Student Interaction

After school on Thursday I had a brief conversation with a student named James. He had come in to work on his forensics solo with my CT (who also happens to be one of the forensics coaches at the high school). She had to leave for a few minutes and I was just hanging out, so I struck up a conversation with James. He had emceed the talent show the previous night, and I could tell he was a smart kid. He explained to me what forensics is and the way the tournaments are set up. Essentially it is a way for students to compete I asked what grade he was in and discovered that although he is only 16 he is a senior. He has been accepted at Madison, Eau Claire, and U of M. He is unsure of what direction he wants to take with his life and he isn't very confident that he will be ready to leave home at age 16, so he is leaning towards going to UWEC for a couple years and then transferring. I was amazed to learn all this about him in 5 minutes. I can't imagine going to college at his age and I am impressed that he has come so far in his life thus far. There is a wide variety of students that I come into contact with on a daily basis, and it's wonderful to find one as gifted and motivated as James.

Teaching Space

The classroom I am in is set up with whiteboards in the front of the class with students desks facing the whiteboards and the teacher's desk at the back of the room. This works well for traditional teaching in front of the class with the whiteboard there for visual aids. However, my CT incorporates other types of media into the lesson plans on a daily basis. This generally involves projecting lyrics, images, or videos onto a screen in the front of the room from a digital projector in the center of the room which hangs from the ceiling. The projector is connected to a DVD/VCR and also the teacher's desktop computer. The problem with this set up is that in order to manipulate the media, the teacher must be at the back of the room and the students must be facing forward. I have noticed that it is much more difficult to keep the class focused when their teacher is not directly in front of them, even if she is talking or explaining something. If I were to rearrange the room, I would move the teacher's desk to be in front and to one side in the classroom so that she could more effectively manage the class without having to teach from behind them and cause them to lose focus.

The rest of the surroundings in the room I find to be very appropriate. There are several projects displayed including letters to Saint Nick and mobiles that the students made to represent their lives. There is also a lot of art and I am currently designing a bulletin board for Le Petit Prince, which the upper level class will be reading in a couple weeks. These decorations provide affirmation of the students' skills and also make the learning environment more engaging.

First Week in the Classroom

In this past week working in the classroom I have seen a pretty broad spectrum of the teaching experience. I have been in contact with respectful students, rude students, rowdy students, and students who just don't care about anything. My CT told me that she strives to have a personal one-on-one relationship with all her students and I have noticed that there are many who come to her for help and guidance in many aspects of their lives. I think that is a great role to fill for kids. At the school where I'm observing many of the students come from unstable home situations and it's important for them to have adults in their lives who they can trust and turn to in their hour of need. I know I had teachers like that and I want to be that kind of teacher.

I have spent most of my week observing and doing small things to help prep for the classes. The school's language program suffered severe cutbacks at the beginning of this school year, and as a result, my CT has become the only French teacher at the high school. I have witnessed the burden this puts on her. It scares me because it makes me realize just how much hard work goes into being a teacher. It is a mentally, physically, and emotionally taxing profession. I feel like that should deter me, but in some bizarre way it compels me even more to be a teacher. I don't know if there is anything as rewarding as being able the see the positive effect you have on the life of another person.

You Tube Response

I enjoyed the three clips on Youtube. I suppose for some of the students who watched it some of the sentiments shared were new or different from the way they viewed teaching, but for me it just expressed why I decided so many years ago to become a teacher. Many people teach because they love a particular subject, some teach simply because they don't think they can do anything else. But, for as long as I can remember I have wanted to teach to touch the lives of students.
I decided a long time ago that I wanted to change peoples' lives. I figured I could be a doctor, a lawyer, a politician, or pretty much anything I set my mind to. But, in the end, I deduced that the most direct and personal way to be a positive force in the life of another person would be to teach. I found that these three briefs clips were trying to get that message across. I especially liked a quote from the one entitled "Teachers." It was about how being a teacher is about having the chance to shape young minds and sculpt lives. I could not put it any clearer myself. It is a great opportunity and also a great responsibility. I thought that particular "show" was well done. Granted, it was merely a compilation of various scenes from several films, but it showed that teaching is difficult on many levels. Kids are mean or complacent, the job can be very frustrating, and the teachers are underpaid. Nonetheless, it is a rewarding field. Teaching, in my opinion, is the noblest profession a person can undertake, and despite the long hours, the hard work, and the low pay, there is an infinite amount of intrinsic benefit in the job.