Leanna

I hope that I am allowd to critique on the blog....but since it's going to be edited anyways I thought I would. I just wanted to post how awesome I think Leanna is. I have learnt alot from her class. I haven't necessarily learnt what she wanted me too (or maybe I did) but I learnt alot of valuable stuff. I learnt the importance of open communication in the classroom; I learnt that it's OK to call your teacher by their first name and that there is still respect; I learnt that it's really beneficial to be honest with your students, it helps to develop trust; I learnt it's important to give positive feedback and promptly; I learnt it's good to question the system and try to make a change; I learnt it's really important to think about how you are going to assess learning; and I learnt that teachers (even though we were told it can't happen) can be cool. So thanks Leanna and because this isn't a mark based class no one can accuse me of sucking up, I am only being honest. And it's nice for teachers to know that they are appreciated especially when they work hard at something, like Leanna obviously did!

language choice

Just a warning, what I am about to say borders on the too-much-attention-to-detail side, but as an excuse I will tell you it is not teacher-training induced. I have always been this way (well, at least since high school) so maybe that is some sort of excuse to mention such a nit-picky thing as the language used in a classroom (or anywhere else in life).
My biggest pet peeve is when people say "you guys" or "guys" when referring to a group of people that contains both males and females. I know I do it too, because it is easy, and the definition of "guys" is up for debate. But I really strive not to say it, as I don't want to dis-clude (is that a word?) the females in my classroom (or anywhere else).
Does "guys" bother anybody else, or am I totally dwelling on a 1950s definition of "guys"?
The alternatives are kind of messy and awkward: I don't like "guys and girls" and I don't like "boys and girls" (unless they are boys and girls - that is under 12 or some age). "Students"? "Class"? How do we refer to our "student body"? They're not "men and women," really - and I think that would be too awkward. "Young adults" -- as in "Okay, young adults, let's get to work." I don't think so!
Help!

(ps. my other pet peeve is being called a "girl" at this stage in my life. I've heard this time and again when people will refer to Mr. So-and-So as a "man" and Ms. So-and-So as a "girl" despite the fact they are both in their 50s. )
(Did I tell you my B.A. is in English?) (joke)

Time management....bleagh.

Well, this is more or less a reflection on my 10 min. sociology presentation today, but it fits in to what I was saying about the group mini lessons.

Things certainly went better in the planning stages for me - I planned out my time, and had it done the night before, along with a couple of chances to run through it (and it took about 11 min.). But then presentation time came - I talked a little more about this topic here, a little bit more about that topic there - and pretty soon Alan is holding up the 1 min. left sign, and I'm only 2/3 of the way through my presentation. It would've been salvageable had I skipped a few things and moved on to my last example as a wrap-up - but instead I got verbal diahrrea, and perhaps a bit incoherent. I still remember looking at the screen as I fast forwarded through my slide presentation, and saying "Whoa, the Rhind papyrus - right, the Egyptians knew about Pi...then there was Archimedes - and he came up with a better value." Really informative!

Anyways, it was yet another reminder about how much I need to focus on what I'm doing/saying, and set REALISTIC expectations for what can be covered in a period of time. Those who have been in a classroom environment - did you have any system for figuring out how much time stuff would take, or was it more or less trial and error?

A Whirlwind of Information!

Wow, today's seminar(s) were stocked full of useful and important information...that could not have been any more different in nature.
Phil's talk on 'Intergrade Pro' was great because I hadn't even stopped to think about the whole keeping track of grades thing that goes along with the whole teaching thing! It is really quite amazing how many "little" details are overlooked when concentrating on the interpersonal skills that we have been focussing on for the majority of our courses. I think it is really useful for us to step back once and awhile to learn about all of the things that will make the 'meat and potatoes' part of our job a little bit easier to manage. Photocopying 101, Teacher Resources 210, etc. etc. etc. As I'm sure most of you felt today...

So many things to learn, so little time.

Chemistry in ACTion

Well, I decided that I could just as well put my reflection on the mini-lesson up here as I could email it to leanna, so here it is.
I felt that the lesson went well and that everyone was able to get into it enough even though we were pressed for time, and everyone was wanting to leave... thanks to everyone for sticking it out and letting Donald and I go. Looking back on it, I can see that the lecture part of the lesson went a bit too long... we had planned for 3 minutes, but it went for about 6. The part where everyone was brainstorming how to act out the different bonding forces could have also used a bit more time. I did not anticipate so many questions during that time, and I should have because that is the time when everyone is working out how to REALLY understand it all. The questions that everyone brought up were relevant, and I could honestly see high school students asking them. Because of the rush for time, the presentations and conclusions were rushed, and not as effective as I had hoped, but the presentations were very telling of how well the students grasped the concepts. That part would have been good to have more time, because it can be used as an informal way of assessing the students. Also, it would have been a great time for peer-to-peer teaching so that the information would have been able to settle into the students minds if there was more time.
I felt comfortable in front of the class, and it was great to be able to work with Donald because we both had the same concept in our minds that we were wanting to get across and I felt like we were on the same page.

Mini lesson reflection | noitcelfer nossel iniM

First, as has been said many times already, I liked all of your mini lessons! Each one had a slightly different style, some a bit more rambunctious, others a bit more mellow - it was neat to see all of your different personalities reflected in your lessons. It reminds me why they don't try and fit all of us in one "teacher mold."

I thought the math lesson went ok, but there are some things that could have used a bit more work, for myself. One, it was a bit ironic that Ms. Gaiptman was in the day before talking about organization, and there I was at 3:00am after finishing my sociology paper printing off stuff for the lesson, and cutting up little squares of construction paper over breakfast the next morning. Bleagh. The main problem was that I didn't really have a chance to clear my head and think through what the lesson was going to look like before we stood up and did it, which I think could have really helped.

Second, it was a good learning experience in terms of planning the timing of lessons. It seemed we tried to cram a certain amount (intro, activity, wrapup) into the 15 minutes, instead of trying to plan on what would actually fit into 15 minutes and doing that part in a relaxed/non-hurried manner. It just would have been nice to have a bit more discussion on people's ideas, and see if they could develop their ideas more through discussion - rather than rushing through the sharing of ideas, aborting any discussion, and then me going on to explain the answer on the board.

Third, I wish I had taken a few more minutes to review subject material - as I tried to wrap things up, Anna and Alan both jumped in and commented a couple times (thank you!) when my explanation was a bit incomplete or off base. By the way guys, I'm totally in awe of your knowledge of math - it seems I just can't pull that stuff out of memory and go at it, or teach it intuitively as you two can. So it was a good reminder that for my sake, to have confidence in what I'm saying in front of the class, I'm going to need to review the stuff before I tackle it in a lesson.

Allrighty, that about wraps that up. Cheerio!

thinking nice thoughts

Just sitting here thinking and I thought that I would share with you the view from my deck. This was taken a few days ago and is facing south west. That ripple that you see is where the waves break at Muir Creek.