All said and done.

During my last "official" week, I had dinner with my supervisors.  They started off with asking me if I was finished.  I told them that I had to make up for the two days I missed over the semester, so I was going to be there a couple days longer.  There is this lab I want to end on, and the students are almost at reaching that subject.  The response in my head when they asked was a little different:  YOU MEAN ITS OVER?  We talked about my portfolio I had for them.  I have two: one is personal that has any documents, notes, lessons, etc for my class, the other is a final, almost like a professional portfolio of anything I personally have wrote up and is legitimately my work.  The supervisors wished to see a hard copy of my final, even though I can make many digital copies.  They told me that I should get that to them since grades were to be posted the next day at 5pm.  It really was over!  I could not believe it.  The feeling I would tell people was that it felt like I was handed an Honorable Discharge!  The war was over, Im coming home!  Only, I am going to stay, this time to get paid!

It was funny when teachers and students would ask when my last day was, before it was never, now I tell them I finished yesterday!  Yet I still show up.  It is "officially" over for me, but I'm still teaching until I say I am finished.  Which will be this week.

Last official week

To sum it up, I guess I got the hang of it. An issue arises, I just keep to my routine of issuing referrals. I dont care how severe the punishment is, just the fact that the disturbing student leaves my classroom, Im happy. Sure you fall behind for the moment. but I intend to catch up. I talked with someone who has been a teacher for two years. Supposedly, a lot of the people with the school think I am an actual teacher here. The new teachers who have to go to new teacher meetings think I've been here a little longer than they have. I took it as a compliment. Anyways, she told me, when the bad students complain, it means you are doing your job. When the good students complain, maybe something needs to change. My mentor is telling me that this is the worst that it will ever get. I've said it before, the bad news is I feel fine, the good news is that it gets better! I would like to leave it at that, but I just have to ask, WHEN? When does it get better? I have one week, and a lot of the students know it. So if they have to go down in a blaze of glory, so be it. Im not the one sabotaging their grade, THEY ARE!

Need some positive momentum going

I glance at a group of chatter boxes in my class and wonder how this happened? How did all of them get together like this. I swear something is not right. Always keep a hard copy of the seating chart, check. Always keep a seating chart with students who were enrolled late in the semester, d'ohh! It worked earlier this week in a different period, and the rough edges weren't as jagged for the rest of that period.

DEMO OF THE YEAR!!!

I am sorry to those who missed it, but I've heard through the grapevine that you can catch it on YouTube! Just kidding, I wish!  This was one of the easiest and best days that I ever taught, yesterday. I forgot to write about it when I got home. Today was a lil rough being under the weather, but I managed.  So what happened? Well, let's say it's a Bill Nye / Mythbusters crash demo. So that set's the stage for a scientific, but overall entertaining show. I had to teach the students about pressure, and instead of giving them a great amount of force through a small area, like through a compressor, why not spread a great amount of force through and even greater surface area!   For the past couple of weeks, me and my mentor would work on something we cannot top. We would shoot nails evenly over a 2x4 sheet of plywood so that the ends of the nails pointed upward when flipped over. If the force of someone's weight was placed on one nail, one small area, then going to the hospital for a deep punture wound would be in order, maybe a tetanus booster too. What if the weight was spread over a few thousand nails? Well, that might get a rise out of a few, meaning the scared. Why not make two sheets so there's nails sandwiching a body together? Still not amusing. Then fine, Steve put a cinder block on the top board I was sandwiched in and smashed it over my chest! You cant top that! We never said dont try this at home, but if I put up pictures, then follow the format. (make it look how we did to not get hurt, if you get hurt, claim you didn't do it our way!) Safety goggles and helmet were in order, better to be safe then sorry, but it's easier to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission.

Today had to be a bore compared to yesterday. I wrote up a Power point review an hour before classes started and used it for the entire day. It was in the plan to review, but this was a last resort because I couldn't find the resources I needed. Now I have to write a jeopardy PP for tomorrow. I dont know how, but hopefully google can help me.

The wrestling team has their first match of the season today. I was almost going to take off cuz of my close to delerious condition. I dont want to think it's a building year, that means my expectations for them are not high. Not cool.

