Teacher Interview Day and Praxis II

This past week was very busy. To begin the week, two hours of proctoring the Ohio Graduation Test filled my morning. The sophomores spent all week in testing- probably not their idea of a fun week. The other grades did not arrive at school until 10. It made teaching this week a bit awkward. Three of my classes only had eighteen minute class periods, and one class had the full fifty minutes. Needless-to-say one class gets more help on the research paper.

On Wednesday, numerous student teachers crowded Kent State’s ballroom for Teacher Interview Day. While others had four to six interviews, I only had one. When I went to sign-up for the schools that accepted my application the scheduled was filled. The only school I could sign-up for was Baltimore County Schools. We started the morning with a meet and greet and then waited upstairs until our slotted interview times. I waited patiently until noon, and went down to meet with Interviewer C. She was a principal and made my first teaching-job interview go very smoothly. I felt very comfortable talking with her. She was very enthusiastic about wanting me on their staff. It made my one interview seem worthwhile. I am in the process of completing my application and sending it in for review.

Yesterday I took the Praxis II exam. I passed the PLT last semester. I took the English Content Knowledge test yesterday. I’ve studied for three months for this it. I felt very prepared walking into the testing room. After answering a few questions that mental state of mind completely shifted. The test made my mind brain feel like Jello. I don’t know how I did. I don’t think I completely bombed the test, but I don’t think I received a perfect. I guess we’ll see in a month.

Pictures from Teacher Interview Day.

One Normal Week

Nothing special happened this week. No freak-out moments, no stress filled days, or tears fell from my eyes. This week was average. In the 9th grade classes, I introduced the research paper assignment. With a big project brought numerous complaints. The students’ motto this week turned to “This is too hard.” Fortunately for them, they have a student teacher who knows all of them are capable and smart enough to write a well written paper. I literally pray every night that they put in the work and time to complete the task. Reading and grading over fifty poorly written research papers does not sound like fun to me.

This week did have an extremely high point. Earlier this week, after a day filled with complaining from the students, one student approached me with a card. It was handwritten and decorated very well. I opened up the paper, and read one of the sweetest notes ever written. The student explained to me that she enjoyed my class and loved my sense of humor. The last line finished with “I hope you accomplish all your dreams Miss Chambers.” After reading her card and even thinking about it now, makes my eyes begin to water. After all the hard work and stressful days, the long hours filled with complaining and blank stares, this small card from one student made everything worthwhile.

Now that I’ve done a recap of the week, let me share a little heart to heart moment. This may be a bit cheesy and cliché, but it needs to be said. If or when you begin student teaching… really learn from it. I’ve lived through some pretty tough days this semester. Student teaching is really hard and very stressful. I hesitate every time I teach the students a new unit. I question all of my actions. My heart races when a student asks a question. I fear I won’t have all the answers. What I am slowly but surely realizing is to learn from every experience I have at Jackson. Times are demanding because I still have not learned the correct ways to approach every situation. Now that I’ve finished my little speal… learn from every experience student teaching. Enough said.

An End to Two Long Weeks... Thank Goodness!

To sum up the past two weeks in two words, I would say “stressful” and “hectic.” I was unable to write last week due the craziness of my schedule. After school each day, I had some event to attend or an activity planned. When I finally made it home, filling out applications took over my night. When Friday rolled around, I judged the Big District tournament for Speech and Debate. The competition began at four o’clock, and the students did not leave that night until eleven. Saturday morning’s alarm came incredibly early. Everyone reported to Copley High School at 7:30 am. The students competed all day, and some accepted the big award: National Qualifier. Both Perry and Jackson did a phenomenal job at the tournament. Congratulations.

Late Sunday night I received a phone call from another English teacher in the building. She explained to me that Mrs. Mann, my cooperating teacher, would be out of school all week. She shared with me Leslie’s situation and relayed the message that she wanted me to take over all her classes. When I heard this, my heart dropped. What was I going to do without her? She is seriously my lifeline at school. My biggest concern was taking over her accelerated sophomore class. I never taught that class before, and did not have any materials to help them prepare for the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). When tears began to form in my eyes, I knew I needed advice. A few years ago I would never have said this, but I ran to my parents. I knew they would know what to do. They explained to me that this might by helpful for me. Next year I’m going to be teaching all day by myself; this will give me an idea of what the future will hold. Their words definitely sunk in, but what was I going to teach? I over-prepare for the classes I teach now. Talking in front of a class without knowing what I was doing is one of my biggest nightmares.

