For my last trip I worked with the same student that I worked with my last time, Sarah. This time I was able to find out a little more about her. I found out that she was supposed to be graduating this May, but fell behind in her classes when she was expelled from her high school her senior year. She said that they did not let her go back to school for a few months so that put her behind.
Unlike many of the other students that I have worked with who are eager to get back to the regular classroom, Sarah says she likes going to school at the PLC better. She said that she likes it because she does not have to wait on the teacher to give her the tests and that she can go ahead and do it on her own. I think that this shows how Sarah is a little more self motivated than some of the previous students I have worked with. She also only has two more units left in her course work for her English class. That is super impressive considering she just started at the PLC about a month ago. She told me that she takes notes and does well on the pre-tests so that she does not have to sit through all of the other parts of the unit and slow her down. Sarah said that sometimes other students ask if they can borrow her notes and she tells them no. She thinks that they should take their own notes and do their own work. When I asked her what she wanted to do after school, Sarah said that she wanted to attend cosmetology school.
I think that it is important for the student's to have plans for after school. I know that Adrian also said that she wanted to be a crime scene investigator. Derrick told me that he wanted to work with computers. Whenever students have something that they aspire to do after they finish high school, it gives them something to look forward to. I love it when the students ask me questions about college. I like it when they ask me about my classes and what college is like. It excites me to know that they are interested in getting to where I am in the academic setting.
One thing that I can safely say that I have gained from this class is a better idea of what goes on in the classroom. The different issues that we have covered in our book clubs has made me realize that there are many aspects to teaching in today's classrooms. The skills that I learned while giving our book presentations have also been helpful to me. Last week I had to give a presentation in my English class. When I was preparing my presentation I knew that I was going to have the class interact with me. Once it was my turn to do my part of the presentation I started out with a funny, relative article to my topic and grabbed the class's attention and then asked them their opinions on certain parts of it. I was more than thrilled when the class responded to my questions and it was not just dominated by one student, but many of the students in the class were involved. When I was finished I was very proud of myself because I felt like I had accomplished something that was relative to my future job.
Sometimes I wonder why I chose to go into education and then I think about all of the things that I like about it. It gives me a chance to work with something that I love everyday which is books. It also gives me a chance to be around people and I thrive on interaction with others. My favorite part of teaching is that it gives me the chance to go and make a difference in the world. I can share my knowledge with the next generation and hopefully inspire them to learn to love learning the way that I do.
I have taken away very many things from this class and it all helps me ascertain that I am heading in the right direction with my career choice. I think that teaching is more than a job though. I think that teaching is a lifestyle. As a teacher I want to always be thinking of new ways to introduce material to my students. I want to be innovative and have a fun classroom where learning does not seem like such a chore. Because of this class I think that I will have the tools needed to have the type of classroom that is beneficial for my students. I know that I will have the knowledge to find the answers to any difficulties that I have in my class and I will always continue to learn more about the teaching profession. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this class and everything that I learned from it and my time spent with all of my different students at the PLC.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
4-18
So today, the class that I am normally in for tutoring had a substitute teacher. The students acted just like how other students did when I was in high school. Very many of the students chose to skip. I know this because I saw at least two of the girls who were supposed to be in the class out of the building. There was literally only three students that showed up and there were three more random students who were staying in the classroom for that period. My usual student did not show up and neither did any of the other students that I generally work with so I went to a different classroom. I worked with a student along with a fellow tutor.
This student, Sarah, was working on 12th grade literature. She said that she had entered the program a month ago and was actually ahead of where she needed to be in the course. The way she was able to do this is similar to the way Adrian's program is set up.She only has to take the pre-tests and if she passes them then she gets to skip the lecture and homework parts of the course. This really bothers me about the way the online classes are set up. Sarah said that her teacher generally summarizes the stories for her, so that she does not even have to read them. I feel like this completely defeats the purpose of the point of the program. The students is not really learning anything in my opinion. Sarah stated several times that she did not like being in the classroom that she was in while doing her work, and that she was ready to be done with the course so she did not have to get up early anymore. I understand that a majority of the students that are enrolled at the PLC are not the average students, but I feel that they should be held to a higher standard than it appears many of them are being held to.Sarah said that there was another girl who was almost completely done with the program at this point. She said she was able to do that because she worked with a tutor for every period and was able to take the pre-tests and skip the lectures and extra stuff that goes along with the lessons. Sarah said that was why she wanted to work with a tutor as much as possible so that she can get done with everything. She said that she never understood why people would turn down the chance to work with a tutor. This actually made me feel a little appreciated for being there. I have felt appreciated other times, like I have been making a little difference in the school work of the students I have worked with when they do well on their tests.
