UPDATE!!! and reflection...

Alrighty! Well I have been urged to update my blog. It is so easy for me to slip out of doing something. I do things well for a bit and then I just stop so the urgin is appreciated! :) So to help motivate me I am going to update part of my blog as a reflection of my student teaching that I will use in my portfolio at the end of the experience that is suppose to prove to some big whigs that I taught my kids well, they learned something, and that I should be a CERTIFIED teacher (well in some places...some places I have to take more tests...like Texas! Fooey!). So some parts of this blog is not going to be very entertaining but I will be sure to separate and indicate what parts are reflection and what parts are fun stories and such. 

REFLECTION-
                                                      Math


Ok so let us start the reflection. I find when I type things though my humor is still coming out and so I will probably just edit it later to make it more formal for my portfolio. So first off I have been teaching in Ms. D's Pre-Algebra class for about 2 weeks now. We have a system going on of her teaching the 1st pd and I teach 2nd and 4th. My cooperating teacher and another teacher use the same unit and lesson plans with notes and everything is ready for you so I just have had to look at them and teach from that. When my supervisor came and observed I had to have a "ridiculously detailed" (Ms. D's words) lesson plan from what they give me everyday. So right now our unit is on graphing and this class are the kids who are behind in math (technically pre-algebra should be a Jr high class not freshman/sophomores). These are the kids that pretty much have given up because they struggle so much with math. I would love to play fun games or do activities to show that math can be fun but our schedule is so tight with what they have to have learned by the end of the year test that our time is full of already made notes, worksheets, quizzes and tests. (For all you preparing to student teach soon the real world class room is a lot different then your theorized class you have been learning about and planning in your head...be forewarned! Haha its kind of like the MTC compared to the field...if you know what I mean!) So I really haven't had any experience making worksheets or quizzes or tests because they want me to use what is already made for me, but I have still learned A LOT about teaching math! My first days teaching the hardest part was keeping the kids on task and following directions. They talk to their friends or go to sleep. And its not like I just look at them and think "shoot they are not listening!" All who know me, know that I am sweet and fun until I need to not be. I will never be that teacher that kids walk all over! I am stern and mean when I need to be! And that is exactly how I responded to the disrespect I was getting my first couple of days. I even gave out a couple of detentions after giving the students warnings and they still didn't follow direction, I gave them what I threatened! So that is the first main thing I learned from teaching math is how to manage the classroom and deal with punk kids who don't know how to follow directions! Something I definitely feel I needed to learn.


The second thing I learned was how to use the fancy equipment. We have something called an Elmo that is a fancy projector system. So unlike the old overheads everything on the screen you write on cant always be seen so you have to look up at the board like every 5 seconds to make sure the kids can see what you are writing.


Third thing I learned in my opinion was the most important thing for me to learn about myself for teaching math was that I tend to go to fast. One day we were teaching how to rearrange an equation into slope form by using x=0 and y=0. Well that doesn't sound that difficult but the problem was that we moved from something a lot easier to that and so the jump was not good for the kids. Long story short they got frustrated  and voiced their frustrations saying things like "Where is Ms N?" "I don't get it!" "We need Ms. N this stuff is too hard for you to teach!" causing me frustration and Ms. N was not in there and so when she got back I told her what happened and that she should probably teach 4th pd. So I sat back and watched her teach the same stuff to the next period and I noticed a significant difference. She really took the time to see if the students understood. She wrote things slower and even if they had already learned it she taught things as if it was the first time they ever learned it. Slow and patient! Those are two things I am definitely not! So those are two things I can work on to become a better teacher. So the next day I tried it and it went so much better...of course the content was easier but I feel my slowing down really did help. 


                                                        Theater

Now for theater things are a little different. We established that I am only going to be teaching in Mrs D's tech classes and not her acting classes. Also she decided that I should teach sound since that is what I have the most experience in tech. So until this past week she has been doing a unit on learning tricks in drawing. (Like we did this really cool experiment where you take a picture and you draw it upside down, and it is suppose to make you focus on just lines and shapes which makes you draw it better. This picture was of...you know what I will just put up a pic of it... I am very proud of my drawing since usually I can't draw AT ALL!) She has her units all set up but says that I can jump in and teach whenever...but it has to be sound...which doesn't go with what she is teaching really at all. So this past week (because I thought I was going to be observed by my supervisor this week...which apparently I was mistaken so I have to randomly teach next wed in the middle of her unit...o well) I am teaching sound design. I started off on Monday discussing the different types of sound design: emotional design, rhythmic design, thematic design,cultural design, fillers, and sound effects. I was planning on showing them a clip of one of the best sound designers Ben Burtt discussing his latest work in WallE but an hour before I realized I couldn't get to my clip because youtube is blocked from the schools internet. So while I was in prep period I looked frantically for something else I could do. Luckily I found lesson plans for sound design at NYU. Thank you professor David J. Graybill for posting your great and thorough lesson plans for sound. That is where I found the break up of the different kind of designs, what they are, and examples of all of them. We also discussed music we listen to that were different from  each other and how they are different and why we listen to them. I then gave them homework: they were to listen to two contrasting songs and notice why they are different so we could discuss them in class the next day. We did that the next day and I also downloaded the video of Ben Burtt on my laptop so we were able to watch it. We   discussed the video and what they learned and then since we played a game where I played a clip that was either a sound like the start up of a game system or a computer or a theme from a movie and they had to guess what it is! It was a huge success and they all loved it...especially the video game themes! Today I taught them more terms such as dissonance and harmony, diegetic and nondiegetic sounds and then I played them different songs and they were to observe and analyze them and write down what they observed. I told them that it was a free creative activity and so if they saw a picture in their head when they heard the music they were to explain the picture, if they heard just different instruments describe the instruments, if it triggered a memory explain the memory and why it was triggered. We discussed afterwards and had some really great stuff! My favorite was when I came home and read what they put, there was one kid that I thought was not listening at all that wrote thorough explanations using the terms we learned and then described a movie scene that he saw playing in his head while listening to the song. IT BLEW ME AWAY! That kid learned something! It was great!


I have also been observing the rehearsal process of the show they are putting on in two weeks: Rebel without a Cause. I have watched how Ms. D handle the kids and try to inspire genuine acting, listening and reacting from these high school kids. I have learned probably more observing her in rehearsals than in class. Directing is a huge part of being a theater teacher and before this past semester I had never touched directing before. So to see how she organizes her rehearsal schedule and her different techniques has been a wealth of information and learning for me! Also today she asked me to help out with the sound for the show. She wants me to find some music that can be mixed so that it sounds like it is coming from an old 50s radio and some pre and post show music and maybe some filler music during intense moments to help the emotional surges. Yay for being involved! :)


Well now it is late and so I am going to have to write my funny/awkward stories at another time. I always mean to just write a little bit...but boy when I get started I just keep going and can't stop! Alright goodbye till next time! Thank you...come again! ;)