I woke up early Monday morning and drove to school. As I walked into class my body shook, hands began to sweat, and heart pounded so hard I think it broke out of my body. I was more nervous Monday than the first day of teaching. I didn’t have my biggest supporter, and that scared me. The other English teachers came to my rescue. They gave me materials and checked in to see if I needed any help. This calmed me down immensely. If you’ve read my blog prior to this entry, you know I tend to get extremely nervous, but I end the blog with everything turned out fine. When am I going to realize this? Everything this week did turn out to be OK. Now that doesn’t mean it went smoothly or it wasn’t stressful, it means I made it through the week. All I can say is I am so happy Leslie will be back on Monday.

One-Third of My Student Teaching Experience is Completed!

This week was nothing special! I do feel as if the workload was lightened. Monday, Mrs. Mann went over their tests they took before I started teaching. Tuesday they went to the computer lab to schedule next year’s classes. Wednesday and Thursday turned out to be workshop days for the students. I decided to have them teach the remaining vocabulary words to see how they would run the classroom if they were in charge.

I learned that through all my planning, I will need to make adjustments. Thursday at the beginning of second period, some student pulled the fire alarm. It cut our class time down to about twenty minutes. Therefore, instead of starting their teaching on Tuesday, I pushed everything back a day. This pushed the day I’ll be giving them the test back, and the day we’re starting the research paper back a day. Even though it was a bit upsetting at first, I knew unseen obstacles would come into play. Now that I have a four-day weekend ahead of me, I can redo my plans for the next few weeks. The funny aspect of that is, my new plans might need to be changed again. I’m learning that to be a teacher you need to be very flexible.

I also took part in my first parent/teacher conference this week. I loved the way Mrs. Mann worded her answers and took charge of the meeting. I know I have the best cooperating teacher. She highlighted the student’s best qualities, while mentioning the student’s “needs improvement” areas. As you can tell by that last sentence, I need to work on my wording of sentences.

Well week three is completed. I have nine more left. I’m sure it will go fast; I can’t believe I finished one-third of my student teaching experience.

Week 2: The Worst!

This week was definitely a tough week. To explain it the best, I’ll just walk you through each day.

Monday- I’m deeming this day…the worst! I spent all day Sunday perfecting Monday’s lesson plan. Down to the last minute I planned what I wanted the students to achieve. Of course, not everything goes to plan. My lesson finished 15 minutes before the bell. I experienced a lot of behavioral issues too. I tried to revamp my lesson before 6th period. Again… finished early! After fighting back tears, I finally broke. I poured out my heart to Mrs. Mann. “I don’t think I’m suppose to be a teacher. I can’t plan lessons. I can’t handle the class. I can’t do this, period.” I started crying, and crying, and crying. I tried so hard to keep it in and wait till I could cry it off to my mom, but for some reason it proved to be too much. One of the high school’s assistant principles walked into the room, and my embarrassment continued. After a pep talk and wonderful encouragement, I finished the day.

Tuesday- After a meltdown on Monday, I tried to keep my head high Tuesday. When I arrived at the school, Mr. Hamm (the assistant principle) gave me a wonderful classroom management book with a card saying “take on the challenge!” I knew I needed to put it behind me and keep going. Some problems occurred, but the day at school went much better than Monday. After teaching, I drove to Kent for senior seminar. I met with the others in my cohort. Almost all of them were stressed out and ready to break. Even though this is horrible to say, I was relieved. I thought it was just me, but it’s nice to know I’m not the only one. *To those who will student teach soon… you will be stressed! I’m not sugar coating it! Trust me though, with good support and the will to go forward, you can do it!

Wednesday- The day at school went well, but I worked after school. We were told not to work while student teaching… I agree! Unfortunately I need money for gas; therefore I only work a few hours a week.

Thursday- Parent/teacher conference night! We didn’t have any conferences- only an IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting. I thought the meeting went very well. I was interested in everything mentioned and excited to be involved in the meeting.

Friday- O finally Friday! After one long week, today finally came! I went to school, gave out quizzes, went to a pep rally, and ended the day at work.

