Shedding Light.

This post is covering my last visit to Lindsay Thurber on December 5th.

December 5th was my very first full day at the school, it also happened to be my very last formal visit through the field experience course. Geoff and I decided it was a perfect day for me to attempt my very first lesson to the classes. I was to plan a warm up activity that would work for all the classes of the day. We concluded that I would present to both morning classes of the grade 9 honors, and the very last class of the day the grade 10 honors class. The remaining class of the 30-1's Geoff would teach my lesson plan, so I could observe my own plans from the other perspective. Being all classes of high school ELA I decided to read exerts from "The Book Of Awesome". The book is a collection of short stories describing moments full of "awesome". The writings are often very descriptive, full of emotion and sometimes hilarious; so I decided reading some of them to the class would be perfect. I planned ahead picking stories I thought would present well to the class, incorporating length, relate-ability, and humor.

When I arrived that morning Geoff looked over some of the stories I had chosen and agreed that the book was great for a warm up activity. He also prompted me to introduce the readings differently, including questions to the class prompting them to guess at what the topics might be, ect. This aspect of planning the lesson was one I had not considered. Getting the students interacting is the entire point of a warm up. But this was a great learning experience, it pointed me in the right direction in a way I will never forget. The presentations went without a hitch, I enjoyed sharing with the class, and I could see they enjoyed hearing from me in a more formal way. After I had read the stories to the class, I asked them to share any of the "awesome" moments they could think of with the class. The responses were wonderful, I truly loved having this kind of interaction with them before my time was over. I believe that I gained a great deal from my experiences at Lindsay Thurber, this was a great way to end it all.

The only thing I would change about my presentation for next time would be to present the same stories to each class, rather than changing for each class. This would help to add flow to verbal presentation, and make me more comfortable in front of the class.

I learned many priceless lessons through the few months with Geoff. But the most important to me at this time is that I learned just how much I truly want to be a teacher. Spending time with the students, and seeing the drawbacks and positives of the profession shed light on my passion. This experience is invaluable, and I'm so thankful that RDC made it available to me in my first year towards my goal of becoming a teacher. This will help motivate me when times get tough, this passion will drive me through the courses I don't exactly like. Knowing the goal, makes the road towards it not so tough. I can't wait to be a teacher.

Thank you.

Winding Down.

Winding down my time at Lindsay Thurber I’ve realized how amazing my journey has been. I have truly come to look forward to my afternoons at the high school. Not only am I learning valuable lessons, but I’m also making very valuable connections. After having such a positive experience at the school I plan on continuing some field experience, and volunteering after the semester is over. This extra experience will benefit me in many ways. Having a variety of experiences throughout the school therefore gaining valuable lessons, the volunteer time is a good for my resume. Plus having relationships in the school past the expectations of the course shows the school that I’m passionate about becoming a teacher. But mostly I want to continue returning to Lindsay Thurber because I truly love interacting with the students, and staff at the school.

This week I visited Nov 25^th, and 27^th, and 29^th, in the 30-1 classroom the focus this week was completing their final assignments on the novel study “Night”. Many of the students had a jump start on the projects as they were assigned last Friday. During the work period I was able to interact with the student’s one on one. I circulated around the room talking to students about what project they had chosen, and seeing all of the works in progress. Because each project had a written response portion, I was often questioning students about how they planned to respond the choices they had made artistically. Many of the students surprised me with their ability to creatively respond to many different aspects of the project. One student creating a playlist for the book decided to take to assignment even further than requested. His playlist illustrated the story’s main characters emotional changes, sequentially from the first chapter to the end of the book. The kid’s drawings, diorama’s and various other kinds of projects were all very impressive. I was mostly impressed by the final project itself, I think Geoff created a great project that allowed all learning types to succeed. Not only would many of the students receive great marks, but also encounter a powerful learning experience with the novel.

