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0 Weeks To Go (aka Finito)

Posted on June 23, 2011 by auburnchick

So, I’m jumping ahead by two weeks.

I can’t help it because I’m just too darned excited to wait.

See…today…I got feedback on my final assignments…

And…

I’m…

DONE!!!!!

I did not have to resubmit any of my last three big assignments!!!!!

I got the news via email this afternoon, and at first, I was rather calm.

I posted an update on Facebook with a link to this song…

Why that song?

I don’t really know, except that it’s on my Wii game, Just Dance, which I bought with my Christmas money in December.

The song is so upbeat, and because I’d only gotten to play with my Wii for a week before my EPI classes started, the song reminded me of my life pre-EPI (i.e., before I started living with the stress of weekly assignments).

After posting my Facebook update, I sat, alone in my house, and looked around.

It was quiet.

My mind was a little empty.

Then, I spied my dining room table…

That table is a mess, I know.  For six months, it held the most important, necessary items of my life…my EPI binders, important EPI folders, and various other things.  During the school year, the table was often littered with textbooks, lesson plans, and tests that needed grading.

And yes, you might even be looking at a bit of knitting on that table.  I allowed it to come out and play…especially during the last couple of weeks when my workload was lighter.

As I caught sight of my table, though, I got a lump in my throat, and then the floodgates opened up.

I suddenly realized that I had reached the end of a long, stress-filled journey.

Tears of joy and relief streamed down my face.

I called the Mr. to share the news that I was done.

He was kind and didn’t make fun of me as I cried on the phone.  He’s been down this road with me before…three years ago when I finished my last classes at Troy.

After hanging up, I finished my happy cry.

Then, I did what any girl with so much pent-up stress would do…

(Sorry for the poor picture quality. The camera would not play nicely with the TV.)

I fired up the Wii and danced…

And danced…

And danced.

I danced, all alone in my house, for thirty-five minutes.

It felt good.

I could dance, guilt-free.

Sure, I still need to study for my Professional Education Exam, but from this point forward, I will not have weekly EPI assignments to complete.

After my solo dance party, I took on another task…

Yep.  I cleaned off the table.

This is the first time since November, when I put that plaid tablecloth on it, that I’ve seen my entire table…all cleaned off.

The sight was lovely to behold.

It represented the simplicity that had suddenly inserted itself into my life.

My six months of certification classes taught me so many things.

I never thought that I could think so deeply about anything.  Teaching requires so much self reflection.

I never thought that I could think at such high levels.  Teaching requires people to use higher order thinking skills.  So much for being a dumb blonde, eh?  This program blew my self perceptions to bits.

When I first began this program in January, I cried.

The first two weeks of EPI, I nearly quit.

I’m not kidding.

I seriously questioned my desire and, mostly, my ability to teach.

I, quite honestly, did not think I had what it took.

God became a real presence in my life during the last six months.

Not that He hasn’t always been real to me.  I don’t know about you, but there are just times when He feels closer…or rather that I am closer to Him, for He never moves.

I stuck to God like glue.

I had to.

I never would have made it through this program with His help.  He rescued me so many times when I was stuck.  As I struggled through self-doubt, He confirmed that yes, I am supposed to teach.

God also used all of YOU in this journey of mine.  I want to extend a sincere thank you to every person, IRL or bloggy friend, who encouraged me throughout this process.

I won’t forget the day, before I started classes, that an administrator (and friend of mine) at Podunk High School said, “Nathalie, if anyone can do this, YOU can.”

Her words replayed in my mind many times.

My friend, Jane, whom I have the honor of working with and who is also a fellow EPI graduate (last summer) went out of her way to encourage me.  I cried more than once in her classroom.  She was a daily source of support.

To all of you, THANK YOU.  Your prayers sustained me…of this I am sure of.

Please continue to pray for me as I study for that last exam.  It’s my final hurdle to my permanent teaching certification.

For now, I think I’m going to play a bit…perhaps dance some more.  Feel free to fire up your own Wii or Kinect or maybe just your radio.  Do a dance in celebration with me.

The EPI thing is officially finito!

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: , , | 5 Comments »

3 Weeks To Go

Posted on June 13, 2011 by auburnchick

I am down to three weeks left until I finish my certification classes.

I am starting to get antsy.

Last week, I had to complete two rubrics for my problem-based learning lesson plan.

If you are a not a teacher, you might think that a rubric is easy to create.

Think again.