This is the cliff notes version of the week. There was more drama, more tears, and less sleep than ever. To add to the pile, I was mistaken for a student at least twice everyday. Either I was stopped in the hall, the lunch line, or teachers’ lounge (yes, even the teachers’ lounge). The lunch lady asked “when did you graduate? Last week?” Although it’s funny, for once I wish I looked older than a seventeen year old. So as I try to look my age, next week brings new experiences.

Welcome To My Class! I'm Miss Chambers!

This week began my first week as a full-time student teacher. Monday morning I woke up incredibly early and began getting ready for an incredible journey. I went to school and began prepping for my first class. I gave my little spiel about my expectations and discipline policy for the class. I also gave them information about myself. I told them I’ve ran a marathon, skydived, and completed a triathlon. I gave the same speech three times, and quite honestly by the end of the day I was bored. I knew Tuesday I would need to think of something to spice up my delivery and make each time I taught a new creation, something different, and unique.

Five in the morning came awfully early on Tuesday. This waking up extremely early is going to take me awhile to get use to. The lesson I planned required each student to create an individual and personal poem. We walked through a pre-writing activity and they turned in their poems at the end of class. Tuesday went a lot better than Monday, and I enjoyed reading their writings.

Wednesday equaled a snow day! I think getting a snow day as a teacher is better than a snow day as a student. When I realized Jackson didn’t have school, I was beyond excited. Actually too excited; I couldn’t go back to sleep.

Thursday all the classes witnessed my favorite teaching style. Students helping other students learn, while participating in a game. They began with solving riddle poems as a group and moved on to “refrain” musical chairs. I thought the day went quite well.

Today I needed to clear up a few behavior issues that arose yesterday. I practiced my stern teacher voice in the mirror before I left my house this morning. To my surprise the students didn’t realize the trouble and were eager to fix the problem. Jackson students are great kids. In class we played “onomatopoeia” scattegories and ended the class with a quiz.

This week went very well. Even though I’m loving my student teaching experience, I’m really hoping there’s another snow day next week. My internal clock is having a hard time waking up this early! To those who have yet to student teach, practice waking up before the sun. This will help you in the future!

Spring Semester: Bring It On!

Even though my mom wasn’t there to take my picture in my new first-day school clothes, this week was my last “first week” of my college career. After four years, eight semesters, and countless hours of hard work, this semester is what I’ve been waiting for. I can see the finish line. I can see the graduation certificate. All I have to do is complete student teaching, ace senior seminar, and pass Praxis II. It might be tough, but boy will it be worth it.

Tuesday began a three-day senior seminar for all ADED (Secondary Education) student teachers. We sat through workshops dealing with classroom issues we would face in student teaching and in the years to come. After completing day one, I felt a bit defeated. I felt overwhelmed because I realized how much work this semester is going to be. We discussed licensure, interviewing, ESL students, and what to expect this semester. It’s a lot to take in, all in one day.

As I entered the room Wednesday, I felt stressed. Mr. Contini, my student teaching supervisor, came to the rescue. He spoke to my cohort about the Praxis III, and made me feel as if “I can do this!” We broke for lunch, and returned to the seminar with the other ADED student teachers. The speakers spoke on the reality of parent/teacher conferences, and how to achieve successful classroom management. I left the session in high hopes; I now believe I can truly succeed, and live through the semester!

Thursday we learned about legal issues, and our cohort focused on resume writing. Even though I felt overwhelmed at the beginning of the week, I left with my head high thinking “bring it on!” I am truly excited for this semester. Senior seminar shot a lot of issues and ideas our way, but I know now how truly important the information is and how I am better prepared for the next several weeks. I would like to thank all of the outstanding and inspirational presenters who spoke to us, and I wish all the student teachers the best of luck.

Today I went into the high school to talk to Mrs. Mann about my lesson plans and meet with the assistant principle, Mr. Hamm, about my time at Jackson. I feel truly blessed to have such an awesome co-operating teacher. She makes me feel so comfortable and confident. Her comments are guanine and sincere; I know I have a teammate through this experience. My meeting/ orientation with Mr. Hamm went fantastic. He went over the rules, schedule, and paperwork of Jackson. He helped me with an ambitious project I hope to complete with my 9th grade students, and gave me a tour of the gigantic school. Jackson is lucky to have such an exceptional administration. I was more nervous than excited about student teaching walking into the school this morning, but now I’m ready to show them what I got!