In the grade 10-honors class this week Geoff had the class do a quick poetry assignment. The students were individually given an anthology of poetry and asked to search for some poetry to share in the class. When asked to read them aloud to the class hands shot up all around the room. The kids were reading poems of all kids, funny to serious and all types in between. Everyone was excited to share the readings they had found, this type of interest in poetry isn’t average, even in an honors class. The nonchalant nature of having everyone search for a poem they liked, held a much greater impact with reading poetry. Having some student choice still allows for teachable moments, while giving the class the excitement that drives a successful class. The class later continued the readings of Romeo and Juliet, reading, and acting the parts to the class. As the kids read each scene we are following along in the movie to further ensure understanding through the class. The students are still being very enthusiastic reading the parts, often coming to class early to volunteer to read. Geoff has effectively gotten the kids really excited about Shakespeare!

Checking for understanding.

For the days of November 18^th 20^th and 22^nd

 

This week in the grade ten honors class the focus was on essay writing. Much to my surprise the standard 5 paragraph essay wasn’t the norm, actually, it was discouraged. Graduating from high school recently, I found it really great that Geoff was discouraging the standard format so early. Coming to college and only knowing how to write a five paragraph essay was a hindrance for me. And seeing these kids really get creative with writing lead to some amazing results, and inevitably variety in their skill. Class time was heavily awarded to writing these essays, so I spent majority of time going around to kids who needed help. Reading exerts from the essays and helping them edit certain sentence was very enjoyable for me. I really feel accepted in the classroom and valued for my help by the kids, having this relationship has been extremely motivating for me. I know that this career choice is exactly what I want to do with my life. In the 30-2 classroom this week, the students were finishing up with the novel study on “Night”. They were assigned a final project on the book giving 7 options of response to the novel to suit all the learning types. After Geoff explained all the details of the project to the class, I went to help an ESL student catch up on another assignment in the hall. I will call this student Y. For the assignment I was helping him with, he needed all his notes from the chapters of the book, but he had lost many of them, and didn’t do the other portion. So we worked collaboratively to read through the chapters and find quotes that helped him to complete the assignment. It was clear that Y was very foggy on what exactly the assignment was asking from him, but when I explained and checked for understanding he would immediately agree, even if he didn’t understand. I saw Y’s tactics, he wanted to fit in, he wanted to understand the material and show he could do it on his own. But what Y didn’t understand was that I see how smart he is, and his ability to complete the assignment, I see that it’s simply a language barrier. At this point, I stopped and asked him about Thurber, if he liked it here? And he opened up to me, he shared that he used to live in southern Alberta and he moved to Canada when he was 8. We continued a personal conversation for a few minutes and returned to work. I could tell immediately the comfort level had changed, not tremendously, but he was more open with me. I offered him extra help to finish that assignment after school on my next visit. I think students like Y really need to be shown clearly your understanding of how the language barrier holds them back, and not intelligence. After talking to Geoff about Y, he agreed with me about Y’s reluctance to ask for help or clarification. But I didn’t believe that Geoff had talked to Y on a personal level to show his interest in Y as an individual who just needs extra clarification due to language, not intellect.

One very interesting method Geoff used this week, while helping the Grade nines write essays was that “arrow test”. This test was a simple way for students to check the context of their work, making sure that the ideas they are using stay in line with the thesis of their essays. This test simply asks students to take the _ line down in the second paragraph and read it aloud, while they read it Geoff asked them to be thinking about their thesis statements and making sure they were congruent. This simple exercise got students to focus on how important a thesis statement is throughout and entire essay. I’m truly enjoying my time at Thurber, though it does take up virtually all of my extra time with work, school, and homework. It has been a great kick start into my career, I’ve already been asking for any volunteer work I can participate in next semester when I’m done my field experience. I love being in the school.