Wrote up 2 students today, got one kid suspended yesterday. My reactions to incidents are becoming more professional when it comes to things I don't want to happen in the class. It was their choice to go against my word, it was their choice to be disruptive in my class.   Their choices either lead toward consequences or rewards.  Only a few types of choices lead toward reward. Only a couple times a week do I see good choices over bad, but I hold them higher than when I am issuing negative consequences.

What went wrong, and what could I do better

The day before Thanksgiving and I made 2 parent phone calls. The good news was that there weren't any offenses to make these phones. Its really about the poor attendance and progress of one student and the lack of focus and constant tardiness of another. Both present the fact that they want to pass, but it is really easy to see it coming that when marking periods come around, they never really hold their end of the bargain, and wish to try and make their grade change overnight. Did that make sense? When they are surprised of their grade, they thought they were angels, and deserve better. I dont think so. I have my first conference with a parent. It is not a harmful one, its more of an informing type of conference. The weird news is that I have worse students who have far more absences and much much worse grades. It is not that I have given up on them, but they just dont care, so it's really up to them to tell their parents that they did not pass because they never came since the first three weeks! 

It is after 21 days of not being in the class that there is no possible way to be aloud to pass for the semester. I am fine with that.  I know when a student has cut my class with no excuse.  I am wondering what they are doing, this was never that case at my school, you couldn't cut.  Discipline is a factor.  Well, there's discipline and then there's nothing to lose.  Many have nothing to lose, so they just go carefree into the world.  When they get out there in the real world, their nothing to lose attitude becomes nothing to ever gain.  So i suppose the parent phone calls were a pro-active move, It is better to be pro-active than reactive.

I have a couple more weeks of Student teaching, and I think I need those couple of weeks.  I have finally made it to the part of student teaching where the idea of getting experience is synching in.  I am running ideas now past my mentor that are for what goes on in the class, as well as outside the class.  My goal is that I leave something he can use.  Not all the ideas I have suggested are my own but I can get around to something soon.  The grading is piling a little, and hopefully he starts to retrain himself on grading since I have been taking care of it most the semester.   I have lost the point of all this, I might have lost the point in most of my ramblings, but all is well,  cant wait for monday after I get a plan together first.

Not too bad

I was slightly sluggish today, it's not that the periods got worse as the day went on, but I did have a little less effort each time around. Now last Friday was different. Every period got better and better. I would think about changing it up each time, but I just did not want to go over time in the period.  This is now where I reflect; What went wrong, and What worked?

Stuck in a rut

So today was alright, it was a lab day, which I prefer over other days, because the students get engaged, and lecture is minimal. Of course, there needs to be a lecture to setup the lab and to get them going. My trouble is how far they make it when they are on their own in the activity. Then trouble is that they get stuck. Today I can sort of see why and its in the questions that are asked as they investigate. However, I was just out of things to say when I was trying to introduce the lab. So when I reflect on this, I tell myself that I know I can do better, but how? more later...

Behind closed doors

it felt like real life and I didn't even know it until after steve came back at the end of the classroom. There was one class where he left, and the students thought they didn't have to learn anything today. I appreciate those who were patient during my lecture pauses, but it's the ones I look down on that have shaped my philosophy of teaching. It was too bad that those who are more mature had to suffer with the wicked.  I tried my best to weed out those who think they can have their own world going on in my classroom, but if I am ready to teach, and the students want to keep yapping away, that's fine since I control the grades.  I turn it on them to take action and act more respectable in a classroom.  Enter the power-trip.  It was best that I stopped trying for the day and turned the class period (with 15 minutes left) into a reading assignment with a handful of questions to be turned in on monday.  The wicked wont do it.  The mature ones know better and they will come out okay in my class, especially if the wicked shape up.  They use to be one of my favorite periods, not so much anymore.  My last period was wonderful.  Time flew, I got through my lecture, did my demonstrations, they had time to work on the assignment, double extra credit points, the whole nine yards for how a classroom should be managed.  Then Steve walked in, and I apologized he missed it.  The part I want to get across is that I dont regret any of the actions I took for any of the periods I taught.  I am just trying to set them up for success in the long run, and it is not my problem if they choose to head down a path that will ruin them.  That sounds a lil harsh, and didn't come out the way I wanted to say it, but my naive beliefs as a teacher are slowly disappearing into what its really like to be a teacher.  The bad news is that I feel fine, the good news is that it gets better.

