.

However, just today, I attended a site counsel meeting where they talked about the state budget. Even with my math and science endorsements, I really can't be certain if I'm going to get a job, much less find work at an online academy. I would go into a political rant about how they need to fund schools better, tax the wealthy, and give teachers free awesome cybernetic implants that allow them to see students brainwaves in real time, but that can come later.

In any case, I'll keep on trucking. I know my niche, and if I don't get there immediately, it's something I will continue to aspire towards, keeping up on the latest news and developments with.

In the mean time, I've been taking over more and more classes. Today, I taught 3 periods, and co-taught the final period, which I will be co-teaching for all of my student teaching, due to the heavy machinery in the classroom that I am not certified to oversee the operation of.

Things I've learned recently, negative first:
-Let students figure things out. Inquiry, inquiry, inquiry. Even in math. If it's an important concept, let it take a while longer to sink in. I had planned an inquiry activity to help students understand why you flip the inequality sign when you multiply or divide by a negative, but I ended up just giving them an example and showing exactly why the numbers didn't fit anymore, rather than letting them figure it out. I think I was so worried about time that I just lost out on a really good teaching opportunity.

-Be willing to discipline. If a student is disrupting learning by being a twerp, send him out.

-Learn how to deal with when students come up to do math equations. They might be confident in their work, but when they mess up, it's very embarrassing. A girl did that, so I had her identify what she did wrong, then had another girl come up and try it, but the girl who came up is very sensitive. I talked with her a bit after class, and she seemed fine, but I want to make sure she is still willing to come up in the future.

-Be careful with the caffeine. I've been drinking a LOT of it lately, and it's not doing good things to me. I'll just leave it at that. Part of it is having finals week along with 5am wake ups, but once I start student teaching, I will really have to work on figuring out a sleep schedule that keeps me going without having to drink a 5 hour energy (intense shot), a caffeine drink, a large cup of tea, and a cup of coffee in a day.

-Do not use the word 'lecture' with middle schoolers. I informed them that I would be giving them a quick lecture on something, and they flipped out. I explained that it was just a discussion, and that calmed them, but now I know that using the 'l word' is not okay with that grade.

The good!

-Note student's skills and interests. A few cheerleaders were in the back of class, practicing a cheer. We had just studied blood, so I asked if this was 'the blood dance.' They proceeded to put together a quick 'b-l-o-o-d!' hand motion cheer. When I saw them again in 6th period, I asked them to do more, so I let them get their science notebooks and start using the vocab words to put together a cheer which they will get to perform before the exam. They are not getting any grades for this, but they are so psyched.

-Let kids know that you care about their learning, and that you want them in your class. That means a lot to them.

-Talk about stuff you're passionate about. Today was a more relaxed worksheet day, so a few kids finished early. They wanted to throw a ball around class, and I told them to mention areas of science they were interested in. Minutes later, I was explaining the Large Hadron Collider with them. I later overheard my cooperating teacher saying, "Wow... I could learn stuff from him." The few students I had were completely engaged, and wanted to learn more. I told them to start reading Scientific American online. It was a really great moment, and I want to make more moments like it. With 8th grade, the standards don't cover a lot of really amazing stuff unfortunately, but if you can find time to bring it up, it's totally worth it. In fact, that cool technology-modern applications bit is something I want to incorporate as much as possible, even if it does occasionally require more standing and delivering, which is not in vogue right now.

-Let students into your life a bit. Don't be afraid to tell them little tidbits of your life, so long as they are appropriate. They want to know you, so let them know you, so long as it doesn't interfere with learning.

AND

-Keep student learning as your bottom line. If something is helping learning, great. If not, it has to go.

So, that's where I am. On the horizon, I have lesson planning to learn, classroom management to master, and assessment to acquire. And always, I could be better. That's what's fun about it. I told my cooperating teacher, that is one of the things I like the most about teaching, is that it's challenging. I tend to learn things very quickly, and gain some degree of competency at them with ease. Academic work is rarely challenging, and if I take it at my own pace, it is usually very quickly digested. Teaching is a completely different realm, one that is molding me slowly as I try to master it. I love it.

-P.

For lack of free time.