Rubrics have to be aligned to the standards and objectives that are being taught.  Group projects (which is what problem-based activities are) must be assessed individually, so teachers have to make sure that the rubrics are geared for students as individuals.  No group project grades should be given (shame on me for doing this, by mistake, in my classroom a few months ago).

I got my rubrics finished early, and I’ve already received feedback on them.  I received all but two points, so I will be tweaking them just to get full points.

I am anal, oh yes I am.

Meanwhile, I worked very hard on my remaining two Classroom Management assignments.

For one of them, I had to create a cooperative learning lesson plan.

It was a humdinger.

I took my problem-based learning plan and adapted it for my Classroom Management assignment.

I.

Was.

Smart.

Of course, there was stuff I had to add in because the rubric for this assignment was different, but it sure was easier since I already had a lot of it figured out.

Yay, me!

My other assignment involved dealing with classroom discipline issues and planning for a successful parent conference.

I had some fun with this and got creative.

Read on and see if you catch my humor…

Student’s Name:  Stephen King                                                                                                                              

Parent’s Name:  Mrs. King                                                                                                                                     

Date of Conference: October 12, 2011                                                                                                                   

Statement of Concern:

Teacher:          “Mrs. King, I am concerned about Stephen’s ability to use his own words when completing research projects for my class.”

Description of Problem:

Teacher:       “When Stephen turned in his essay this week, I checked it for plagiarism, as I do for all of my students’ written assignments.  My plagiarism checker confirmed that Stephen’s essay was copied from the website GetAnAOnYourEssay.com.  Here is a copy of the essay from the website.  As you can see, Stephen’s essay matches it, word-for-word.”                                                                                                                                               

Teacher’s Report of Actions Taken to Alleviate Problem:

Teacher:          “I have reminded Stephen that the definition of plagiarism is, ‘the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.’  I also explained that plagiarism is a form of cheating, and I gave Stephen a copy of the school’s policy about cheating.  I explained to Stephen that he received a zero on this assignment because I had explained what plagiarism was when we began working on the assignment, so he, along with all of the students in my class, were familiar with the concept.”   

For the third part of my assignment, I had even more fun when creating a scenario of a potentially difficult situation of my choosing (student gets a poor grade on the final exam, resulting in a poor grade for the term).  Read about how I empathize with the parent and see if you can catch my ever impressive humor…

Teacher:          “Mrs. King, I understand that you are very busy with your husband deployed to Iraq and four young children at home.  I remember that you had an incident with your dog, Cujo, and that your little daughter, Carrie, was very sick on Parent Night, so you could not come to my classroom that evening.  On that night, I showed parents how to use the website I created for my classroom.  I apologize for not getting back with you regarding this tool.  That was an oversight on my part.  I would like to show it to you now, if you have a few minutes.  First, you will need to navigate to MrsAuburnChicksAwesomeEnglishClasses.org, where you will find a list of assignments and instructions for the assignments.  I update this site daily, so I encourage you to check it as often as possible.  This will be a great way for you to keep up with Stephen’s assignments.  I always upload the rubrics for the assignments, so students can print them out.  You might find this helpful too.  The neat thing about the website is that your husband will be able to see it as well, so he will know what Stephen is expected to do in my classroom and provide some support that way.”

Knowing my luck, I’ll have to resubmit these assignments. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Thus ended my week.  As of this moment, I have three tough assignments left and three itsy-bitsy assignments, and then I will be finished.

That light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little bit brighter.

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

7 Weeks To Go

Posted on May 16, 2011 by auburnchick

Well, week one of my final term of certification classes is behind me.

Let me tell you that I did a LOT of reading last week.  I had three chapters of my Psychology Applied to Teaching textbook to read.  Each chapter was over forty pages long.  I found out that I will NEVER go back to school and get a degree in psychology.  The stuff, while kind of interesting, is very confusing.  I’m of the firm belief that you’ve gotta be a little nuts yourself to actually want to study psychology.  LOL

What I did find interesting was reading about the way that students learn. 

One of my assignments last week required me to describe five learner characteristics of the students that my problem based learning plan will be geared for.  I had to closely study the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional characterstics of high schoolers, and the information helped shed light on why I encountered some of the problems in one of my classes.  I will definitely use the knowledge I gained to be more empathetic during the rest of my career.  I also learned that instructional strategies must be tailored to address these characteristics.

