Self-evaluation Blog #2: TEAM VideoTape (Lafayette HS)

I had the pleasure of watching myself teach again. (It seems like every time it's time for a picture in this program my hair is not done though.) This time watching it was a little less painful than it was in June, but I don't know if that is a fair assessment. There are major differences from Summer school and TEAM. Some of these differences include: the type of students (high schoolers to grad students), the amount of students (from 2 to 5) and the willingness to learn (didn't really care to the best students possible, a.k.a. teach me please). [On 2nd thought maybe that one didn't change!] The one difference that sticks out the most is the fact that I am teaching chemistry now, instead of biology. Although I know biology, I feel more comfortable teaching chemistry. Plus, I think that it's more entertaining! During this lesson, the "students" (aka my fellow peers) seemed on task and working. They were coming to the board, asking questions, and following along on their paper. I feel like they could have been a just a little more excited to learn chemistry. Duh, chemistry=fun! They weren't bouncing out of their seat, but I did receive a lot of volunteers to work problems on the board. So, I believe that I had a fairly decent lesson. Some of my students have never had chemistry before and for the rest of them, it was a long time ago. For those who had not had chem, I feel that they did learn a little bit, because they were answering questions correctly like those who previously had taken chem. Since learning is every teacher's dream, I think that I did a good job.

Some positive aspects of my lesson was my great attitude towards the subject and letting the students get out of their seat. Since everyone wasn't excited to learn chemistry, I feel like my positive attitude rubbed off on some students were less intrigued. For example, Liz W. went from having the kill-me-now face on the first day of class to answering questions the last couple of days. As I was planning, I think one of my mental goals was literally: don't make Liz look like she did on the first day! [It's ok, I still love ya. ;) Plus, it's over; you can smile now Liz!] I called on different students to get a feel of how they were understanding the material. For the students that came to the board, I made them explain how they did the problem by restating the rules that we learned as a class. In addition, I let the class evaluate the problems on the board and compare the answer on the board to the answer that they calculated. Also, I made the students copy every example from the board, so they would have examples to study with for their test. Although the lesson went well, there are some things that I would do differently next time. From watching the video, I learned that when I am too enthusiastic about something I tend to talk very fast and sometimes my words seemed mumbled to the class. Also, I noticed and my classmates pointed out that wave my hands a lot. I do realize that I need to tone it down a little, but in my defense, sometimes my hand-waving is an encouragement tool. For example, if I am trying to persuade a student to give me an answer and he/she is kind of close to the answer but mumbling, I wave my hands in a "keep going" manner to lead the student into the right answer. Another things I observed was that I always keep something in my hand. I don't know if it is because I still have some underlying nervousness or if I just like holding something in my hand; nevertheless, I need to put the papers down at some point. [That one's for you Holly :D] The new thing that I learned from the tape and from my oh-so-fabulous classmates is that I say "ok" and "alright" almost one million times during my lesson. From now on I vow to make a conscious effort to stop saying those words in my future classes or at least to calm it down. Ok? :D (Just kidding!)

Has my teaching style/ability changed??? Maybe. I tried my best not to lecture. I gave more examples to help solidify the concept I am trying to teach. I included the students more in the lesson. I think of better sets. I still need to include more visuals, but that'll change once I get the equipment. Instead of dancing in front of the class, I have started to walk around the room more. And, I have tried to stop giving the students the answer and have tried started to start them making them come the conclusion themselves. Yes, inductive strategies, I was listening. So, overall, I am pleased. I know that there is always room for improvement, but I believe I am on the right track.

(End note: Mrs. Monroe, you should be very proud of me. I wrote way more than a paragraph, and I did it all for you!)