I know my last two posts have been fairly insubstantial, I'll try to get enough time to write something meaningful later. Still, this last week has been brutal. There was a comic book convention over the weekend, and I decided that, despite it being nearly finals week and the dark shadow of final projects looming over my head, I should go. So, in addition to doing 3 days of student teaching and 4 days of class, I took the challenge and plowed through several of my final projects, rendering them to rough draft form. I earned my comic con.

The con was great, it felt wonderful to reconnect with some old friends and be reminded of my life before grad school. Then, at the end of the con, I got news that my grandmother had died. I had known it was coming, but it still came as a shock- my grandpa on the same side had died a few months prior, and these things usually happen in pairs.

I took yesterday off, and went into class today. I crashed and burned for one period, which is bound to happen sooner or later, but improved by the next prep. I learned that I need to understand the context of student learning, and teach within those parameters- I went into the class not knowing what the students had covered, and expected them to be able to do work based on material they hadn't touched. The result was... Well, bad, and I didn't correct it in time. I learned. I feel awful, but I learned and applied it next period, which went much better.

I'm honestly getting to a point where I'm very tired, but grad school slows for nobody. I just want to get to student teaching, get through it in a positive fashion, and enjoy my summer.

On the bright side, I have started accepting 'Science Peters,' which are little doodles of me doing science. At the comic convention, I asked a number of artists to draw headers for this blog, portraying me doing science. I got a number of submissions, and will upload them eventually. If anyone reading this has any ideas, I'd be glad for them.

I have a lot of stuff to talk about, including open source teaching, social justice and the internet, and worksheet websites, but right now, I'm too tired to continue writing.

-P.

I am an idiot.

So, yesterday was my first day of full teaching. As I said to a teacher during lunch, "I know I'm going to make mistakes, but I'm really worried about the ones I don't know I'm doing."

Before first period, my cooperating teacher had some chest pains, and had to be taken to the hospital. She's quite alright, but I was tasked with running the classroom. Awesome. Because I don't have my teaching license, they had to have roving substitutes in the classroom, or staff on their planning period. That's fine.

First period was pretty chaotic. I didn't have her lesson plan, and I didn't know how to use a lot of the tools to successfully run the class. Plus, that class is fairly rowdy, but it managed to go over well enough. There was a quiet sub, a graduate from the K-8 certification program at the same university I'm in. A lot of subs I've met are from that program, which makes me very glad I'm in the secondary science program, from my understanding we get snatched up very quickly, and those that aren't are usually pining to work at a specific school.

Second period was planning. I got a text from the teacher explaining where all the lesson plan stuff was, and I understood what I needed to do.

Third period, a staff teacher on planning came in to watch me. He had a huge pile of tests to grade, and asked if I was comfortable teaching the class. That moment was very empowering, and I said I was. Awesome. So, I ran the class, and we got everything we needed to done, although we ran VERY close to the bell. Still, a massive success in my eyes.

Fourth period came along, which is a math/science block. Another staff teacher came in, and I told her that I was comfortable teaching this class, and she could grade papers.

That was a mistake. She went in thinking that she was going to co-teach, and I told her, in earshot of students, to grade papers. I did not mean to be insulting in any way, it was a miscommunication. I was stating to her that, "Hey, I've got this, don't waste your planning period on account of me!" She heard, "I don't need your help. Grade papers." Students apparently heard the same thing, and told another teacher about the incident, and it got around and ended up in an email from my cooperating teacher, stating she needed to talk to me about the incident in 4th period and how I spoke to Michelle.

But back to the day! Not knowing what I had done wrong, I moved to 5th period, where a substitute teacher worked on her laptop while I had the students do a math test, which lasted all period. Mean ol' Mr J making them do an horrible test.

6th period was the engineering class, which was pretty hard to control, but went fine. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, and had a crazy drive home through the snow, only to find that my afternoon grad school class had been canceled. I went home and read that email, and spent most of the evening worried.

So, I emailed my placement coordinator about the situation, she helped me put it in perspective and told me to email the offended teacher an apology, and CC it to my cooperating teacher. I just did that, and I just received a reply from the offended teacher, explaining her perspective.