Once again, I was reminded that a lot of thought must go into lesson planning.  Lesson planning is not just about knowing the material you are teaching but knowing your STUDENTS. 

I think that too many teachers try to fit students into the cookie cutter molds of traditional teaching methods, and this simply does not work.

Trust me.  I learned this the hard way this year.

As far as assignments for last week, I created the first component of my problem based learning plan.  I had to select the “problem” and incorporate the learner characteristics mentioned above.

Here’s the title of my plan:

Concerned members of the community address ways to assimilate young hurricane refugees into the local school system and the community at large.

I selected this topic because this is, in fact, something that my community had to deal with after Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of Mississippi and Louisiana.  Podunk, USA was inundated with disaster victims, and local officials struggled with the issue presented above.

I feel that this is something that is relevant to my imaginary students’ lives, and it is something that I could, realistically, bring into my classroom.

The instructor for this class is fabulous, let me tell you.  Although she had said that she would provide feedback by Tuesday, on Sunday, she had provided feedback to those of us who had submitted our assignments early.  I adore this instructor.  She’s very nurturing but tough on the important issues.  She has the ability to analyze assignments to the smallest detail yet provide positive, corrective feedback at the same time.

My classroom management class is going well, although the text in one of my books paints an unrealistic picture of life in the classroom.  I hope my classmates aren’t lulled into a false sense of security.  Some of the tips provided in the book do not work so seamlessly in the real world.  However, this particular book does have some good resources that I feel I can tweak to my particular needs.  I think I’m going to save the book at the end of the course rather than sell it.

This class is rather easy, and I have already completed quizzes for this week and next.  As soon as I finish this week’s PBL assignment, I plan on completing week three’s assignment for the management class. 

My diversity class is proving to be the easiest one of all.  I only had one assignment last week…a quiz.  This week’s assignment is to write a critical review about last week’s chapter.  I decided to go ahead and write it after I took the quiz while the information was still fresh in my mind; hence, I am now one week ahead in that class.

My goal is to quickly finish the assignments in my classroom management and diversity classes so I can focus on the brain-intense PBL class.

And so I have seven more weeks to go.

The clock is ever so slowly ticking down…

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

12 Weeks to Go

Posted on April 11, 2011 by auburnchick

I am officially at the halfway point in my certification program!

Happy Dance!

Week 12 was b-r-u-t-a-l.

After I sent my collaborative lesson plan to my mentor, I waited…

And waited…

And waited.

He sent me one email that said, “Wow!  Overachieve much?”

I chuckled because, as you know, I am a bit anal about my work.

On Thursday morning, he sent me a message that my lesson plan was fine as it was.

Now, this might seem like a good thing, and it was, mind you.  However, the requirements of my assignment were such that collaborative effort had to be shown via red font on my lesson plan.  So, I sent him a message asking him to “find” something for me to “fix.”

A little after lunch, I received a message that he would like me to incorporate more reading of the text in with the lesson plan.  He also suggested that the people I had used in my motivation be changed to people the ninth graders would know.

Oh, I guess I should explain what I’m talking about.

See, the lesson plan was about Romeo and Juliet’s respective tragic flaws.

I decided to get things going by showing students pictures of famous people/characters…

I originally had Anakin Skywalker, Jack Bauer, and Martha Stewart, but I axed Jack and Martha at my mentor’s suggestion and added Charlie and Lindsay.

Armed with the feedback that my mentor provided, I got to work Thursday afternoon.

The job was tough.  I had to get the lesson plan fixed and email it to my college instructors.  There were so many parts to fill in…

I worked for about five hours before discovering, upon my attempt to print the revised lesson plan, that my printer was out of color ink.

Ugh.

I ran to Office Max and had my documents printed.  I was fortunate because I got there just as the copy center was getting ready to close up shop.

Then, I went back home and spent another four hours typing a script for myself.  I color-coded it so I would know what questions to ask (a certain number were required), when to write stuff on the board or pass out papers, and when to read text…

Yeah.  I’m anal like that.

I already told you this.

Finally, I headed to bed satisfied that I had done all that I could do.

I was calm.  I think that was because Super Sis had called me shortly after I got home from Office Max just to check on me.  She knew that I was going to be observed by my college professor the next day, and she figured I would be nervous.

I was.

We talked about it, and before we got off the phone, she prayed for me…out loud.

I don’t know if you’ve had people pray for you out loud in front of you, but it really is a humbling and emotional experience.

I was mostly touched because she had remembered.