Report Card Pick-Up

Today I met some of the student's parents.  Not as crazy as I imagined.  Last night I was talking with steve my mentor, and I told him, "just feed me to the lions.  It's inevitable, but there is reason for some of the students not-so well being, and the parents must hear it.  I froze on one set of parents I had dread talking to for the night.  The idea was to stay firm as a rock, but to this family, I was not a rock, but I was nowhere near collapse.  I never set the tone about this student passing, but the student was always rocking the boat into the failing pool.  He asked if it was because of his poor performance on the latest exam.  After I told him that everyone did poor on it, he protested that there was not enough time, and that he should have compensation because he was a special needs student.  That he was, but I dont know why I didn't bring it up, but I could have also mentioned the countless amount of times I told him to sit forward and keep his eyes on his own exam.  My only response to his protest was that he is the only one I know that didn't finish the test.  Everyone had ample amount of time with it.  I am learning my lesson.  They try to turn it on me, and I didn't turn it back on them as much as I had to.  Lesson learned.

 I had no problem talking with other students and their parents regardless of their performance.  If they were in trouble, all I had to do was give my advice on how to improve, and if those improvements were noticed (behavior, punctuality, focus) then everything should be pleasant for them from here on in.  One student shows with her parents, and Steve wanted to break the news to them, "I'm sorry, your daughter is only getting a 97.3% in the class!  I know this must be devastating for you."  I wish I could do that with one of my own students one day.  I actually had a 110% at one point my second quarter in high school physics.  How you like them apples!

Grades

Mr Campion? How am I failing!? You know I do all of my work!

Yes, you do your work, but not ALL of your work, if it IS your work that you are turning in. I can tell by how well students do on the tests. Let's also consider the nature at which you do the work. Coming in late, having your own conversations with people, interupting my lesson by being constantly reminded to be seated, and then handing in something that serves the equivalent purpose of recycled toilet paper will end you up with something nowhere near a passing grade.

You see what happened there? No, that's alright

What the students will always do when they get something they dont like will be to turn it back on the teacher. Always turn it back on them!

It needs to stay in my mind all the time. It's what the HAVE and HAVE NOT been doing that adds up. Lack of assignments plus poor behavior equals F. It's like this graph I have. Consistency vs. Effort.
As the slope goes up in both categories, the higher the grade. If they are here, they can give the effort. Never works by not being in the class.

Turn it back on them because they have grief that it was them that got this grade and they are trying to put it back on you. They will try with as much effort as possible. If you let them do this. They will do it every single marking period. Game Over.

I teach, therefore I am

Election Day. I told some of my students who I voted for, others I told I voted for them, but part of why I did not want to give it away was because I bet I have poor or no political opinion, so why would I place political influence on anyone?

Skip this next paragraph if you want to hear about my teaching experience.
This was my first time voting in the presidential general election. I had the chance last time but the absentee ballot arrived at my campus mail the night it was due. Oh well, the outcome of that made me feel less-hearted about this election for the sole reason that majority vote will not guarantee victory. Sure, the division of the states work alright for representatives, but one larger voice over another should exemplify who ought to be running the country. Maybe it's just me, and I grew up in a majority registered democratic setting where I think my vote didnt count, but I digress.

So today I had to make a bold move to get a message out to a couple of rowdy students. We give them handouts and they dont want to work. There are some who I know wont work, but they wont bother anyone, especially me, during class. but I took the handout back and told them they helped me decide their grade, (the ones who do want to get on teacher's nerves). This feels like I am going against some of my naive fantasy beliefs of trying to keep the students in the classroom as much as possible. They are in the class and lost their chance to be engaged cuz I helped them make that decision. I usually try to push them to focus on what I am teaching. I dont feel like giving up, I just feel like giving up on those who want to play games. Of course I am a sucker who doesn't keep on them whether they were angels that day or not. I was told and will be told and am telling others, do not let your guard down. It is hard to practice, but once you start practicing, it gets easier. Just like teaching overall, as I have been told.

On the lighter side of things

I chose to stay positive today, its going great! The only trouble i have today is to stay focused. It is unbelievably impossible.