So, the lesson learned here is this: If you have a teacher that is watching you, realize that they might actually want to co-teach. The thought had never even crossed my mind, and I was so caught up in my excitement to actually be running a day that I wasn't even thinking about anything aside from what was going to happen in class.

So, I'm currently okay with that teacher, which is good. My cooperating teacher understands my perspective, and now I need to find out what teachers were told about me 'telling off' another teacher. While this is something I will have to atone for in some way or another, it was just a learning experience in which I learned to communicate with teachers. I assumed she would want to sit and grade papers for her own classes, and I was completely wrong.

So, hooray miscommunication nearly giving me a panic attack.

In the mean time, I'm snowed in, so I probably won't be back to the school till Monday, where I'll have to bring some sort of apology gift to the teacher. A nice bag of French Roast is probably a good idea, although if she doesn't like coffee, that could be a problem.

Anyway, that is a huge weight off my shoulders. Now I can focus on my classwork. And, aside from that one issue, the day went fantastically. I was so grateful to get a full day of teaching in, and according to all who saw me, I did a pretty good job. I did have the lesson laid out for me, so that was useful, and the kids are conditioned to respond to a signal, and there is a solid behavior plan and expectations in place, so I am walking on the shoulders of giants, but I still feel I really did well.

And it was good to have a real scare. I've been getting close to burn out for a while, as the exhaustion of a full time classload, part time job, and teacher observation take their toll on me. But this managed to energize me and make me realize that I'm too lucky with my placement to go moping about.

Anyway, all's well that ends well.

-P.

Day 2, TEACH!

So, I taught another full period. Actually, over a full period- I am slowly taking over the science portion of the 4/5th period science math block, and yesterday, I taught over an hour of science.

Last time, I was disorganized, nervous, and clumsy. This time, I planned smart, instead of creating an ordered list of things to do, I made a list of things that would contribute to student learning, and that made all the difference. That, and not freaking out. The overall result was 100% better, and the teacher commented that I did really well.

It feels great.

Yesterday, in my Culture of Secondary Schools class, a number of recent graduates of the program came in and talked about their experience. They all had jobs, so that was very promising, the only one who wasn't a full time teacher was doing subbing, and was in the Army, so he had no interest in doing long term teaching at this point. The rest of them were all employed relatively locally, and all seemed to be doing what they wanted. What was weird was seeing a few dopplegangers of people in our current cohort in last year's- there were around 4 people who really reminded me of people in my cohort, including a guy with a lot of my mannerisms and similar appearance. That was a little spooky, but at the same time, rewarding to see what I might be in a year.

On the more somber side, they all outlined what is to come- Student teaching will leave you exhausted. Your first year of teaching will leave you half dead. But they also gave us a lot of advice- Seek out help. Collaboration is key. Self care, self care, self care. Be humble with parents. You can get a lot of free stuff from the community if you are a teacher. Don't give up, and if you work hard, your hard work will pay off. Don't make mountains out of molehills. Drink beer. Make a support network. Use the internet to your advantage.

It was great to meet some graduates, and see that, hey, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Right now is a really hard time to be a teacher, especially with the financial crisis Washington is facing, but they all seemed to be swimming, not drowning, and the overall experience was one of hope, something that I think a lot of our cohort has needed lately. I see a lot of bags under eyes, a lot of exhaustion, and in a few people, trace signs of depression. It's hard to witness that happening to people who I've been together with extensively since last summer, people who have become like family to me, but at the same time, I hope that they have a good support network. I think I've been pretty lucky in that respect, I have a lot of friends who cheer me on, and they have been really understanding. I don't really get to thank them all that much, but their support has been one of the big things keeping me from going off on the deep end.

In any case, I'm going on a field trip this Thursday with my class to test water purity. This should be really cool, and I'll post about it later. I really should get a camera, so I can actually document some of this.

-P.

Relationship advice.

So, a few weeks back I interviewed a principal for a class project. I had promised the interview would be 5-10 minutes, but we ended up really hitting it off, and the talk lasted a good half hour. Plus, he made the mistake of giving me mountain dew, and as someone who avoids high fructose corn syrup, I was in a state of hyperawareness and hyper-everythingelseness.

