Blog 6 (day 1 &10)

 I have now done my very last observation, along with my mini teach in Mrs.Hall's class. I'm so grateful to now have the experience under my belt and the many ideas for lessons from observing. The last time I went to Mrs.Hall's class the students were learning about the American Revolution. Therefore my lesson that I came up with was a break up letter to Great Britain from the 13 colonies.

As I walked into the classroom I was very nervous about messing up, or the students not enjoying the lesson. However as I began to get in the front of the class and introduce myself it all seemed to go away. After I introduced my self, I asked the students if they had ever wrote a breakup letter or recieved one. Every single student put their hands in the air. 

I then asked the students what  break-up letter contains, what the format typically looks like. Students began raising their hands as  I picked the students one by one to share. "you suck" "were done" "Its not you it's me" were most of the students answers. Which to me was a very funny conversation. I then asked the students what great Britain did to the colonist in order for them to want to "break-up" with great Britain.

I was very surprised as well as proud that all the students had something to say and remembered what the previous lessons about the American Revolution was about. The students answered that Brittan had taxed them too much, killed their men, and gave them no representation in their government. We followed with a class discussion about the American Revolution and compared the two.

I told the students to write about 3 to 5 sentences about it and then when everyone is finished we will share. After about 5 to 10 min I asked who would like to share, and of course everybody raised their hand. Although I couldn't get to them all, the letters were not only hilarious but also related to the prompt perfectly. Not only did I enjoy teaching it to them, but seeing the students laugh and have a fun time with it was definitely the best part.

I am so thankful for being able to go to the middle school and observe/teach. It has been a very educational as well as fun experience. I created many relationships with the kids down there and they even told me after I finished my last day there that they were happy to have me their and that they were gonna miss me. Overall it was a great experience and I can't wait to do it with my own class in the future.

Blog 4 ( 8&9)

 Continuing my observations for Mrs. Hall's class, I have gained many more ideas for future lessons and tips to use in the future in my own classroom.Since it is now close to the end of the year the students have to make sure to turn in any missing assignments they may have. This was a lot of what was done on day 8 while on the next day I was in there the students started to get their review for their quiz  they had at the end of the week.

Starting with the first day, the students had their regular bellwork.However during their usual reading time, the students were called up one by one to see what they were missing. After the teacher went through every student she explained to the class that whoever had makeup work had to stay in for recess until the work was made up. Just by taking away the students recess time, encouraged the students to get to work and finish whatever missing work they had. 

Mrs.Hall also explained to the students who were all caught up that they may read or play their educational games on their computers as a reward for staying on top of work. Not only did this reward the kids, but it also encouraged the students who didn't have their work done to complete it asap. However at the end of their reading time, Mrs.hall then began to finish the lesson that she had already started with the class last period.

 On day 9, the students were having a quiz over their most recent vocab words. To help the kids study and review, the teacher put the different words on different pieces of paper and stuck it all around the classroom. After that the students had a sheet of paper that had the definitions, if the students went around the classroom and matched all the words to the definitions correctly then the students would have the correct phrase at the end of the activity. This was a very helpful ad fun activity for the students and I could tell they got a lot out of it.

In conclusion, both days were very helpful for the students and I would definitely use these different activities that way the student stays involved and is at their own pace. This also gives the students more accountability on themselves because they are doing it themselves and if it is not completed it is not anyone else's fault but theirs.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Blog 3 ( days 6 and 7)

 During this week our sophomores at our school had testing all week. Therefor one of our hallways in our high school was shut off reserved for their testing. Because of this the whole week we had fast friday schedule which means every class everyday for a shorter amount of time. Not only that, but the teachers whose classrooms were in that hallway had to move classroom and adapt to the resources in that classroom to continue teaching.

Starting with my 2nd period since I do not have a first period, this teacher did not have to move classrooms since her room was already in the hallway that was not reserved. However she did have to change what she could teach each period since the time was cut in half. So what my teacher did was take the 2 days that she would have us that week and split it up throughout the whole week. For example we would go over a new subject then do one worksheet that day. Then the next day we would do more of that topic and review the move onto the next lesson the next day.

Going into my 3rd period whose classroom did get switched. Luckily each classroom has a tv in them therefore my teacher just had to bring calculators from her room and a folder for us to put in our homework that we completed.  So my teacher didn't have to do much besides hookup to the tv in that room.

Continuing in my 4th period. This teacher was already in the hallway that didn't have to move so this teacher didn't have to change up the way he taught or use different resources. After 4th period the testing was completed and we were able to go back to our normal classrooms.

Overall the teachers had to use many different ways to adapt and use the resources that were in the classroom to complete each period. Not only did the classroom affect the way the teachers could teach but also the time limit and amount of work that could be completed each period. From this week I have learned great tips of how to adapt as well as what is needed in each classroom depending on the subject.