There is a collaborative team teacher for some of my classes. He is just somewhat physically there.

Its no problem to interupt my lecture when he wants to address a student for a couple of minutes just because he has a hoody on in the class. That's fine, lets lose some time.

The hardest thing is to do nothing.

Overall I enjoy what I am doing here. If i enjoy myself while I am here, then student teaching shouldn't be a sweat.

I sound like i have naive beliefs right now, but I should build on the positive aspects.

We are going over Newton's Laws, i like it because its pretty basic.

Plus my thematic unit was over this stuff. However, I will only know it so well after i teach it.

Back to grading...after I read my old posts and what not.

Rant

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but my philosophy on modern education has definitely been skewed, if only because I have seen real-world education on guilty adolescence, or my previous mindset, which I know was going to be a naive one on my part, has finally vanished.

Everyone can learn physics, that was the old one.

Everyone should make their own choice to learn physics, is sort of the new philosophy. It needs to be taken upon themselves to have a focus. Physics will help with problem solving skills. You dont realize it, but they are word problems, the worst type of math problems, and I got use to them and like them. Kinda odd.

A physicist has a great skill at problem solving. A problem is presented and they set a method of solving it. The solution is not presented in ABCDE FGHJK format like in ACT style tests. No, its the way we have to administer tests in the school which is ridiculous. There are famous problems the students need to see, and i want them to do the work on those problems, not give them an answer with other possible answers. I didnt even do well on the ACT myself, so i dont think this really matters.

I was afraid to take Physics, and it turned out to be one of the greatest things that ever happened to me.

The courage should be summoned try new things. Im not sure about trying scary movies, not until its been out for a couple years. I try anything at least once, then gain from that experience.

You don't really understand something until you can explain in to your grandmother! - Einstein

If i try to keep that in mind, I may develop a new type of dialect when I talk to my actual grandmother.
Test review today, since the school changed into a College Prep (joke) they came up with a plan to give all tests in ACT format. every odd problem goes A-E and all even problems goes FGHJK.

What to do with our regular physics tests? Solution, transform to practice exams. I remember some practice exams being brutal so the test was no problem, and vice versa. I hated the vice versa exams. Those were very tricky when the test came. they made the practice exams look like cliff's notes.

I was able to establish a form of classroom management by turning themselves against each other.  I was willing to give the answers to the practice exam only when the room was quiet and they had my undivided attention.  The ones who try to make the least amount of effort in the class were yelling at the ones who even worse just take up space.  The Good vs. Evil.  I sort of had them cut out some of my work for me.  All they want is the answer.  Usually I would tell them in a higher order thinking form, and they just look dumbfounded.  "Explain it to them in bite-size pieces" - Steve

That's all for now.

"It's Like Herding Cats!" Steve Farr

I realized yesterday that the students in this type of setting are harder to manage because they have thousands of thoughts going through their head in a split second. Anything can happen in that moment whether you want it to or not. My last period yesterday was probably the first time I noticed that everyone was on the same page (mentally) and had no problem keeping them on task. How do you herd cats? They never want to be near each-other nor head in the same direction! That's funny, but that happens sometimes when you get them to do work outside the class. Should I keep them in the class? NO. It's too small anyways to do proper physics experiments, like the one for yesterday. So I actually had the students only have one thought go through their head, and it was to collect data. Everyday is different, as of now the moments either make or break me. Overall I think I have been doing fine with plenty of space for improvement.

Wasn't a bad day, thank god it's still nice out.

forgot the important thing I wanted to say. I think this was it. Maybe four weeks I have been going over Linear Motion with the students, and I think they understand 40% of it. My mentor is commenting on the despair I have FINALLY come to grips with when realizing how much time has been spent, and how far we have gotten (very little). "Dont worry, it's not your fault.", then who's? I taught 2 of the classes today and was able to get one to run smoother than the other only because I could see problems happening for the second class that could be easily taken care of. I wrote the questions I was repeatedly asked and put them on a Power point slide along with the answer underneath. Now I only had to take care of Classroom Management, and I guess I can be a painful pistol if I have to be. Same student who's parents I called is almost back to where he needs to be, but it will be a bit of work for this guy to play catch-up.