One of the core values he said he sought out in teachers was the ability to build relationships with students, creating a framework for learning. That really jived with me. He told me that he could go into a German classroom, not knowing a word of German, and still be able to teach it if he was able to build a relationship with students and use that as a scaffolding for the learning process.

For the longest time, I had been hyperfocused on external factors in learning, such as high levels of content knowledge, interesting lesson plans, and incorporating technology into the classroom. Him flat out telling me that the bottom line is the students was a nice wake up call, and a reminder to me of why I'm doing this.

Following that, a parent came into our class to tell us about her experience with schools, and she pointed out the value of teachers that genuinely care about their students, and make an effort to change their lives for the better. She referenced several teachers she stayed in contact with over the years, and the impact they made on her throughout her life.

I think that is a really important part of teaching that gets shoved under the carpet, especially due to boundary issues. Still, I have had a few teachers that changed my life, and I have since stayed in touch with them, occasionally meeting up for lunch or exchanging emails. They were role models, mentors, and helped me grow as a person, not only in the classroom, but in my life. Sadly, I think a lot of teacher programs are discouraging that due to boundary issues, and I completely understand why. Still, it was good to finally hear one person state the importance of building those lasting relationships.

That's not to say I want to have a lasting relationship with every one of my students. I want to build good relationships with them in order to help them learn. But if I manage to really make a difference in a kid's life, it would be an honor if s/he let me know when s/he got into a college, made it into grad school, or did something amazing. Teachers put a lot of time and effort into kids, I think it's only right that they occasionally hear back on their investments. Hell, I think moments like that are what would keep me sane as a teacher, hearing back from students 5 years down the line to find out that they've been accepted into MIT, and I helped inspire them in that direction. That would feel amazing.

Still, I completely understand the reason for teaching programs not really encouraging, or even bringing this up. Due to all the sexual abuse, everybody is terrified of the idea of a female student emailing a male teacher about personal things, and rightfully so. Bad things do happen. But I think it is important to use prudence, and, when appropriate, be willing to keep in touch with students.

In closing, I am reminded of Jeff Howell. He was a teacher that changed my life forever, and has inspired me to become a science teacher. In some ways, it could be said that he had boundary issues- he always touched people when he was talking to them, something my profs have told me never to do. Still, it was never inappropriate, it was always a hand on the shoulder, and given that he was a wrestling coach, it somehow worked. I never, ever felt uncomfortable with it- rather the opposite. As someone who was bullied regularly, it was the only physical contact I got that wasn't painful. He encouraged me to follow my passion for astrophysics, and would listen to my weird theories about black holes and subspace during lunch and after school, where I was a regular in his classroom. He once told me that, in the teacher's lounge, I was brought up as a weird kid, and he told them that he thought I was brilliant.

That moment changed my life. I was vindicated. After studying astrophysics and astronomy for so long, and never being acknowledged, someone finally recognized me. I madly pursued theoretical physics from that point on, and developed a life long passion for science, thanks to that moment where an amazing teacher put his hand on my shoulder and told me he thought I was brilliant. He built a relationship with me, and thanks to that relationship, I learned more in that science class than any other class, and decided to further pursue science afterward.

I ran into his cousin a few weeks ago. He's also becoming a science teacher through the program. After seeing his last name, we both shared that Jeff Howell was our mutual inspiration for becoming a teacher. I told him how much he changed my life, and he later shared that with Jeff, who, upon hearing them, was fighting back tears. I later called him and we talked a bit, although due to poor reception the conversation was awkward, but we agreed to meet up during the summer, as teachers and friends, and share lunch and classroom management tips.

Mr. Howell was not my friend when he was my teacher. He was a teacher who, through building a relationship with me, got me into science and helped steer me in a really positive direction for my life. Now that I am an adult, I consider him a friend, and someone I owe an infinite debt to for helping me find the wonder in science. I can only hope to be that for my kids.

As a teacher, I want to not only teach kids the content matter, I want to teach them how to be better people. I want to be a role model, a mentor, and an ally. And through this, I hope they'll find a passion for science too, as I did. And honestly, I think most teachers want this. It's probably what they find the most rewarding part of their job- hearing back from an ex-student to find out how much their classes meant to them. One letter like that probably makes up for 200 angry parent calls.

