Well, my fellow PSTs [Pre-Student Teachers], my teaching adventure at Redken is now officially underway. I am loving the school's climate: the staff and the students are wonderful. I could definitely see myself teaching there one day. My CT [Cooperating Teacher] is very supportive and is quick to give advice [which I appreciate].
[**For the purpose of discussing my experiences with my CT this semester, I will refer to her under the pseudonym Mrs. Annette]
I am currently working with two of Mrs. Annette's classes. Redken has a block schedule of red [odd; classes 1,3,5, and 7] and white days [even; classes 2,4,6, and 8]. I work with Mrs. Annette's 1st and 2nd block classes, so I am at Redken five days a week from about 7:40 am to 9:30 am. I realize that this is beyond the requirements for PST, but I am hungry for all of the teaching experience that I can get. I see the extra time at Redken as a valuable learning oppertunity that will help me in my professional development.
On red days [1st block], I work with a Freshman Language class. This is a specially designed class that was created to provide extra support for students who struggle with their reading skills. All of the students in this classroom were placed in the class due to their reading test scores. Mrs. Annette explained that all of the students are significantly behind in reading and writing; they have reading scores that range from 1st to 3rd grade. The language classroom is completely scripted. This means that the class has a set curriculum and a set pacing guide. As a result, the class moves very quickly because there is a great deal of material that must be covered to help bring up the student reading scores. From the time the bell rings to signal the start of class until the bell rings to dismiss class, the students are working. Thus far, they have been focusing on different kinds of words [i.g. pronouns, compound words, and helping verbs] and sentence structure. They have also begun to read a novel called The Contender.
On white days [2nd block], I work with a Sophomore Tier III English class. These are students who were in the Freshman Language class last year. Their Tier III class is meant to provide extra support that will ideally enable them to be in a regular Junior English class next year. -- As to date, the Sophomores have been working on plot structure [recognizing the characters, rising action, high point, falling action, and resolution]. Mrs. Annette has been using short stories from the Grimm fairy-tales to help the students develop their skills. They are also working on compound sentence structure.
It is the sophomore class that Mrs. Annette and I have decide would be the best class for me to teach. We have scheduled for me to teach October 10th through October 24th, a total of five class periods. I do not yet know the subject over which I will teach. Mrs. Annette is waiting for the books to come in. Although I do not know the exact subject over which I will teach, I do know that I will have to integrate a program called Lexicon [*this is a pseudonym for the program as my Sophomores are a pilot group for the software] into two of my five teaching days. Lexicon is a computerized reading intervention program that is meant to target the reading weaknesses of the students so that they can sharpen their skills. Each student will have their own account that is specifically tailored to meet their individual needs. The Lexicon sessions will occur once a week during class and each session takes about 45 minutes [or half the class period]. -- Mrs. Annette is very excited about the program and she feels that it will prove to be a valuable resource for her students. I share her enthusiasm for the program and am excited to have an opportunity to learn about Lexicon and see the program in action.
Although I feel that my semester at Redken is going well, I do have some things that I need to work on. Learning students names is crucial and I have already had several name mix-ups! Thankfully, I realize that this is a common scenario at the start of each new school year and I have confidence that my memory will improve as the semester progresses. I am also adjusting to the early mornings. This is because I work full-time, single-parent a small child, and have a 45 commute each morning. I have also recently weened myself off of a very expensive Starbucks addiction. Needless to say, Ms. Spears is tired! But don't worry, I shall endure. Thank the Lord for the body's ability to adapt and thrive under stress. Here's to a less caffeinated semester and an enhanced memory as I continue my experiences at Redken.
I love that you are doing more than required for your PST semester! It really shows the enthusiasm you have about becoming a teacher. It also shows everyone who DOESN'T know you that well that you're a determined person that loves what you're going to do with your future. I really admire the determination you have and how your passion never weakens.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how you do it. There is no way I could handle having a child, working full-time, going to college, and observing/teaching in a classroom every single day of the week. The fact that you have the ability to do this further proves that you will be a great teacher once you get out there. That's my opinion, anyway.
I'm excited to hear more about the Lexicon! Since it is a new program and the sophomore students in your class are practically beta testers for it, I really hope it works out well for them. I also hope that it proves to be a wonderful learning experience for you when you use it while teaching your unit.
Good luck with the rest of your semester!
I agree with Sam that the Lexicon program sounds interesting! Are you going to get a chance to become familiar with the program yourself, like possibly going in during your CT's plan period and messing with it? This is what I did last semester when I wanted to use an Airliner in my lesson. Needless to say I scrapped that idea fast, cause while those tablet things are cool, I didn't want to make a food out of myself! Since you have to incorporate the system into your lesson, any ideas how you'll combat issues that may arise?
ReplyDeleteMy second question is, are you afraid of burn out? You're doing so much and while I applaud your enthusiasm, how do you combat the stress? I'm sure everyone could use some good stress relieving tips!
You'll for sure have to update us with your opinion of the Lexicon system after you've seen it in action!