Be Bold

It has been two weeks at NBMS and I am loving the relationship I have with my CT. It's kind of funny because I am her first student teacher and she is my first CT for the middle school. Yes, I've been with other CT in the middle school but she is the first that I see day in and day out. She is a teacher by day and an amazing mom by night. I give her so much credit for all she does. I felt the need this week to take a little time out of my TC life and dedicate some appreciation to her.

Mrs. Jerome is not your average 6th grade teacher. She went back for her teacher degree after majoring in fashion. She told me recently that fashion wasn't a career where helping people mattered. She lived the fashion life for a very short time until she decided she wanted to help people. It's funny and ironic because that's why I wanted to become a teacher. I wanted to help people. Not just the people that needed help but also the people who didn't think they needed help.

Although we spend a lot of our time working separately, Mrs. Jerome and I are getting to know each other day by day. This week she took a hit pretty hard from the head of the department about her 7th grade literacy class. The class has quite a few behavioral issues and Monday was the day she reached a break through! The students were working and quiet! All thanks to a little bit of music. At one point the school social worker and assistant principal came in to drop something off to my CT. They were happy with the students and their hard work. The class is a double block literacy class. IT can be somewhat draining for the students because of the block. Two periods of grammar would drive anyone at their age a little crazy.

When it came time for our prep period, Mrs. Jerome and I were visited by the department head. She wanted to give my CT "kudos" for the behavior of the students. At the beginning of the year the department head came in to help teach the students about respect to improve their behavior. We were both pleased to hear this, however, it wasn't all good news. The song that was playing while the students were working wasn't a song the assistant principal would have chosen. The radio was on 92.3fm which is a very reliable station with no swearing. Both my CT and I were a little confused at all of this.

Just after the department head left I could see the defeat in my CT's eyes. She then told me about the horrible news she received over the weekend about a friend from high school that had passed in a car accident. I couldn't believe she not only came to school but also didn't breakdown after the surprise meeting. I couldn't help but tell her about my brother and his struggles as a teacher with administration. I could see a little light in her eyes but just barely.

For the rest of the week I tried really hard to break the wall a little more between my CT and I. By Wednesday we had both been able to have a little bit of laughs and share a little more of who we were. It came as a surprise to me when she told her I was a confident person. I like to pretend that I am a confident person and somewhat confident teacher but I don't think it shows as much as I would like it to. When she told me it showed in both my overall personality and as a teacher I couldn't thank her enough. She then voiced to me about her insecurities about being a CT. I told she was doing a great job and no matter what we're in it together! It's so funny to me because I thought I was the only one with the insecurities at this point but I was wrong. We both mentioned we were merely doing what felt natural to us. I like to think it has been working out well for us.

Not only is my CT a great teacher but she is also a great mom. She is there for her two sons all the time. She tells me all the crazy stories her oldest does and says being 6 years old. He sounds like the type of kid I'd want to hang with for a day. I recently met her youngest and I can't help but want to put him in a swing and push him all day. She seems like the type to have it together but she is constantly telling me she doesn't.

I like to think this semester is going to really shape not only myself but also my CT. I feel like we are both going to be there for each other in very different ways. I hope that I will learn from her skills and that she will take away some of the confidence I never knew showed. Not only do I think we are a great match in the classroom but in general I can be myself around her. We have the same sense of humor and style. Our laugh is probably the funniest thing the students have heard separately and not together they can't get enough of it. Finally, they think we are related. When she told one of our sixth graders, "You only think we're related because we're two white ladies with curly hair" I knew it was meant to be.

EMBRACE CHANGE!

This week was definitely a week revolving around change; change in school, setting, and grade. I managed to leap from 12th to 6th grade in one weekend!

The setting at Nathan Bishop is very welcoming. This is the first school where I now eat with other teachers. I like to think this will be the school that helps me learn how to collaborate and communicate with my colleagues. This school is also going to be a huge change for me due to the timing of the periods. Coming from 88 minute block periods is one of the first jumps I will need to master; I now have about 50 minutes with each of my classes. Who gets anything done in 50 minutes?

The second jump I will need to make has to do with the grade I am teaching; I am now a 6th grade English teacher. I already know that this will be the biggest challenge for the rest of my student teaching experience. My classroom management was made easy with my last group of students because they were seniors. One look at my seniors and they knew I meant business. Now, I need to change my entire outlook on classroom management. I'm willing to make that change, however, I'm not one for raising my voice or yelling. I've already had a few moments this past week. My CT already has me leading classroom discussions and readings and I think is it extremely helpful. I know she is doing it so I can begin showing my voice to the students. It will make for an easier transition when I take over all 3 of her 6th grade classes.

I'm both excited and slightly nervous about my second part of student teaching. I know the next few weeks will be considered my assessment as a teacher. Yes, I had a voice in the high school, however, the students were older and had a mature respect for me. I now need to teach respect to my classes. They are at the age where respect needs to be taught and modeled.

This placement is also crucial for both the teacher and the student because it is the grade and age where students begin to form "good" and "bad" habits in school. What the students display next year will be a direct reflection on me as a person and a teacher. I consider that to be a huge anxiety builder and a large amount of pressure on my shoulders.