New Perspectives

             On Thursday November 15^th I observed Geoff’s morning classes again, two classes of grade nine honors classes. This week they were reading the play “Dracula” aloud while acting out the parts at the front of the room. The kids were so involved and excited to be doing such an interactive reading of the play, hamming it up and goofing around in the skin of their new characters. It was wonderful to watch them get excited about reading a play. One student H was speaking her lines in an English accent, and doing a stellar job of both entertaining the class and reading her lines. Missing a few words a few of her lines another classmate acting with her began to interrupt and correct H when missing a word. After a few times of the interruption Geoff showed his concern and asked the student to please stop correcting H and told her that she was doing a wonderful job. The play continued forward without another interruption to H about her lines. The next classroom had the same itinerary, while I didn’t observe all of the play in this class, as I was helping another student in the hall, I noticed immediately the difference in comfort level within the class. This class was shyer with each other, not giving half the enthusiasm while reading lines as the first class had. The student reading the part of Dracula was stiff and quiet even though she happened to be an actress very involved in theater throughout Red Deer. Both classes of English 9 honors, both reading the same play, but the environment and feelings if trust between the students in the second class was very different. I find it interesting how the dynamics of the class affect the success of an activity just as much as the planning of executing the activity can be.

                I asked Geoff this week about his policy on late assignments, doing a project about the rules of a classroom myself I though getting his opinion about specific rules would give me some perspective on my own. I had implemented a rule stating: Late assignments have an automatic 10% dock and lose 2% for everyday late afterwards. Geoff explained that his rules used to be something similar, but as a department (English at LT) they decided that late marks on assignment don’t properly reflect the intellect of the student, rather, a behaviour. After thinking about this perspective, I decided to change my rule and thought process reflecting late assignments. I don’t believe that a student should have a grade reflecting his behaviour rather than his actual accomplishments in the class.

                Today was a great observation day, I had many great opportunities to reflect on my philosophies about teaching, and change some of my perspectives about students themselves. I think Geoff is a wonderful teacher and a great figure to look up to, I have already learned so much by analysing his assignments and hearing his opinions about issues we discuss in school. I still hold many concerns, like how to change some dynamics of a class like the second period of the 9 honors class to make them feel more comfortable, and therefore have a better environment to learn in. But I feel better prepared to someday handle concerns like this, I think all teachers have concerns about all types of classes, but pushing your perspectives out of the normal box, and confiding in other teachers to find different perspectives is a career long battle.

Uncomfortable subjects

This week at Lindsay Thurber November 6^th, I had the goal of really connecting with the students I’m observing. After discussing experiences with other students taking the EDFX class, I realized I haven’t established the connections with students the way many of the other students have. I think much of this is connected to the fact that I’m observing in high school classes, and not always with the same class. This motivated me to step out of my shell and take more initiative in Geoff’s classes. Now that we finally have a schedule established, I observe only the 10 honors class and the 30-2 class.

With more confidence because of familiarity I was able to answer more questions in class, and interact with more students. It was really rewarding to be more active in the classroom, and took away some of my fears about answering questions in class. During class today, the kids had to complete a short test about the new book they have begun to study, “Night”, by Elie Wiesel. The first page was 5 multiple choice questions and the back asked the kids to find three situations reflecting three different emotions experience by Elie shown in a rough sketch of a roller coaster. The responses of the kids differed tremendously, reflecting on the different learning styles represented in the 30 kids. Geoff later explained that he was challenging himself to make a different exercise for each chapter in regards to the learning styles. This way each child experiences an opportunity to show his/her best work and excel.

Today I noticed student X, a young girl who had two defined bruises around her neck, immediately I was concerned thinking of all the possibilities that may have caused them. After class I asked Geoff about the student, and what steps he has taken to address the obvious issue. He told me that he actually hasn’t talked to the student about it, though he had noticed the bruises immediately. I was really concerned with his lack of initiative to help the student, though he noticed her struggles in the class. He told me that he had previously set her up with a counsellor in the school, and because of that, he wasn’t as concerned about addressing the problem individually. I disagree with Geoff’s tactics in this situation. I believe the student deserves more attention when displaying such worrisome signs, as a teacher you have no idea if she’s talking to her counsellor on a regular basis or getting the help she needs. At the very least I believe that I would have gotten In contact with her personal counsellor to ask if the issue has been addressed or not. This experience was really crucial to me, really capturing how even a really great, caring teacher can be distracted, and not realize the impact they might hold on a student on a personal level.