July's Self-Selcted Blog #2: The TEAM Teaching Comments

Some 2nd years mentioned that the TEAM teaching aspect of the 1st year would be one of the hardest parts of the MTC summer preparation. I try to make up my own mind about certain situations once I experience them. In this case, I can agree with them. It is hard. In summer school, our lead teachers evaluated us and gave us feedback. Mine was nice, her comments were well thought out and on point. I could really see where she was coming from, especially when I watched the summer school video of myself. TEAM is so much different. TEAM teaching is hard. Yes, I said it. It is hard. I know what most people are thinking. How much harder can it be? You taught summer school for a month. You prepared lessons each day. What do you mean, "it's hard"? Yes, I did all of the work during summer school. In my case, I had to prepare new lessons, since I switched subjects. That was not the most exciting thing to do, more work never is, but that was NOT the hard part. The hardest part of team teaching is NOT stressing yourself out to make the lessons (for those who've been to college, you learn how to function without sleep), not all the preparation for the lesson (changing an aspect of the lesson, because copier is broken), not delivering the lesson in front of 6 interested people, nor is it trying to stay awake during a class that you've already taken more than 6 years ago. With TEAM teaching, not only do you have the main evaluator in your class, you have 5 other evaluators also. (Question, do I really need 6 evaluators?) But, the evaluations are not even the hard part. The hardest, and I do mean hardest part of TEAM teaching is LISTENING to the comments ALOUD. Yes, not only are 6 different people evaluating you, you have to LISTEN, ALOUD to all of the comments/feedback that each person has said! It is pretty overwhelming at first. Even through your most well-prepared and thought out lesson, someone (or maybe more) out or 6 will have some type of comment to make!

How does this make me feel? I think the idea of TEAM teaching is great. Ok, I know you're shocked, but let me explain. I think that it's great, because you have 6 different opinions. Six different people saw different things that made them feel comfortable. They also saw things that made them feel uncomfortable. They give you a list of positive points of things that you are doing well, and they also give you suggestions of how to improve. In addition, you have a teacher who has been teaching for a lengthy period of time, a teacher who knows the ins and outs of the profession, giving you her personal and knowledgeable opinion of how you can become a better teacher. Listening aloud to the personal comments of your 6 evaluators makes TEAM teaching hard and at times unbearable. But, at the same time, listening to those comments allows you, an eager 1st-year teacher, to be transformed into an eager and EFFECTIVE 1st-year teacher, who will make a difference in the lives of those whom he/she teaches.

July's Self-Selcted Blog #1: Teaching Chemistry

I am teaching chemistry at Lafayette High School in Oxford. In my class, I had two types of students: those that had chem a long time ago and vaguely remembered something and on the opposite end those that had never stepped foot into a chem class or if they did, they didn't remember anything. It was hard trying to teach a lesson as if they students were all on the same level. I learned from day one who those students were. Immediately, they were engaged in my set, but as the lesson progressed, I could see the confused look on their faces. Thankfully, they did not act out in class, but the look on one of my student's faces was enough for me. I asked if there were any questions, and they did not say anything. They just looked. They looked like they could really hurt me if I continued. They looked like they wanted to be anywhere else except for in Chemistry I. I could recognize the frustration on their faces. I think they wanted to ask questions, but they didn't know where to start. So, they just sat quietly, closing their eyes, doodling, and pretending they were elsewhere.

In MTC, the one of the main things they kept telling us, was don't take it personal. During my lesson, I was trying to remember that fact, but it was hard when your students are looking at you like that. After class, I went up to my less-engaged students and asked why they looked lost and was there anything I could do to make it more enjoyable for them. I just felt like I had to do something. I don't think that I could take 4 more days of their staring and they couldn't take 4 more days of me teaching Chemistry I. I was hard, but on day two, I tried to give more background information to include those who were less-engaged. I also made copies of periodic tables to help the class follow along more. On day 2, that look was still there, but a little softer. After more practice, and more lessons that look eased up a lot; in fact, on day 5, it had disappeared. From this experience, I think that MTC was right, you shouldn't take it personal. At the same time, I feel that you should do what you can to help make every student in your room feel comfortable with the material you're presenting.

Self-selected Blog #2: Why are you here?