One of the things that this course has made me realize is that classrooms work better when they are not as one sided with the teacher dominating the classroom. Granted, high school is a bit different than college classrooms, I think that students would appreciate being in charge of what they are learning to some extent. I remember my favorite English teacher in high school only gave us one exam. The rest of our grades came from group projects and different interactive activities within the classroom. We would have girls verses boys competitions by creating plays similar to ones that we had been reading in class. That was the best class I had in high school. I never felt like I was really having to do a ton of work, yet I was learning way more than I realized. I feel like I would want to conduct my classroom in a similar way that this class from high school was conducted and like this one. I think by having something like book clubs, the students would learn more and interact with the literature in a different way than they would probably be used to doing. There are so many different ways that teacher could get students more involved in the classrooms, and after going to the PLC I think it is very important to try to reach out to your students and connect with them. I mean we do expect them to learn what we are discussing in class, but maybe it would help if the teacher could learn more about what her students liked and incorporate that into the lesson in some way. I think that it would be cool to find out the students favorite shows or movies and introduce it into a lesson in some way to help them better understand what is being taught and to capture their attention. There are ways other than the traditional ones that would help a class reach its full potential. I think there would be nothing more satisfying than know that my students understood something because I could relate it to their lives. When I begin teaching one of my main goals will be to connect with my students. Sometimes all a person needs is that one person in their life to encourage them and push them to reach their full potential and I would be more than happy to help my students do that.
This student, Sarah, was working on 12th grade literature. She said that she had entered the program a month ago and was actually ahead of where she needed to be in the course. The way she was able to do this is similar to the way Adrian's program is set up.She only has to take the pre-tests and if she passes them then she gets to skip the lecture and homework parts of the course. This really bothers me about the way the online classes are set up. Sarah said that her teacher generally summarizes the stories for her, so that she does not even have to read them. I feel like this completely defeats the purpose of the point of the program. The students is not really learning anything in my opinion. Sarah stated several times that she did not like being in the classroom that she was in while doing her work, and that she was ready to be done with the course so she did not have to get up early anymore. I understand that a majority of the students that are enrolled at the PLC are not the average students, but I feel that they should be held to a higher standard than it appears many of them are being held to.Sarah said that there was another girl who was almost completely done with the program at this point. She said she was able to do that because she worked with a tutor for every period and was able to take the pre-tests and skip the lectures and extra stuff that goes along with the lessons. Sarah said that was why she wanted to work with a tutor as much as possible so that she can get done with everything. She said that she never understood why people would turn down the chance to work with a tutor. This actually made me feel a little appreciated for being there. I have felt appreciated other times, like I have been making a little difference in the school work of the students I have worked with when they do well on their tests.
One of the things that this course has made me realize is that classrooms work better when they are not as one sided with the teacher dominating the classroom. Granted, high school is a bit different than college classrooms, I think that students would appreciate being in charge of what they are learning to some extent. I remember my favorite English teacher in high school only gave us one exam. The rest of our grades came from group projects and different interactive activities within the classroom. We would have girls verses boys competitions by creating plays similar to ones that we had been reading in class. That was the best class I had in high school. I never felt like I was really having to do a ton of work, yet I was learning way more than I realized. I feel like I would want to conduct my classroom in a similar way that this class from high school was conducted and like this one. I think by having something like book clubs, the students would learn more and interact with the literature in a different way than they would probably be used to doing. There are so many different ways that teacher could get students more involved in the classrooms, and after going to the PLC I think it is very important to try to reach out to your students and connect with them. I mean we do expect them to learn what we are discussing in class, but maybe it would help if the teacher could learn more about what her students liked and incorporate that into the lesson in some way. I think that it would be cool to find out the students favorite shows or movies and introduce it into a lesson in some way to help them better understand what is being taught and to capture their attention. There are ways other than the traditional ones that would help a class reach its full potential. I think there would be nothing more satisfying than know that my students understood something because I could relate it to their lives. When I begin teaching one of my main goals will be to connect with my students. Sometimes all a person needs is that one person in their life to encourage them and push them to reach their full potential and I would be more than happy to help my students do that.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Last 2 Trips
Since I last wrote I have visited the PLC twice. Each time I worked with a different student. The first of these two visits I worked with a guy named Clarke.
