Midterm

I love this class! I am new to the UNM program and I am use to same day lectures and normal class routine. Boy has this class mixed things up for me. I love it because Fances has so much energy and excitement. She is really the embodiment of the kind of teacher that I want to be, kind of weird and crazy, but fun and knowledgeable.

I love that this class has us working with kids. Middle school is where I want to be someday so the experience is second to none. I might be goofy around the kids but I do take it very seriously. Boy is it reliving to be with the same kids every week too. I am a sub also and it is hard trying to improve with different groups of kids every day.

Communication

There is always room for improvement in all areas, but for me it is this I need the most. My folly being keeping up on e-mail, the rising form of communication. Now that the kids have lap tops I have to work doubly hard at it. I think the laptops are a great way to help the kids learn and for the teacher to communicate with them on their level.

Communication is important in all aspects of life, but as a teacher it is even more important then it is to most. Communication is not just being able to make yourself clear, communicating is two sided. In order to communicate you must be able to understand the other party as well. In our case the students. Without good communication the students will never learn, but even more importantly, if they do not know that the teacher cares and is listening they will never open up, and they will never let that teacher help them.

At all ages they need to know that someone cares and it is most important to communicate this properly. Then, when they start opening up the teacher needs to listen and care. It is important as a teacher to be good at this second part of communicating, the listening, because without a two way communication then the teacher is just talking. In order for a teacher to do their job properly thy must not only teach, but they must care and do their best to affect the students life in a positive way. Without proper communication this is impossible and then the teacher is only talking at the head of the class, no communicating. And we all know talking and communicating are not the same thing.

Research

In all of my other classes research has been a painful experience. In this class I LOVE IT! Our largest project involves researching books. I LOVE BOOKS! Ok, so research is not only about reading the books, and I can not honestly say that I really researched ALL 100 books. I did however pick my favorites. Reading a book is a fine way to learn some about the author, but to really research one must find other books by and about that author. I feel that finding out what kind or genre of books they write is important. Also learning their style and finding what kind of elements thy like to use is important so I can use that info in a class.

We also researched Ann Frank. This was a very rewarding experience. You can never know too much about a subject, so research, research, research. It has also came to my attention that I need to read the syllabus and do other research, so today I will start that. It is a very good thing that I like the subject matter. That way the research will be fun and interesting. Hurray for non-painful assignments.

* A thought. Make research fun for kids. The above applies to them too.

Technology

Well, the grader of this could see my spill on the laptops in the communication section. I will elaborate. I think they are awesome because not only are they an awesome way to get useful information, help bridge the communication gap, but also learn through all learning styles. A teacher could teach with these and have the students go to sights that will help support the lecture with visuals. The act of going to the sight and finding the info helps the kinesthetic learner, an dif the teacher is talking or lecturing at the same time that fills the auditory requirements. A fabulous tool these laptops. Hurray technology.

More technology that is used in our lit class is the web page. They are difficult for me, but I think they are great. Never again will I have the ‘dog ate my homework’ excuse. Never again will I lose my papers and notes. Never again will leaving my homework some where else be a viable excuse. The sight will always be there, accusable through the internet on any computer. Again, hurray technology. I will indeed use the tripod for my classes too because of the reasons above and also because parents can look at work from any where.

Collaboration

I wish there was more of thin in our class. We do work in teams with the kids, which is great. But I wish each team could have discussions about their lit circles. I learn so much from my team mates I wish I could learn from other teams too. I think all experiences are important and I can only have my own personal experience. I wish I had more time to collaborate and learn from the rest of our class.

Beside that I think collaboration is important within our teams, and so far so good. We give each other ideas, talk about bed ideas and how to fix it, and much much more. 4 heads are better then 1.

Confidence and Independence

I must have the confidence to know I can learn and do well. I must have the independence to know I can do it by my self. Although help isn’t bad, independence and confidence go hand in hand and are very important to learning. I have subbed in many classes where a kid will ask for help on every question and then when I am standing there watching they do it on their own and right. This dimension is hard for me because for a long time, and especially in math, I was that student. I struggled with math because I lacked this dimension.

Today I know I have confidence and independence and that has made me a better student. I know I can learn on my own and I know I can learn to do things the right way. My, how hard it is to teach this dimension. It can be learned though. I learned it because my patient and positive math teacher helped me discover my potential. I still hate math, but I know I can try and get it wrong a million times and that is ok. No harm in that. If I try hard though, when I do get it right, I will truly understand the concept. This is why I feel like I can research on my own and do my work. I hope to be able to teach my students this too.

Knowledge content

For some one to learn, especially on their own, they must have a basis of knowledge. Every student has some knowledge content and as teachers we must build on what is already established. Even kindergarteners have an idea of how things work in the world. Balls fall when you let them go, there are different colors, sometimes there are a lot of something and sometimes only a little. We must start at their level, we must start with their knowledge content and build on that. It will do no good teaching algebra to someone who can not add and subtract.

My knowledge content…it is growing every day in this class. I have learned so much from my experience. Build, build, build Frances!

Skills and Strategies

Well I obviously have to work on being more organized. This is late because I am not organized. I am not an organized person but I have always found method to the mayhem. This is a skill I must work on because the mayhem may not be conducive to all of my future students learning. So having many different skills is important to teach many different students. My other skills are slowly improving. Listening skills are among them, but also working in groups (which I didn’t always like), and many more that have improved with the experience I am getting in the classroom.

One must have a million strategies to teach affectively. A middle school teacher has like 150 kids who all learn differently. If one strategy of teaching does not work go to the next. In our book group we had to change strategies a number of times to be more affective. Talking in the classroom did not work, the large group did not work, depending on them didn’t work and many more. So we took them outside, split up the groups and brought candy for bribery. More strategies may be necessary in the future.

Use of Prior and Emerging Experience

Being a sub for a year has defiantly helped me know what to expect and what to do. But working with the same kids every day is different too , in a wonderful way. I am glad for my experience and it has helped me to be versatile, but I am learning so much by being with the same kids every class. It is a different experience and it will be incredibly beneficial when I start teaching on my own.

As a teacher one must always reflect on the class. What worked and what didn’t, who needs help in what area. It is critical to be aware of the class room, but it is also important to think critically on how to fix any problems. What can I do to get through to this kid? What can I do to reach everyone? And many more questions we as teachers ask ourselves. Reflecting on a class is important. Taking notes is helpful whey a teacher notices something. A teacher can always do better. we just need to pay attention to how. Our students will in one way or another let us know.

Evaluation of grade

Well before this midterm is was an A+. now the midterm is late and I don’t know what that means. I have been there every day and busted my butt trying to find ways to stimulate our students. So hopefully that lateness wont affect my grade too much. I guess if I was being honest I deserve an A, maybe an A-. but I will work hard all semester to bring it back up to an A+.

Future Development

Well to start off, read the syllabus Ami. I need to get organized and get into it at home. I am 100% into it during class, but I need to be thinking of it outside of class too, and not just when I am doing homework. I am very passionate about teaching when I am there, I need to stay that way when I am not.

Class Activities

Well, can we talk a little bit the week before a thing is due about it. Maybe just a reminder. That would help me a lot. Besides that this class rocks.