If you knew anything about my summer school class this year, you would know that I teach Biology I and that I only had 2 students. The first student Z, who I mentioned in my previous blog, obviously needed extra help and detailed detention. Let's call my 2nd student C. C was the complete and total opposite of Z. C was that student who already knew this information and could potentially be a problem if you didn't find anything to challenge his mind. C participated in discussions, he, for the most part, did his homework. For the longest time, my coworkers and I could not understand why C was here. C was an exceptionally bright student. I loved to direct thought questions towards him, just to see what conclusions he could formulate. C passed all of this test and was usually in the 80% plus range. I noticed these trends throughout summer school. On Friday, after he had just achieved a 91% on his final exam, I had to ask him the question that I had been wondering about the entire month, "Why are you here?" C looked at me and gave me that little smirk he always has when he's off in another world in the class and said, "I don't know." I responded with I don't know either. I told him he was a bright student was great to have in class, so again, "Why are you here." After seeing I wasn't going to let up on the question he finally told me the story of how he used to get in trouble with his peers (yes, he said "peers") in bio class. He proceeded to inform me that he got blamed for many classroom interruptions caused by his peers. He said that his passed all his tests, but his behavior kept him from passing the course. I told him that I'm sure that what he told me was not the whole story and I'm sure that he did interrupt his bio class a few times. I told him that there was no reason that he should be in summer school and next year he needs to act like he has some sense. I didn't have some big threat that I could follow up on or anything, so I left it blank and just said that I better not see him here next year with my most meanest and sternest teacher persona. He looked at me then looked away and said, "Yes mam." He knew what I meant, and I don't expect to see him next year.

Self-selected Blog #1: A Success Story

Friday was the last day of summer school. I was very happy that things were kind of slowing down and that we'd be getting some kind of break soon. Over the course of summer school, I had only 2 students. The learning curve and learning differences between the two students was vast. There was particularly one student whose success I was concerned about. His name was Z. Z wasn't a bad student, he just did poorly on the majority of formally assessed assignments. In class, he would join the conversation, if you forced him. He would also answer questions. You may have to wait 2-3 mins after you asked the question, but if you forced him to do it, then he would. I knew he was struggling in all periods. Sometimes I felt bad about it, then other times, like when he didn't do his homework, I wouldn't stress about him. After Kate, my 2nd year, computed the averages before the final exam, I had a really bad feeling about Z. His average was on the line. Basically, if he passed the test, he would pass the class, but if he failed the test, then he failed the class. We reviewed heavily with each student. We really wanted to see both of our students excel in our class. On the day of the final exam, during the review, I felt a nervous about Z's performance again. He was answering review questions wrong and still didn't seem like he had retained any information at all. Once the test began I saw my other student on page 3, while Z was still on page 1. I couldn't take the pressure anymore, so I left. (Ok, not really, I left because we had to pick up the pizza for our party, but the pressure could still be felt.) When I returned, I saw that the test had been graded and Z had PASSED! I was so happy. He didn't just pass within one or two points, he had really passed with a 77 %. I was too ecstatic, because Z's test grades were usually on the lower end (50-70%), and his pretest was in the 30 percentile. End the end, Z passed the final and the class, AND the pizza was good!

Self-evalutaion Video

I was kinda disturbed watching myself teach. Although I like taking pictures when my hair is done, I don't think I like watching myself on video much. My video-taped lesson was one of my worst lessons ever! Beyond the disengaged look on my students' faces, I saw my quirky behaviors completely stand out. During classroom discussions, I have a habit of moving around a lot waiting for a student to answer a question. Also, I realized that I need better preparation and a plan B, just in case the students don't read the material to discuss the previous day.
My overall impression of the lesson is that it could have been better. Two ways that I know would have made a difference is the use of visual aides and more examples in the classroom to convey relationships. I feel that I am good at keeping the students on task, no matter how they would like to fall off. I think I should be more prepared for class. Maybe I should mentally review my lesson plan one extra time than usual to ensure my effectiveness. I learned that I should stop "dancing" while waiting for student response. Also I learned that I should put more emphasis on completing homework assignments.

Paper folding

I used the paper fold in my class. This assignment was hard for me. In high school it was hard for me to study anything other than my notes or the book. Therefore, changing teaching strategies was harder than imagined. The students seemed ambivalent towards the paper folds. I thought that the class would be more fun and exciting, because of them, but it was all about the same. We used the paper fold as review technique. It was hard to check for all of the information required under the folds. Also, I need to observe more while completing the folds. One student did not leave sufficient space to put all of the required information in the folds. All in all, the technique was fun and deep down inside I think the students enjoyed it.