I had never worked with Clarke before, but I had noticed him in the classroom because he is a vocal student. He generally talks once he comes into the room, but gets quickly to work. While I was working with him, I noticed that he would do his work online the way I probably would have if I had been a student at the PLC. He would read the questions at the end of the stories to find out what he was supposed to be looking for in the story. By doing this, he sometimes prevented himself from having to read the whole story. I used to use this strategy while I was taking tests in high school such as the EOCT or the SAT. Clarke had developed a system that worked for him while he was doing his work online. If there was questions he did not know he would simply search for the answer on the internet. I think that that is one of the negative factors about this alternative school. Sometimes I think that the students do not truly have to learn any of the information. I also think that it must be hard to sit at a computer for classes and almost basically teach yourself. I personally would be bored out of my mind if I had to do that, but I know that many of these students like this program versus the traditional high school.
I also find that many of the students there are there to catch up with their work. For example, Clarke should be graduating this year, but he is behind in some of his classes. I attempted to ask him a little about what schools he had went to when he was in the traditional high school, and he told me basically all of the ones in his county. His mom works for the school system and when he would get into trouble she would make sure that he got moved to a different school where he could continue his education. Unfortunately, Clarke missed a good bit of school because of time he spent in rehab for drug abuse. This is something that I never would imagine a person younger than me having to experience. I see it on the television everyday where celebrities are in and out of rehab, but I have never personally known someone who struggled with something like that. Clarke said that he now has his priorities in order though and is planning to graduate. He also is a frontman to a jam band he has with a few of his friends. I think that it is very interesting to learn about each of these students hobbies and some of their stories.
I have never realized how different people's outlooks on school in general can be. I loved every minute of my middle and high school years. I didn't think it could get any better than that until I came to college. It just blows my mind to think that some people have no plans to go to college at all. Spending time at this school has really helped to open my eyes up to the different types of students that are out there.
The most recent time when I went to I worked with Adrian again. She is still behind in her English program a pretty good bit. She is taking two other classes, History and Government, both on the eleventh grade level, but her English class is 9th grade. She told me that she failed her 9th grade class at her traditional high school, but that the counselors messed up her schedule so she was able to take her 10th grade literature. Adrian is 17 and has a one year old child. She said that she is at the PLC to catch up on her classes and that she does not want to have to graduate from there. She wants to go back to her old high school for her last semester. Adrian said that she just doesn't like being at the PLC and that it's boring to her. She also said that if she went back to her regular high school she would probably fall behind so that's why she is going to wait until her last semester to go back.
Adrian has her program on E-2020 set so that if she passes the pre-tests then she does not have to sit through the lectures or do the homework to hopefully help her catch up. When the pre-tests ask her questions about stories she has not read yet because she has not gotten to them, she will find the story on the internet and read it. She also answers the questions similar to the way that I answer questions that I am not sure about. I would like to think that I am a good test taker and I generally make the grades to prove it. When I do not know the answer to questions I eliminate the ones I know are not right and then choose the best one and that is the same strategy that Adrian would use when I was working with her. I enjoyed working with her because she would ask me questions when she was not sure about something instead of just trying to look up the information on the internet. She seemed like she really was wanting to learn.
I really enjoy the time that I get to spend with the students at the PLC because I think it is important for me to get out of my comfort zone and experience other classroom settings. I think that I am not only helping these students accomplish the work that they work on, but also helping myself become a better teacher. These kids are almost my age, but we are so different. I think that is one of the things that I enjoy the most about the idea of teaching. I cannot stand monotony and with a classroom full of children with all kinds of backgrounds and personal experiences I don't think that I will ever encounter that. The challenges will be the best part of the job though, I believe. Trying to figure out how to capture the attention of 30 students that are so diverse will be a challenge, and I would like to think that I will be able to overcome this challenge to help make a difference in the children's education.