Oh Well,

I kinda lost some of my students. They were doing well, and now they dont care. Time to make some parent phone calls. If you THINK you need to call a parent, seriously call a parent because you want to let them know how you feel, but I would never intend on being so dramatic about it.

Side Notes

When you have no income, you never get full. Eat as much as you can while student teaching, so you spend less money on food.

Stupid TV quote, meaning not from MASH: Anything worth trying for is never easy.

First Full Day

My foot hurts, but I think I strained my arch from running this weekend.   It made me walk a lil funny around the classroom during the afternoon . Though today was different in another way.  Right at the beginning of the morning bell to the end of my seventh period, I was in charge, teaching.  For the first time I had all five periods to teach, each with a set plan.  Some worked better than others.  The bad news is that I feel fine.  The good news is that it gets better!  I even had a few of my own announcements.  One started with a story, telling them where I lived (Palos Heights) and that one Saturday I rode my bike from my house all the way to Uptown which is a mile north of Wrigley Field.  On the way I took a professional teacher's exam here at Bogan.  The announcement was that this weekend I found out I passed that exam so as long as student teaching runs smoothly for me, I should be able to teach anywhere I want in January and actually get paid.  This brought a lot of attention to the students to make them realize that I dont get paid.  The sympathy moment lasted only as long as it took for them to realize it, which im not surprised.   A substitute could have walked in and he could get paid to sit there while I taught the class.  Funny how the system works.

I have been grading a lot, I like it.  Be sure not to overwhelm yourself because it could happen.  I would be able to give everything back tomorrow if only I was able to get on the grading system at home would then all my work be finished and cut out for the next couple of days.  Oh Well.  I will catch up.  As of now its just punching numbers into a computer.

   The inquiry based teaching is not cutting out as well as I hoped,  Luckily I am in my beginning naive style of teaching, so it gets better!  It's not that I am getting to them, but it is a little harder for them being underdeveloped to comprehend full inquiry-based physics, so in the end I give a little more information than I should when they ask a question.  By a little more information, it's almost the answer.  There is just not enough time for them to get through all of it when I demonstrate concepts that way.  Hopefully this is only going on with the regular students and not my IB (International Baccalaureate).  They have to receive a more open-ended type of education.

Student Teaching Blues

I've heard some terror stories for student teachers, this is scary for me in the non-frightening crash course way. Some student teachers have all their worked dumped on them after the first week of school. I am on the fifth week feeling very calm and at ease, and am just waiting for this huge task to be presented to me that would carry on and take all the energy out of me until the end of the semester. I get to be in charge of the classroom occasionally. Hopefully I am on the start of being in front of the classroom more and more. Yesterday went very well going over vectors, but i was in front of the class for only 2 periods. Eventually I will be in front for all the periods, I just not sure when. Fortunately the classes are all the same, except the very first period (Physics II) . CSU told me it alright not to add that class to the list but at least get practice working on that class as well, which I am totally for, because eventually I would be teaching those topics as well. Everything outside the class: grading, attendance, documenting, etc. I am a whiz with or have almost reached proficiency in. There will be days coming up where my mentor will be absent for important meetings downtown. Guess who gets to run the entire day! I might get some observation done that day for the periods I am off, just to be able to point out what I should be doing, or how I should be addressing students whether it is behavior, demonstrations, or lead discussion. When I first started writing this entry, I was a little worried about my progress as a student teacher, but after talking with CSU and a few others, I feel a little better, but that doesnt mean I have time to relax, it means I have to stay on task.

Mindset

You want to have the ability to speed up their learning from what you would think they know and how they should apply it to the new concepts.

I would not walk away from a student without telling them everything they need to know to solve a problem or realize a natural phenomenon, i just want them to figure out the last step. I crack up at them when they shout at me to give them the answer. They are responsible for their own learning. It takes a lot for them to understand that, but unfortunately I am afraid they wont realize it until later in life. My mentor told me that I have a lot of patience. Now I need structure and Guidance. The motivation portion of teaching has come in waves for me. The ISPP incident gave me another lift when I thought I was alright. As long as I get enough rest and time with people outside of the school, then I'm set.