Pep Rally

Interesting methods I learned today: reflecting on the Grade 10 honors class.

This week (October 25^th) Geoff handed me a stack of post cards mad for Lindsay Thurber to be sent home to kids, he then asked me to read over them and deliver them to the office to be sent away. I noticed that one post card was sent to a member of each class Geoff teaches, and that the note were filled with positive reinforcements to the attitudes and assessments of each child. He later asked me why I though the post cards were a good idea? I felt that it was a good way to let students know how important they are to a teacher, and how important it is to us that they are succeeding and growing in our classes. It’s also a good note for the parents to see that the school is involved in their child's education.

Today the school had a pep rally to start the school day, because of this and also being a Friday the kids were very eager to get out of school. The attendance of the class was much better than Geoff had anticipated though, and we had a productive two classes. In reaction to the day being shifted around Geoff decided to do a "dice reading" method, where a large dice is rolled around the classroom, and the number it lands on, is the seat number that reads next. Incorporating this interactive activity into a stagnant exercise like popcorn reading really gets the kids involved. Especially when they can’t sit still to begin with; Geoff's experience really paid off in the planning of this lesson in regards to the day that was scheduled before the kids entered his class. We also watched clips from the film "Shawshank Redemption", the class is learning a brief lesson about film studies. I was surprised how in depth a grade ten class got into the analysing of the scenes, some of the responses they came up with challenged my own answers! It's wonderful to see how engaged they all are when we can relate the topics back to films and topics they are interested in.

I always enjoyed learning film studies in my high school classes, after reading the book, and discussing the many angles this was yet another way to show understanding of the main points and emotions of the characters. I feel that the kids in Mr. Parker’s class showed this same interest. The conclusions that they made not only reflected on the understanding of film studies, but the story itself. And for the kids who might not have made some of the connections, maybe some understanding was established. I believe this was a really good way to follow up on watching the movie in class. Because it draws attention back to a learning experience, rather than the slack feeling of just watching a film in class and not paying attention. I really enjoy observing many of the techniques the Geoff implements in his variety of classes.

 

My observations from PTI's

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS (October 16-17)

            I observed both nights of PTI’s last week, and to my surprise the meetings weren’t held privately in each teachers class room, rather, all the teachers were set up around the perimeter of the gym. I was nervous to be listening into such personal discussion about children I hardly have gotten to talk to yet. Because I have switched around into so many classes I haven’t gotten the opportunity to establish any relationships yet. As I sat listening to many of the parents come and go I noticed a parallel between the attitudes of the parent and student. Many of the issues and frustrations Geoff has with students is reflected in the parents’ behaviour during the short interview. It’s not a surprise that children take after their parents, but the attitudes toward focus, late assignments, and even expecting great results with little effort are shown in the parents’ views as well. One mother was even secretive about her meetings with her son’s teachers, pleading Geoff not to mention anything to her son because he would be “embarrassed”. She immediately raised concern, asking if her son looked very tired in class each day because, apparently, he was waking up at five am each morning and working until 11.00am and then attending his few courses left to graduate grade twelve. All I could think was, “what a motivated student”, Geoff apparently had no idea the boy had been doing so much and hadn’t noticed it affecting his in class participation, he only remarked that he was doing fine in the class and was a hard worker. The mother was pleased to hear this, and then told Geoff that her son would be missing a week of classes after the week break, because they had planned a vacation, she also mentioned that her son was concerned about missing classed due to diplomas, but “she didn’t care, the tickets were already booked.” It was frustrating to listen to that kind of attitude from a mother about her son’s education. This example also gave me some hope, seeing that not all students were to follow in the footsteps of the attitudes shown at home. Some would even go against the grain and do even more than is expected of them to get ahead in life. That is an admirable trait in anyone any age, and especially so coming from a high school student. If I was in the teacher’s position I would later pull that student aside and positively re enforce his attitude, claiming that you heard about his work program before school, and you think it’s wonderful that he is so motivated to graduate and begin his life in the work force. I would also give some understanding to the fact that you’re sure he’s often tired, but you appreciate his active participation in your classroom.