O Nieto

After reading Nieto, I have come to several conclusions about teaching and myself.

While listening to class discussions, I had the mindset that mostly everyone was exposed to diversity and culture at some point in their lives, but I realized that this isnt always the case. I sometimes forget that people arent around diversity because it is usually a big part of my life. My family life, for example, is diverse just because my Dad is Polish and my mom is Puerto Rican. I also atteneded a very diverse high school and have been around diverse school environments my entire life. This all my sound a bit ridiculous, and it is something that is very simple, I had just never seen it from other points of view before. Thats one of the reasons I really enjoyed our class discussions. Just listening to everyones opions and experiences gives me so many new perspectives. This will definitely help me relate to my future students. I can use my life experiences to connect with them. Nieto gives actual examples how we as educators can make a difference in school systems. She puts a great emphasis on group collaboration, and I think this is something we have focused a lot on throughout the semester. Especially with our literature circles, we had to work together in order to present the information effectively. We also collaborate during our class discussions. We hear ideas and experiences from others that we can evetually use in our own lives.

I wish that we would have been able to view everyone portfolio. It would have been interesting to see different themes and learn for each other.

Last Day!

Obeservations are officially over and I feel pretty good about the experience. Since I have been in the classroom before, I can compare the two. After going through a rough patch with my teacher here, I feel I left her classroom on a positive note. I tried to be more vocal and communicate more with her. I built more relationships with the students and genuinely had fun! Which is what teaching is all about. Im glad that things improved with my teacher, but I still feel like they could have been better. I have learned from this experience that from day one I need to be more communicative. I sensed that things did not get off on the right foot, and I should have asked my teacher about it. I have learned a variety of teaching techniques that involve the students. My teacher is also very good at relating to the students and incorporating pop culture and such into lessons so that the students have a better understanding. This is a great technique that MUST be used in the classroom. Althought there were dark periods during this experience, I can with me the good and bad, and learn from both.

In comparisson to the third grade class I was in over the summer, I feel like I was able to take on more responsibility. My teacher here sent me and email before observations stating her expectations for me and well as her. I was excited to see that she was so professional and that I would be greatly involved in the classroom, but it kind of fell through. Over the summer, I met with my teacher each morning to discuss which part of the lesson I would be able to teacher. I had no such opportunity here because I never knew where my teacher was in the morning! She never mentioned me teaching a lesson. This also became more dificult once the ISU student teacher was around because we were all fying for lessons (ha ha). It was nice to be able to actually teach, and I was hoping for more of that in Bloomington, but hopefully next semester will be an even better experience.

Nevertheless, I have gained experiencve and knowledge that I will carry with me throughout my teaching career.

Maybe we just needed a break...

aiSo after 2 weeks away, my return to the classroom was FABULOUS! There was a complete turn-around with my teacher. She actually aknowledged us! She came over and talked to us, joked around with us, and incorporated us into the classroom. It was great! We got to work with the ESL students more which was interesting. They use different notes and they have a modified version of tests. Monday was pretty eventful. There was a new seating chart. Since I really like the set-up of the room, I payed close attention to how she seated the students. They actually get to put in requests of who they want to sit next to. I thought that was fun.

Most of the class was devoted to the district assessment. It was a test made about 2 years ago thats mostly multiple choice and then a short essay question. The ESL tests only had 2 choices for the multiple choice. There was a paragraph at the end of the test from The Jungle, which I thought would be somewhat difficult for 8th graders. Im not sure how they did on the test, but most students finished within the class period.

On a lighter note, the students in second hour were talking about high school and how they felt about it. The girls were excited to move on, and when I asked one of the boys if he was excited to go to HS, he replied, "Naw, only girls get excited for high school." I just thought that was so funny! And it was true for the most part. The girls expressed more excitement than the boys.

The next observation day, I was somewhat dissapointed. I dont know if my teacher was having a stressed day or what, but she went back to her unfriendly self. I really did not want a relapse, so we tried to keep up our enthusiasm. This time there was also an ISU intern in the classroom. She is a senior at ISU; I find it weird that she is coming in at such a late time in the year. Plus there are now 4 teachers in the classroom. I also found out that my co-op has been teaching for about 5 years.

1st hour wasnt motivated at all. These kids just do not want to work. They hardly ever do their hw, so my teacher has to make them do all the boring work in class. All they do now is take notes and quizes. She tries to make it as lively as possibly, but notes can only be so interesting. I walk around and see what style notes the students use, or ask if anyone needs help. They just need to stay motivated.

I feel like I have a growing connection with the students, which is so nice. I think its hard for them because there are so many people in the classroom. I wish I had more one-on-one time with them.