3rd Week

I just finished my third week of student teaching. The only thing I can say is that these students need help, in a good way! I am starting to identify those who are just a little under educated with those who are plain ignorant, and to all of those teachers out there, no matter where you go, expect both! What is funny is that you need both! The ignorant ones are those who keep me on my toes with practicing (1) who is in charge, and (2) how school policy is listed and conducted. I do my best to keep all of the students in the class room, ALMOST regardless of their behavior. I had no problem booting students out of the classroom for repeated offenses. They are looking for a line to cross. Let them cross that line, but show them you can support your side with authority as long as they have not seen the limit to your power. I have already thrown down the hammer. The students were very well aware, but they have not seen what they want to come across. This does seem like bit of a power trip but there is always the chance for the students to test your limit. A note from my mentor: If the IDEA to call their parents comes up when you have already ESTABLISHED all possible ground rules (meaning no new rules come up on the fly) CALL THE PARENTS!!!

Professional Organizations

Modern teachers have a chance to meet up with people of their field. Science teachers, like me, join organizations for various reasons.  One organization is the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).  There are groups for special areas.  The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)   has multiple chapters throughout the region and plan occasional conferences.   There is one more physics association that meets monthly unless there is an AAPT meeting for that month. This group is mainly restricted to the state of Illinois known as the Illinois State Physics Project. Here is a snipet from the website:
ISPP is a loose organization of High School, College, and University Physics Teachers in the Chicago Area who meet once a month , except November, July and August, at host schools to discuss teaching methods, lecture and lab demonstrations, and teaching techniques. We emphasize the use of phenomena to engage the student, so the presentations usually involve activities.

I went to a meeting last thursday at Chicago State.  High School and College teachers met to do sort of a "show and tell" of physics experiments they introduced to their class that challenged everyday phenomena. Since I had to take my mentor to a student teacher meeting prior to the ISPP meeting (that was on the same campus) we showed up very early.  I had time to grab some equipment I left at Chicago State the day before that I used to show my supervisors in one my class earlier that week.  Walking around with this, everyone assumed I was going to show THEM something.  I wasn't going to show them whatsoever.  As the ISPP meeting started my mentor mentioned to me that he signed me up to perform a demo with what I had. "The mystery tube" as he had everyone calling it.

There was a reason I didn't want to show this off.  One, I was sure they had seen this already, and two, majority of the people have lots of experience with teaching physics or other general sciences.  I was more nervous in front of these people than I would be with my actual students!  The host assured me that the audience is not as vicious as I would expect.  I have heard this before.  The nicest audience, that was used to describe Science Seminar when I was an undergrad.  A science colloquium presented by the students for the students, and the profs would supervise.  It was my turn to show off what I had with me,  I can feel my heart beat in my stomach.  I like to have attention, but not professional, mature, attention.  These are people I look up to, and now I went before them...

My, name is Jeremiah Campion, you can call me "the young Jerry"  no offense (as I point to Gerry Leitz who was one of the founders of this organization sitting in front of me).  I have been teaching for negative point five ( -.5 ) years but once I am done with student teaching over at Bogan High School, I can officially walk to any school and tell them I have zero years experience.

that got me to settle my nerves and I was able to show them the demo I used with my students.  I told them who I got the idea from and that I was surprised no one had seen it before.  It was a cardboard tubes with strings tied to one another so that if you pull on one end from any side, a string from the loose end gets pulled in, and so on.  The point of showing the student was to help them understand Scientific theory, in that even though you cant see it, doesn't mean we don't have an idea of what it looks like or how it works (like an atom), until we can find ways to further our investigation.  I showed them how it looked on the inside, but by doing this, we are "playing god".  The crowd enjoyed what I had brought forth to them as I always enjoy what they want to show everyone else.  This is not going to be the only time I would present something, I've always wanted to actually, but not until after I had a few years of teaching under my belt, and my own bag full of tricks that I would try to find worthwhile to show off.  I'll get there eventually.

Let's reflect the day after

Today went by so much smoother. I had a class to myself for the majority of the period. They were good students however, so it counts as cheating. I was fortunate to have an assistant principal walk by and notice the students keeping busy. (SCORE). The other classes did everything they were told with less challenges presented to them. I graded the work they did the day before and left notes for what they needed to improve. If i had the chance, i would go over what i meant for the repeated comments i made. They will understand better after that. I wish they could hang on to the information so they are not repeat offenders. Good for now, important note: everyday should get easier, not harder. another important note: Those who know what they are doing understand that it is just busy work. Those who do not know what they are doing are just going to end up busy with a lot of work.