The only thing I can do over the next six weeks is not let them see me sweat, stick to my plan, and use my voice.
Challenge ACCEPTED!

Descriptive Review & my little star

When I first learned about the Descriptive Review I was familiar with it but on a different level. When I read and assess the work I receive from my students I read it more than once. I first read it to just read what they have given me. I then go back and make corrections where I think my students need help. The Descriptive Review is slightly similar, however, there is a group and there is no correcting. When I brought Julie's foldable to class on Thursday I knew we were going to be looking at her work but I didn't know how we would be looking at it. My classmates looked at Julie's work and pointed out some very interesting thoughts. Some of the comments they made were. "struggle with the portrayal of women, it's okay to be you, and intuitive". I have known Julie to be intuitive but not really struggling with the portrayal of women until now. I can see where it might be an issue because Julie is a little peanut. She's not the typical 5'5" with blue eyes and blonde hair. Julie is the 5'0" brown hair brown eyes. She's small but she is extremely big because of her intuition. Although Friday was my last day at Central, I made sure to give Julie the best goodbye. She was the first to really welcome be out of all the girls in the class and I think that means something. Maybe her she is struggling with the portrayal of women, however, she isn't struggling with the human race. She is accepting, welcoming, and humble; someone I will miss until I see them again.

My little star

What can I say about my Julie? I can start by saying she is always in class and never late.She's the smallest student in both of my classes. She comes in a just about 5 feet with the biggest smile everyday. I can always look to her for a good giggle too. She's a jeans and sweater kind of girl. Although she is a casual dresser, she recently had her senior presentation, which she dressed very professionally for. Her glasses are never left at home. Her eye make-up is always flawless. She's always in sneakers or flats but never heels. She is also a very family oriented person. Brothers, sisters, Mom, and Dad are extremely important to her. That is probabaly why she is nice to all the students in the class. She never mouths off to me or her peers. She is extremely timid and soft spoken but she speaks when it is time to share. She volunteers for almost every one of our discussions in class. She will read when called on but she usually doesn't volunteer when it comes to that. Her homework is always completed and her assignments are handed in on time. When in a group she is the task master. Occasionally she will get off task but it is due to the 88 minute classes at Central. I know I can look to her during at any time in a lesson and receive a smale and a well developed thought or question based on the lesson. When it comes to writing, Julie is definitely a student who tries. English isn't her first language but she never gives up. She talks my comments and works with them to develop a new piece of writing.Julie would like to attend RISD but is concerned about the tuition. She loves drawing and sketching. She plans on attending CCRI and then wants to transfer to RISD. She has a bright future ahead of her. I can tell becasue she going to do well in college because of her determination. Once she knows something is expected of her she accepts the challenge and rises to the occasion. Her essays have been written well but a piece of advice I find myself always giving her is to read the writing outloud. It has been a pleasure having her in class and I am going to miss her when I leave.

Try new things

I now know the week after vacation is extremely long. Also, the week is what you make of it. We did a lot of work with internal and external conflict this week. My students really seemed to get what it meant to have an inner conflict with the self and an outer conflict with another individual. Thursday was fun because I had my students work on their code of chivalry according to gender (girl code and guy code). They some fun with creating their codes and working with their peers. They didn't know I was going to have them perform a Socratic seminar based on their creations. The girls were prepared for battle. The boys definitely needed some help. The girls were able to defend and reflect on what was being said. The boys were at a loss for words. They did a great job with listening and speaking to each other, giving respect, and supporting each other. We were able to make it through part three of Sir Gawain and change up our discussion on Friday. I really wanted to focus on what it means to be human. I decided to give them a short prompt to respond to for homework. The prompt was a short piece from Ellie Goulding. She has a great song called "Human' that I think my students really enjoyed. I also wanted them to create their own individual code. They needed to come up with 5 rules they follow in their lives. Our writing and discussion on being human, making mistakes, and appreciation was beyond moving. I felt like they were college freshman just getting their feet wet. I was so proud of them and how serious they were during class. They thoroughly enjoyed the video on appreciation, which I first saw in one of my college classes last semester. My high school seniors, doing college work, who wouldn't be proud?! I think it really shows just how much a student can accomplish when you believe in them. If you give them enough rope and enough encouragement, they really can accomplish anything. The expectations I have for my students will never change. The tools and helpful ideas will absolutely change depending on the topic and lesson, however, I will never just leave them out to dry. They know I want them to do it on their own but I will always be there to help them. I decided to take a shot in the dark with my seniors and it worked out in the end. They want to do more with the idea of being human, identity, and meditation in order to clear the mind. My plan for next week is getting through part 4 of Sir Gawain and giving my students more options. It seems like they are capable of really looking as a situation and determining their own path. I my come up with 2 options for them and they will decide what path we should take that day. This is definitely risky because they are still in high school but I think to think the amount of respect I give them reflects their maturity. They know not to abuse that respect. I guess what I want to say is TRY NEW THINGS WITH YOUR STUDENTS!