Blog #2

When referring to the success of my students, I am going to refer to my World History course. At the beginning of the year, I did not know what I was doing. I have heard many veteran teachers say that the first year of teaching is the best on the job training that you can receive. They are so right. My most successful lessons came when we studied ancient Egypt and the Slave Trade. What made it so successful was the use of engaging sets and giving the students a way to effectively take notes. The times not spent on Egypt and the Slave Trade is just one big blur. For some reason I continued to do the same tired, non-effective activities over and over again, writing definitions, reading and answering questions, doing worksheets. I am almost ashamed at my performance to be honest. When I did not engage them or give them information in an easy to organize manner I lost the kids. It was not until I attended a technology training at the end of the year that I realized how I should teach. Develop your objectives around what the student should be able to do at the end of the period. Make a set that involves the learning and leads into the objectives. Describe or demonstrate what the skill is for the day, give notes using a graphic organizer, let the students practice independently, check for understanding, close the class. What a simple process! For some reason this did not soak in as I sat in Guyton. I received this nugget of knowledge too late into the year to apply it in my room. August cannot come soon enough.

I know what differentiated instruction is but I do not know what it is. I think you know what I mean.

Now that I know the material that I am teaching I am going to be more effective.

I now understand that for students to effectively obtain an idea you need to give them the information in a way that they could put it into order: a graphic organizer.

The most important instructional strategy that I have learned is that I need to learn how to laugh at some behavior instead of giving a warning.

Parental Involvement

If you do not call every parent within the first three weeks you will have no parental involvement. You need to call and introduce yourself and let the parents know that you are excited about teaching their child. If your first contact with a parent is 6 weeks into the year and it is to tell them that their child is acting up, you will get no support. Plus many of the parents will tell you on the initial phone call what to do with the child if he/she does act up, you want to make a note of that and do not be afraid to call if the child acts up. If you are trying to put together something after school or you want to form a club, take a special field trip, you will most likely have to contact the parents. If you have already made contact it is a lot easier to interact with the parents to inform them what is going on or to ask the parent(s) to act as a chaperone or to donate something for the room.
Let me say this again, call every parent within the first three weeks or you will have no parental involvement.

Has this experience change your life?

You can never really appreciate something until you actually experience. I have found that there are two main camps among educational professionals. There are the ones who come into work excited, or excited most of the time, love the kids, and want to see them exceed, even the ones who are, well lets just say energetic. Then there is the camp that believes the parents are to blame for everything and that the kids want to be ignorant. This past year depending on the circumstances, I fell into both camps. Next year I plan to restrict myself to the camp of excitement. I love my job, at times it is difficult due to misunderstandings with the students and other adults at school, but you have those kinds of misunderstandings at all jobs. I love to see the excitement in a student when they finally get it, the look of satisfaction a child has on there face because they know my room is a safe, routine environment. I love the fact that my students respect me because they know I am fair and honest not because I yell, threaten or degrade them. This experience has changed me because I can now appreciate kids who are referred to as a statistic on paper as what they really are, children, no different than anyone else America.

Blog #1

The other day I was observed by Dr. G.M. It did not go as well as I would have liked but I had no grounds to complain because the good doctor was right. One of his recommendations was that I have to have objectives not procedures listed for my objectives. All of last year and last summer when people discussed objectives all I heard was bloom. Increase the bloom knowledge. Make sure you use a bloom verb. The doc said, “What is it that the student should be able to do at the end of the period? That is your objective.” That simple statement has changed my outlook on effectively teaching. The lessons I have planned this summer are aimed at accomplishing the big goal, building on one another as the period’s progress. We have only one kid. The first day was spent figuring out how he learned best. Yesterday I developed objectives that I felt could meet him where he is. I created objectives that asked for him to identify, explain, and compare and contrast. The objectives built on each other over the course of the day. The student was really into it and was at times craving for more. By spending Tuesday feeling him out, understanding where he is and how well he could think. It allowed for me to really engage him yesterday with some good lessons that met him where he was at. My instructional strategy for the past two days, eight lessons, was to give direct instruction leading the student through the material, directing him were to find the material, and then I used the concept attainment inductive strategy model. It worked wonderfully. The student was able to create Venn Diagrams and place the information on a timeline based on its classification. The student was then able to explain to me the concept that I was trying to teach, in other words, the big picture.

Globe (Delta) Trekker

Last week my wife and I decided to take a day trip. We were throwing around ideas and finally decided upon Vicksburg. A place we both have driven through on I20 but never actually visited. Our day started at Connie’s Kitchen in Leland for a Cinnamon pecan roll, a Raspberry cream cheese roll and coffee. Breakfast was great, as it always is from Connie's. We made it to Vicksburg in an hour and half traveling down highway 61. We took old 61 into Vicksburg instead of I20 and it led us directly into downtown. It was great; it looked just like parts of downtown Memphis that have been revitalized. We walked around for a while in awe of the historic buildings and the cleanliness of the streets. We took a tour of the old courthouse and it was terrific, it is a self guided tour filled with the history of Vicksburg but mainly the civil war. The old judge’s chamber is dedicated to "President" Jefferson Davis. The courtroom is on the second floor and the windows overlook an amazing view of the Mississippi River. I can imagine the judge day dreaming while gazing out the window at the Mississippi River during some long winded court proceedings. After that we went two or three blocks to Walnut Hills restaurant. It was recommended to us by some friends, it was fabulous. We had the meat and three with dessert. Our total bill including tip was $20. The best part of the meal was not eating in a house that is over one hundred years old, nor was it the amazing service, or the one of a kind charm found in the atmosphere, no, it was the bourbon chocolate pudding. Yes that is correct, bourbon chocolate pudding. Next we traveled to the National Military Park. I did not know much about the park but I heard it was worth seeing because of all of the civil war stuff. The park is run by the national parks service and it is $8 per car to get in. The park has a small museum at the entrance with a theater that shows a short movie on the Battle of Vicksburg during the civil war. The park is shaped like an L covering sixteen miles. You drive following the battle lines of the Yankees and the Rebels. I am not a huge civil war buff but as a history teacher this put the idea of war into a fresh new reality. You were able to see the actual trenches and battle lines. In most cases they were as close as 15 yards. It was a terrific park. Plenty of places to get out of the car and walk around and get a real sense of how the war was fought. We spent almost four hours at the park. Before leaving Vicksburg we went back downtown to the Highway 61 coffee shop for an ice cold coffee concoction. Unknowingly the coffee shop had an art gallery on its 2nd and 3rd floors. It was such a nice treat. If I had some money to spend it would be all gone after stopping in there. They had some great Delta folk art paintings and scenes from farms and swamps. We then came home, rented a movie and ordered a buffalo chicken pizza from the gas station. What a wonderful day for $70.