It's been good to remember why I want to do all this.

-P.

My first full period of teaching.

So, yesterday I taught my first full period of teaching. I have been coming in two days a week to my cooperating teacher's classroom, and have gradually been getting more and more comfortable with the students. I have also been spending the odd period shadowing another teacher, learning about the variety of teaching styles.

So, yesterday had two landmarks. While shadowing a teacher, she made me her co-teacher for the period, having me write my name on the whiteboard for the students. This is the first time I've ever done that. Then, for fourth period, I ran a microscope lab for the entire period. The teacher took roll, but aside from that, the entire period was mine.

I made mistakes. I was trembling so much the students asked if I was okay, to which I replied I was really nervous. I was awkward with the classroom management, and control. But overall, I did okay. "Good for your first time," my cooperating teacher told me, before giving me a critique.

It's going to be a while before I get used to handling classes, but I will do it. The biggest thing, I think, is I need to get better at lesson planning, and control for anxiety. But those things will happen. Frankly, I just feel amazing.

On the negative side, I'm sick. I would be going in for a third day this week, but I've been coughing so much my voice sounds like I have a dead possum stuck in there.

-P.

Introduction.

Hi.

I'm currently a student teacher, and in an attempt to maintain some semblance of sanity, I've decided to start blogging about my experience, thoughts, and whatever else I need to put down on text.

A bit about me, I'm 26, I live in Washington, and am highly qualified in mid-level math and science. I'm currently in a masters program to get my MEd and teaching certificate, and am currently doing my practicum (teacher observation) at a middle school. I live in a house with my artist girlfriend, a roommate, and two cats, and have a (very) part time job as a case worker for catholic community services.

One of my real big interests is educational technology, and the various ways technology can enhance education. Right now I think that is one of the major areas where education is really failing to serve students, by providing excellent online options for their schools. That being said, I've also seen a lot of schools with online stuff that gets ignored by the students as well as the teachers, so I think that the online option might be something that is either a bit too ahead of its time, or not fully implemented in a useful way. Too often, students don't need to check the online stuff, it doesn't enhance their education in any major way, so it gets left alone. But for the students who are naturally internet inclined and might happen to miss a few days, I think that there are a lot of options.

Still, I think from a teacher's perspective, if you use the online stuff effectively enough, it could probably offer a lot of cool opportunities for web quests and what not. I don't know, it's something I'm going to have to do some research on eventually, as it might be something I'll use in the future, or even want to get involved with.

The program I'm currently in is a secondary science focused program, and thus far I've been really enjoying it. The head professor is a slashdotter, which I have been since high school, so we speak a similar dialect. The classes have been very intense, but I've been somehow managing to stay afloat with only a handful of mental breakdowns.

My student observation has been going pretty well. I'll spare a lot of the details in this post, but it consists of two science preps, a math-science block, and a sort of engineering class. The teacher has her national board certification, and really has a good handle on the stuff. That being said, it's incredibly intimidating to follow that act. Still, for all my weaknesses and novice skill level, I bring a passion, a genuine enthusiasm for kids and science, and a wealth of science knowledge. It'll be interesting to see how well I do going through the shredder that is a middle school classroom. They've already figured out I'm a huge nerd, but I don't deny it. Science really is my thing. And after a while, I think they somehow think it's acceptable, and seem to want to spend time talking to me about stuff. It's probably just the novelty of having someone else in the classroom, but I usually try to bring up some cool science news that they might not know.

And hell, that's what keeps me going on science. They just found a bunch of exoplanets, and something like 40 of them are candidates for life. Holy hell, that's cool. They're making more breakthroughs in AIDS research. Also awesome. Bacteria are now able to synthesize gasoline from CO2. We're living in the future, and I think kids deserve to know what this abstract stuff is going towards.

I guess I should close this on a personal note, and just say that this path towards teaching is really taking a toll on me, but it's a good sort of toll. Before I started, I was a sort of aimless IT geek philosopher who wanted to share science with the world. I've found a path towards it, and while it is burning away a lot of my weaknesses and neurosis, I think I'm liking who I'm becoming, I'm finding my way out of the labyrinth that is the mid 20s.

-P.