I am so fortunate to have a Christ-following sister.  We have been through some tough times together.  God has used these times as a cord that binds us together.

On Friday, I woke up easily, despite the lack of sleep I’d had.

Surprisingly, I was only mildly nervous…nothing outrageous.

I put on a very nice outfit and headed out the door.

It was especially important to me that I make a good impression on my college professor.  She is the epitome of professional.

I tend to feel very intimidated by people who have their act together like this.

I taught my first ninth grade class, and things went fairly well.  It wasn’t a perfect run, and I asked my mentor for tips after class.  He made a couple of suggestions, which I quickly made notes about in my script.

Then, I saw my professor walk in.

She took a seat beside my mentor in the back of the room.

Now, it’s at this point where you would think I would have been almost faint with nerves.

God was so good.

I pretty much blocked her out of my mind and began class.

It was so much easier after I heard one student say, “Mrs. AuburnChick, I wanted to go to the school’s store, but I didn’t want to miss your class since you were teaching today.”

I’d only been in this classroom two times, and she was already telling me this.

I felt so good.

And I began class.

I really think it went well.  I saw my teacher laugh when I held up Charlie Sheen’s picture.  (That’s always a good sign.)

I covered the board with notes for the students…

I completely submerged myself in the lesson and those kids, and it was amazing!!

Did it go perfectly?

No.

Were there things I could have done differently?

You bet.

However, for a person under the intense pressure of working full-time and attending school full-time, it wasn’t bad at all.  In fact, it’s a lesson that I would have been thrilled to have taught to my own students.

After class was over, I got feedback from my mentor, and before I left, he gave me a hug.

It had been a very good experience.

Though my mentor is a completely different kind of teacher from me…he’s much more relaxed…I learned a lot.

I left the school with a huge smile on my face and a load off of my shoulders.

I also left with a grateful heart.

God had been in every moment.

Believe it or not, my week was NOT OVER!

On Saturday, I had to attend class all day.

I’ve gotta tell you that second Saturday classes are so much better than first Saturday classes.

By that, I mean that every term, we have to attend two Saturday sessions for each class.

The first Saturday finds me and my classmates with deer-in-the-headlights looks on our faces.

I typically go home those days and nap.

I.  Cannot.  Handle.  Life.

Second Saturday classes usually mean that we’re over the hump of the first four grueling weeks of class.

I told one of my instructors that I like second Saturday classes because I can see light at the end of the tunnel.  She laughed.

This program is incredibly demanding.  In fact, some of the courses are transferable to a four-year college two hours away for a Master’s program.

Yeah.

So, I didn’t really mind attending class on Saturday.  I actually wanted to ask a couple of my professors questions.

My technology teacher is amazing.  She’s in charge of instructional technology in the public school system in town, and she really knows her stuff.

Did you know that if you open up iTunes and go to the iTunes store, there’s an iTunes U button at the top that you can click on.  From there, you can click on various colleges and listen to or watch lectures of different classes.  You can take virtual tours of museums.  There is a wealth of information there, and it’s all free!!  That was my favorite tip from the day.

I saw the professor who had observed my teaching the day before, and she smiled when she told me that I had done a good job with my lesson plan.  Her words touched me.

And so Week 12 ended.  I have one rather large assignment left to do in one class and smaller assignments in my other classes.

Because I’ve busted my butt the last four weeks, I am ahead of schedule; however, I am going to continue working hard so I can hopefully finish my classes early and take a breather before Round Three begins.

Week 12…you’re outta here!  Let’s see what Week 13 brings!

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

16 Weeks To Go

Posted on March 7, 2011 by auburnchick

Well, I’m at the 16-week mark on my journey toward permanent teacher certification.

Last week, I had some not so much fun when I had to pay my tuition…

I had to get a student loan to finance my classes, but I messed up a bit because I did not know that student loans are only dispersed once each semester.  Because I am attending mini-terms (two sessions per semester), part of the tuition for my second term had to come out of my pocket.  I will get the money back at the end when I receive the difference from my last term’s fees and the dispersed amount, but still, $200 (the difference this term) is no small chunk of change.

Aside from paying out huge amounts of money that will take me forever to repay, life was good last week.

I did not have any assignments to finish, except for the creation of three CDs (one per class) of my work.  I dropped those off on Monday night when I took Rooster to his class at the college.

I spent the bulk of the week working on lesson plans.  I also knit and, quite honestly, vegged out on my couch.

