Guest Speaker

I really enjoyed the guest speaker that we had last week. I feel that she provided some very insightful ideas in regards to classroom management and rules. The speakers recommendations that rules should never be phrased as "If... Then" type statements was a new concept for me; I like this idea as I think having rules phrased positively is more likely to leave a lasting impression with the students, and hopefully they will remember them. In addition, I liked her recommendations of preparing and planing rules, routines, and procedures early in the school year, and communicating them clearly; I feel that early implementation eliminates confusion for the students in what is expected of them. Also, I believe that if teachers construct and implement rules at the beginning of the year the students will not be surprised by the consequences of misbehavior. This being said I feel that the consequences of student misbehavior should also be outlined.

Further, her idea that "children do well if they can. If they can't, we need to figure out why so we can help" was very intriguing for me as it directly relates to a goal that I have set for Block I which is: To learn how to incorporate a variety of teaching strategies into my lesson plans to meet the diverse needs/multiple learning styles of all students. By doing this I will be "figuring out" the needs of my students so they can do well.

Micro-Teach

First off I just want to say GREAT JOB EVERYONE!! I thought you all did an excellent job on your micro teaching!

I feel that my overall teaching-learning strategies for my micro-teach were well thought out and successful. I made an attempt to limit the amount of direct teach used with the students as I feel this is important to keeping the students engaged and involved with the material. While I realize that with every lesson and subject the amount of direct teaching will vary, I am going to make a conscious effort to always include my students in discussions, group work, activities etc. to keep them involved in the learning.

In my future lessons I need to work on my grammatical skills when I am speaking to my students. I have a tendency to use “you guys”, “gonna”, “so”, and “yah” several times during a lesson. I will have to start making more of a conscious effort not to use these words and thus be a good role model for my students. Also, I know realize the importance of correctly phrasing questions so I do not say, “can you”, “ could you please” or “are you okay with that”. I had never thought that by phrasing questions in such a manner portrayed that I was not taking authority; I will attempt to be more cautious of this

From the micro teaching experience I feel as though I finally understand the amount of material that can be covered in a certain period of time. Prior to this experience I feel like I had no concept of this. I also have a better sense for the speed at which grade eight students work; while I realize that not all students will work as quickly as these six students, I feel as though I have a better feel for when an activity or lesson is dragging on and needs to move to the next step.

Overall I think the micro teaching experience was very positive and I have learned a lot!

PA Day

Today I attended the Niagara District Catholic School Board's PA Day at Holy Cross and it was an excellent experience. We signed up a few weeks ago to participate in two workshops, and my associate teacher and I got out top two choices. Our first workshop was called "Differentiated Instruction and the Compassionate Catholic Teacher". I found this workshop to be very informative and interesting; the presenter provided us with excellent strategies to try and reach out and touch the variety of students needs that exist in a classroom. Furthermore, she provided us with the true meaning of what a compassionate teacher is and does in a classroom. After a nice lunch out, my associate teacher and I attended the workshop called: "Chicken and Noodle Games" and I had an amazing time during this workshop! We were provided with the "Chicken and Noodle Games" book which has 141 activities that could be used during gym class or DPA. During the workshop we worked through several of the games from chapters 1-6, and had fun doing so. I look forward to future PA Days... I hope they are all this informative and fun!

Micro-Teach Planning

Today I discussed subject and topic ideas for my micro-teach that is coming up on October 19th. My associate teacher and I discussed several ideas which included: math, drama, and phys-ed (healthy eating). After looking through textbooks and considering her long range plans we decided on the healthy eating component of the phys-ed curriculum. Initially I was a little nervous about trying to teach this topic as I tend to feel more comfortable with math and science; however, after discussing some of the curriculum expectations, and activity ideas (both mine and hers), I suddenly became quite excited and realize this could be a lot of fun! When I came home today, I did some research online with the Canadian Good Guide website, thought of some great visual ideas that I hope will enhance my lesson plan.... but I will leave it at that and not spoil the surprise for my peers and counselors.

My First Day Back in Grade 8

Wow! What a great first day back in Grade 8! But I must say this feeling of excitement did not overwhelm me until my nervous settled during the first hour. However, I did immediately feel welcome upon entering the doors of my internship school; a few of my peers and I were cheerfully greeted by the Vice Principle. Next, we proceeded to the library where our associate teachers, myself, and all of my fellow student teachers joined in a welcoming prayer service. This further made me feel like I was part of a welcoming faculty, who seemed equally excited to have us there, as I was to be there. Also, my teacher made me feel comfortable in her classroom, by introducing me to the students, allowing me to tell them a little more about myself, and by trying to get to know more about me. During my teachers prep period I was given the opportunity to read some students Bell Work/ Journals; I was happy my associate teacher allowed me to do this as it is one way I can better get to know the students in the classroom. However, I must admit that the butterflies that I had in my stomach early that morning came back during lunch time....What would it be like in the staff room? Where should I sit? Will my fellow student teachers be there? Once again I worried for no reason and everything was just fine at lunch and during the rest of the day! I am excited to have a great time learning and discovering Grade 8 all over again from a new perspective!