I had never worked with Clarke before, but I had noticed him in the classroom because he is a vocal student. He generally talks once he comes into the room, but gets quickly to work. While I was working with him, I noticed that he would do his work online the way I probably would have if I had been a student at the PLC. He would read the questions at the end of the stories to find out what he was supposed to be looking for in the story. By doing this, he sometimes prevented himself from having to read the whole story. I used to use this strategy while I was taking tests in high school such as the EOCT or the SAT. Clarke had developed a system that worked for him while he was doing his work online. If there was questions he did not know he would simply search for the answer on the internet. I think that that is one of the negative factors about this alternative school. Sometimes I think that the students do not truly have to learn any of the information. I also think that it must be hard to sit at a computer for classes and almost basically teach yourself. I personally would be bored out of my mind if I had to do that, but I know that many of these students like this program versus the traditional high school.
I also find that many of the students there are there to catch up with their work. For example, Clarke should be graduating this year, but he is behind in some of his classes. I attempted to ask him a little about what schools he had went to when he was in the traditional high school, and he told me basically all of the ones in his county. His mom works for the school system and when he would get into trouble she would make sure that he got moved to a different school where he could continue his education. Unfortunately, Clarke missed a good bit of school because of time he spent in rehab for drug abuse. This is something that I never would imagine a person younger than me having to experience. I see it on the television everyday where celebrities are in and out of rehab, but I have never personally known someone who struggled with something like that. Clarke said that he now has his priorities in order though and is planning to graduate. He also is a frontman to a jam band he has with a few of his friends. I think that it is very interesting to learn about each of these students hobbies and some of their stories.
I have never realized how different people's outlooks on school in general can be. I loved every minute of my middle and high school years. I didn't think it could get any better than that until I came to college. It just blows my mind to think that some people have no plans to go to college at all. Spending time at this school has really helped to open my eyes up to the different types of students that are out there.
The most recent time when I went to I worked with Adrian again. She is still behind in her English program a pretty good bit. She is taking two other classes, History and Government, both on the eleventh grade level, but her English class is 9th grade. She told me that she failed her 9th grade class at her traditional high school, but that the counselors messed up her schedule so she was able to take her 10th grade literature. Adrian is 17 and has a one year old child. She said that she is at the PLC to catch up on her classes and that she does not want to have to graduate from there. She wants to go back to her old high school for her last semester. Adrian said that she just doesn't like being at the PLC and that it's boring to her. She also said that if she went back to her regular high school she would probably fall behind so that's why she is going to wait until her last semester to go back.
Adrian has her program on E-2020 set so that if she passes the pre-tests then she does not have to sit through the lectures or do the homework to hopefully help her catch up. When the pre-tests ask her questions about stories she has not read yet because she has not gotten to them, she will find the story on the internet and read it. She also answers the questions similar to the way that I answer questions that I am not sure about. I would like to think that I am a good test taker and I generally make the grades to prove it. When I do not know the answer to questions I eliminate the ones I know are not right and then choose the best one and that is the same strategy that Adrian would use when I was working with her. I enjoyed working with her because she would ask me questions when she was not sure about something instead of just trying to look up the information on the internet. She seemed like she really was wanting to learn.
I really enjoy the time that I get to spend with the students at the PLC because I think it is important for me to get out of my comfort zone and experience other classroom settings. I think that I am not only helping these students accomplish the work that they work on, but also helping myself become a better teacher. These kids are almost my age, but we are so different. I think that is one of the things that I enjoy the most about the idea of teaching. I cannot stand monotony and with a classroom full of children with all kinds of backgrounds and personal experiences I don't think that I will ever encounter that. The challenges will be the best part of the job though, I believe. Trying to figure out how to capture the attention of 30 students that are so diverse will be a challenge, and I would like to think that I will be able to overcome this challenge to help make a difference in the children's education.
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