On Friday night, I made the mistake of looking at my online school’s web site.

My new classes had been opened up.

I just had to punish myself by looking at the assignment schedules.

Whoosh…

My happy bubble burst.

Reality set in.

A new round of classes was about to begin.

And begin, it did, when I attended my Saturday classes.

You might remember that my classes are conducted in a hybrid fashion.  Most of the work is done online; however, attendance is required one Saturday per month, for a total of two in-class sessions per term, per class.

I must admit, though, that as I got ready for class at o’dark thirty on Saturday, I looked forward to seeing my classmates.

I feel as if we are part of a Special Forces unit in the military (I’ve previously said that we feel like a family, but “family” is too mild of a word).

We’re doing battle together…the war being fought is us versus the assignments.

When I walked into class at 7:30, I smiled at my classmates.  I was genuinely happy to see them.

The names and faces are starting to stick.

We have been reading and responding to each others’ postings for two months.  Many of these postings are extremely personal because reflections are part of the curriculum.

There is a core group of us…thirty or so people who started the program in January.  We’re all on the “fast track,” meaning we’re taking three courses each term.  On Saturdays, we’re like animals being herded from one pen to another as we move from classroom to classroom.

I cannot speak to the emotions that others are experiencing through this process.

My emotions have run the gamut from overwhelming anxiousness to pure joy.

And yet, yesterday morning, as I got ready for church, I could not help but reflect on how inspired I felt after Saturday’s class.

This term, I am taking the following classes:

  • Teaching and Technology
  • The Teaching Profession – Field Experience
  • Diversity in the Classroom – Field Experience

My technology teacher is AMAZING!  She works at my school district’s office and is in charge of instructional technology (or something like that) for the county.  I’ve already read the first chapter of the textbook, taken one quiz, and completed one assignment, and I can honestly say that I am pumped up!  The school that I teach at is extremely small; it is sorely in need of technology.  I can see so much potential in what the kids could (and should) be learning.  This class is going to breathe life into my lesson plans as I search for ways to incorporate technology into my students’ academic lives.

My other two classes are my field experience classes.  This is the term when I will be working with a mentor teacher.  I will be spending three days outside of my own classroom soaking up the lessons that will come from observing and teaching my mentor’s classes.  I am very excited and very nervous.

One thing though…I am not feeling as overwhelmed as I did that very first Saturday in January.

God is so good.

He has shown me in very tangible ways that He is with me every step of the way.

The way certainly has not been easy, and there were a few days in the beginning when I wanted to throw in the towel.

I am so incredibly glad that I did not.

I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that God will get me through every single day and every single assignment.

And so I continue to press on.

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17 Weeks To Go

Posted on February 28, 2011 by auburnchick

Week 7 of my education certification program went swimmingly.

Because I had busted my rear during the two previous weeks, I was able to relax last week.  Well, I relaxed as much as possible, anyhow, given that I stalked my college’s web site as I awaited feedback from the final BEAST of a project that I had completed.

Meanwhile, I had two very minor assignments to finish up.  They seemed easy compared to the work I had already completed during the term.

On Sunday, I received the feedback I had been waiting for.  I had received the most points possible on my final lesson plan.

Whew!  What a relief!

True lesson planning requires a lot of time, creativity, and attention to details.  Teachers must consider the setup of their rooms, the materials they will need, and the motivation they will use to spark students’ interests.  Teachers must also take into account their students’ academic levels and plan adjustments as necessary.  Most of the time, teachers will have students of differing levels in their classrooms.  This was new for me because, traditionally, teachers have always taught one way for all students.  It was always sink or swim in the classes I attended.  The smart kids always helped the struggling students.

I feel confident that by the time I have completed all of my required courses, planning in this manner will be second-nature.

Again, I was reminded of how wonderful this program is, even if I sometimes loathe the workload and deadlines.

I have one more week to go in this first term.  All that remains is burning CDs for my classes and delivering them to the college.  The program that I am in requires students to create electronic portfolios of their work.  The program’s administrators keep them on file for five years because the state of Florida routinely audits the program to ensure compliance with State mandates.

I plan on burning an extra copy of each CD for my personal files as well.  I want to ensure that I am able to provide documentation of the work I completed, should questions ever arise.  I also know that the University of West Florida (UWV) has an articulation agreement with the college I am attending.  I believe that the agreement states that either six or nine of the credits from the certification program may be transferred over to UWF’s Master’s program, should students decide to work toward a higher degree.