These days will happen

At least it was very nice and sunny today. You want to have a nice sound system of support for your school and pretty much the contact numbers are invalid or disconnected from a person's emergency info. No one was seriously hurt but an urgency to contact a parent was very necessary. This is not the first this has happened. I hope it is not the parent's intention to leave no way of getting a hold of them if anything were to happen. I had a first full Physics Course Plan Committee Meeting with the principal as a special guest. It was only the second week of school, he was there just to see how things go. However the repeated reminder from him that the administration makes to all course committees was made. "We know, we will try to incorporate that into our course" even though it's a skill you build in a High School English course to learn how to write a paper. Writing a few lines for a lab report is the best they can do as of now, if I'm lucky. There are some great students in the class. One unfortunate thing I've done so far is memorize the name of all the students who cause problems. I should have all of them down by the end of the week if I work on it properly. As for the student teaching pace, I may be a little behind schedule as well. All I have to do is teach one lesson to one class. Once I understand the curriculum of any of the classes for the week, I will let the mentor know where I want to jump in and do it the way I would teach it, along with modifications that go along with school regulations, resources, etc. Soon I would have to continue with making lessons for an entire class, then another class, so on and so forth until I am teaching all the classes that I have been observing. Hopefully all of the students kinks have been worked out before it is my turn to get to them, Just kidding, the kinks never get fixed, but you know how to delay their problems. More later.

JC

Quick important note:

If there is anything to do to still be considered a teacher, take attendance. The next important thing to try to do is get and stay organized. The rest should fall into place.

First full week

According to CSU, this is my second week of student teaching (now 3rd week after finish editing, I forgot over the weekend). The first week I was suppose to only perform guided observation. Unfortunately, I was not able to meet that criteria until this week since this was the week the students finally arrived. The second week I started memorizing names and taking attendance. I was aware that the students might try and be smart when it comes to name and seats, but thanks to IMPACT, I was on top. It did feel like team teaching at first when Mr. Farr would give me a chance to put in some words on the topic at hand, but as the days passed, my words were short. I felt a lil disappointed with myself for not being more complete with content knowledge on the spot. (to be continued)

The third week starts off with a lab (horray!). This is the magic happens.
sorry to cut off, will write more later, only because I have to, but this is kinda neat.

JC

First week (not first full week)

After 2 years of professional development, inquiry training, and whole lot of other only slightly useful non-sense (sorry to all who put forth the effort, but stuff starts to come clear as the days go by),  I finally get to practice a purpose in life I find worthwhile.  If i was not doing this I would not be able to tell you where I would be, and doubt would be excited or happy about it.

My first day was not entirely the first day for students to arrive.  There were staff development meetings throughout the next couple of days to lead us toward the 3-day weekend.  I met with my field-based supervisor, whom I will call my mentor for as long as I live to tell student teaching stories, and ran with our own type of experience of becoming a high school physics teacher.  He handed me everything the school handed him that day, which consisted of a Teacher handbook (on top of me already using my "Student" Teacher handbook), class schedule, development schedule, and power point notes for the principal's welcome back address.  The only reason I held these was so he could do lesson plans on his laptop.  No that was not the only reason.  He told me to get comfortable with the handbook and schedule.  It will give me insight on school policy and classroom management, plus a calendar so I can plan accordingly for the next 4 months.

We went to development meetings for the first 2 days, then friday we skipped out and got caught by an assistant principal.  Chewed out best describes what happened to us.  We were however trying to fix his wife's computer so she can send attendance via school program to the registry.  Yes, she is a music teacher there. It still at this time is not fixed, but we tried and cannot continue from there.

Real teaching started the day after Labor Day.  Getting there early was nice, but I was already proving that I had been accidental when I left all the rosters for each period on his wife's desk over the weekend when my task was to create a seating arrangement for every one of them.  I had actually gotten half the classes complete but not finding everything when I wanted to was disastrous.  Luckily with the attendance program, another roster was visible and was able to give the students an overhead visual the second before they walked in.  Word of advice given to me, be prepared, and of course, if you dont have a plan, then you plan to fail.