While I cannot envision myself doing so at this moment, I may, one day, decide to travel down this road.

With my first term’s assignments behind me, I am going to spend this week creating lesson plans for the classes I teach.

Oh, speaking of classes, I have to share a quick story.

Last week, I only had two of my six juniors in class one day (the other students had stayed home due to illness or to study for college exams).  One of the students who came to class asked me how I was managing to work and get my college assignments done.

I explained how I use my binders to stay organized.  I told him that I keep my assignment schedules in the fronts of my binders and check them daily for due dates.  I also explained that I write in the dates that I complete assignments so I’ll know what hasn’t been finished.

Working full time and attending school full time requires a lot of organization and dedication.

I hope that I can be an example to this young man and others who may be looking on.

I remain ever grateful for God’s provision, both physically and mentally, as I continue on my quest for my permanent teaching certification.

He is SO good!

All glory to my Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit for providing everything I need and then some.

I am so blessed.

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

18 Weeks To Go

Posted on February 21, 2011 by auburnchick

When last I discussed my certification classes, I had just completed a project that took me nine hours to finish.  It was the BEAST, if you might recall.

Well, here is the feedback that I received from my professor:

“Consider yourself ‘over the hill!’ You earned 50 points for your artifact this week. Again, your work is ‘over the top.’ Get it, over the hill and over the top. I know corny!”

She’s a funny lady, eh?  I have appreciated her humor.  This class has been very, very difficult.

I spent the week working my vegan behind off.  It was Week 6 of the eight-week term.  With only one more week of assignments to go, I wanted to get ahead (Week 8 consists of creating an e-portfolio of the work completed all term).

What I really wanted to do was finish all of my assignments in two of my classes so that I could focus on another BEAST of a project in my reading class.

Two of my assignments were to create a grade book and to create a unit plan cover sheet.  I thought, upon first glance, that they would be easy.  Oh heck no!  I sent numerous emails to my teacher, and she kindly responded; however, by the time she did, I had pushed through.

I’m like that.

I do not like waiting on other people and generally figure things out on my own.

Regardless, her responses confirmed my original thoughts.

And so I uploaded those items…a full week plus two days early.

I had stayed up late every single night to get these things finished.  By Saturday, I was ready to take on my BEASTLY reading assignment.

My challenge was to write an entire reading lesson plan.

Writing a lesson plan may seem easy to veteran teachers, but to teacher-wannabes, it is no easy task.  There are so many things we have to remember to do, but the most important thing is to line everything up with the standards we are teaching.  This is quite challenging.

I worked hard…

Twelve very long hours…

Finishing in time to upload my assignment before heading to bed.

Sunday morning, I woke up with a little bit of a headache.

I suspect it was the release of stress.

Because I have worked so hard, I only have two small assignments left, and I cannot do those until other students post their assignments first since I have to reply to the work they post.

Of course, I still have to await feedback from my instructors.  I very well could have more work ahead of me, and because I am still learning, I fully expect this.  That is fine.  I feel like the bulk of the work is behind me.

I have to say that I LOVE three-day weekends!  Knowing that Monday would be a holiday, I decided to treat myself.

I gave myself Sunday off.

I desperately needed it.

Could I have been making lesson plans for the classes I teach?

Yes.

Could I have been studying for my General Knowledge Test, which I plan to take in March?

Yes.

Did I do either one of these tasks?

Nope.

Instead, I went to Joann Fabrics and bought yarn.  I decided I would knit…

I began work on a super-secret project…one I won’t be able to reveal for a few months.  I managed to knit 1/4 of my project while I watched NASCAR, The Amazing Race, The Other Boleyn Girl, and some other movie that I can’t remember the name of.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that this next week will go smoothly, and that I won’t have too much work to resubmit.

Term 1 is almost finished.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

19 Weeks To Go

Posted on February 15, 2011 by auburnchick

So, I’ve gotten down to the teens, eh?  It’s really hard to believe that I am a little more than halfway done with my first term of my certification classes.

Week 5 of Term 1 was deliciously pleasant.

Why?

Well, you see, two of my classes did not have any artifacts (assignments) due!  I only had to take quizzes in those classes.  In my Teaching Profession class, I still had regular work, so I did it…

While watching a local high school soccer game…

Regional Finals…

My friend, Barb’s, son is on the team, and she’s been so wonderful to me that I wanted to support her…

I only managed to read two pages during the game.  The upside was that I only had 38 left to read when I got home.

Silver linings, people!  That’s what keeps me going!

The most significant thing about last week was that I used my “free” time to get ahead on assignments for the next couple of weeks.

One, in particular, was a BEAST of a project.

I had to take all sixteen learning outcomes I had developed in Week Two and create a formative assessment/instructional strategies day-by-day plan.

Oh yeah.

Not easy.

It was so bad that the instructor had warned us to send all of our family away for a day or two — for however long would take us to complete it.

Rooster took the advice to heart and left Dodge to sleep over at a friend’s house.

Although he is a quiet child, the house was almost dead-still without his Xbox mania going on in the other room.

I had already decided that I would complete the BEAST over the weekend, even though it wasn’t due until the following Friday (this coming up Friday, by the way).

On Saturday, I set up shop…

I planted myself on the couch and, with few exceptions, stayed there until that evening.

All total, I spent about nine hours working on the BEAST.

It was a relief to finish and upload the project to my online class site.

Of course, I am awaiting feedback from the instructor, so chances are good that I will have to tweak the chart.  However, I learned a very important lesson last week.

Make a game plan and stick with it.

I could have easily taken part of the week off…given myself time to relax.

I didn’t.

Good students don’t do that sort of thing.

They have vision and wisdom to recognize gifts of time as opportunities to work ahead.  You never know when something unexpected might happen.

Besides that, Week 8 is the week when there will be no assignments due, with the exception of making electronic portfolios (CDs) for all of the classes and getting them turned in.

THAT is the week I will relax…maybe knit.

But, until then, I have more work to do.

I have another BEAST of a project due next week.

I think I’ll take the lessons I just learned to heart and get busy.

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: , , | 4 Comments »

22 Weeks to Go

Posted on January 24, 2011 by auburnchick

My second week of my certification classes is officially in the books.

It was somewhat of a long week.

Thank goodness I had Monday to get ahead.  I could totally deal with teaching four days a week so I can do other work on the fifth day!

I spent a good part of the week agonizing over an assignment I had not received feedback on…only to discover that I had the due date wrong.  I blogged about that a few days ago.

When I finally did receive feedback on Thursday, I began several long, hard days of work.

This is how I spent Friday night and all day Saturday…

My toughest assignment was in my Instructional Strategies class.  This is a class where we are being taught how to write a unit lesson plan.

We are building the unit plan in parts to better understand how each fits together and the proper order for writing the components.

The week before, we had selected our topics, the standards, and the benchmarks for our plans.  We also had to write a rationale, which explained to the students how the topic is relevant to life in general, their current lives, and their lives in the future.

Deep thinking required, let me tell you.

Last week, we had to write four student learning outcomes for each of the four benchmarks we had selected the week before.  Guys…that is a total of 16 outcomes!  Outcomes are what you expect your students to accomplish and learn.  They are comprised of three parts…a condition, a performance, and a criterion (how you’ll measure the task).  Basically, you are deciding what the students will be doing to show mastery of each benchmark and how you will measure the assessment.

THEN, we had to write one overarching essential question and two topical essential questions.  The overarching question is a question that can travel from unit to unit, and the topical questions are unit-specific but related to the overarching question.

Whew!

I worked on my assignment for 16 hours.

I am not exaggerating.

I happily went to bed on Saturday night having submitted that assignment.

In one of my other classes, I had to select benchmarks and learning outcomes for phonemic awareness and phonics lessons.  This was a little time-consuming but not too bad.

In my Teaching Profession class, I had to take a philosophic inventory and write my teaching philosophy.

Deep stuff.

By the time I am finished with this program, I will have analyzed myself inside and out.  Oh my word, but the critical thinking these classes require is hard-core!

But I want to share something with you.

I doubted myself the first week.

I doubted if I really was cut out for this teaching thing.

I really, really wanted out.

Last week’s feedback on my first week’s assignments gave me validation that I am doing what I am supposed to do.

Sure, this is not going to get easier, but God showed me in no uncertain terms that if I rely on Him (which I TOTALLY am because there is absolutely no way I could have written those words on my assignments on my own), He will help me through the tasks that follow, and I WILL be a better teacher because of these classes and all of the deep thinking.

I am so grateful for the friends and family who continue to encourage me.

Oh, and BTW, the dogs were totally feeling my pain…

It’s great to have their support too.  😀

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: , , | 4 Comments »

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