Hello all,
The seniors graduated on Thursday. I had spent the previous few weeks emailing them, just checking in on them, asking about how finals went, and telling them that I was “looking forward to seeing them” at commencement.
Thursday was a whirlwind of activity. I had taken off from work so I could go to the ceremony and there was so much I had to do before I’d head off to the ceremony. I wasn’t looking where I was going and I stubbed my toe really good. I felt a crack and knew instantly, when my toe wouldn’t stop throbbing and was swollen, that I had broken it. I iced it for 30 min. before carefully wrapping it in a home-made DIY splint. I wanted to wear heels but with a broken toe, it didn’t seem likely. Luckily, my flats were comfortable. I wasn’t going to let a hurt toe prevent me from seeing my younguns graduate. It would be the last time I’d see them and I wanted to pay them homage and take some pictures.
I went upstairs to the skywalks where my students were congregated prior to filing into the theatre at the college where the ceremony would be held. They were all really surprised, and for the most part, happy to see me there. I took a number of pictures, hugged a lot of them, tried to avoid my male students who weren’t content with a one-armed hug, and chatted with them. My kids looked so handsome and beautiful in their dressy formal wear. They looked so grown-up and deep inside of me, I thought, you helped them get to this point.
One of my female students who I never really got along with in study group, came up to me and thanked me for coming to graduation. I was touched-- the past didn’t matter anymore, we had both learned some hard lessons over the semester, and now we were civil. That made me satisfied-- we took a picture together.
When it handed in my ticket to be admitted into the theatre, I got what could be called “VIP” treatment. I was led to my seat which was in a separate section. There were 20-something seats roped off and soon I was joined by 4 other administrators from the university system who in some way worked with the seniors. One the ceremony began, I was one proud student teacher and cheered for my students as they filed in. I clapped and clapped until my hands got numb.
My CT was seated on stage along with the principal, college faculty, and the college’s president. While he never got a chance to speak, the HS principal gave him kudos for his work. When the faculty was asked to stand, several of my students turned to me and whispered furiously, “Stand up!” I shook my head at them. I wasn’t on payroll-- I wasn’t affiliated with the HS. But I appreciated the gesture, they considered me to be an influential teacher after all.
Two students were nominated to address the class. I’m delighted to say that I worked with those two students in study groups-- and I approved of the class’ choice of the speaks. The topics were poignant without being cliché and I was riveted-- I’m so proud of my students. They are so amazing. We had a 99% college acceptance rate, and a third of the class will be attending Hunter College (most of them on scholarship).
I stood by my CT and his colleague after the ceremony ended, we greeted the students and hugged them. I felt a part of something wonderful. The students thanked me for my effort and one of my more difficult male students told me, “Thanks for giving me hell all semester.” Mind you, he'd never do work when I'd assign it or he'd purposely do it wrong to get a rise out of me. How things can change over 4 months . .
I felt, if possible, even happier when one of my students (who was a real hot mess) came over to me and hugged me. She had refused to go to graduation because of issues she had with many of the teachers back at the hs. I had tried to persuade he to go, but my CT told me that he had tried to talk her into going for months and she stubbornly refused. Now, here she was-- exceptionally late but looking poised and glowing. One of my students snapped a picture of me, the student, my CT, and his colleague. We look whole, happy, complete. That is how I feel-- 48 hrs after the ceremony.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Capstone Project
I gave in my Early College case study to Kevin and Kate a month ago. I feel so proud that I was able to complete the project after a whole semester of reflecting on this student teaching expereince, the interesting nature of 12th grade at MHSHS, my interactions with the students, and the Globalization curriculum.
Allow me to give you some background info on the case study: When I first met Kevin in January, he told me that he had heard that I was a skilled writer and capeable with reseach. A project he and his collegue, Kate, were planning on pulling together was a scholarly paper reflecting on the construction of the early college program at Manhattan Hunter Science. It is one of the most suscessful Early College programs in the nation and Kevin thought I would be adept at compiling a professional paper that assessed the program. As a student teacher and study group moderator, I would be on the front lines-- communicating with the students, listening to their feelings towards the reflective learning practices and study group system, teaching (obviously), and doing some major reflecting on my own.
For the first two months, I was struggling to get my sea legs-- dealing with study group drama and trying to assert myself as a teacher. Doing research was THE LAST THING on my mind-- I just wanted to survive one day at a time! The students were resistant to completing the weekly assignment (or "task," as I called it) I gave to them. Some even went out of their way to not do it or do it so poorly as to get a rise out of me. It was a rough time-- I did lots of reflection, how I taught, how I interacted with my students in and out of class.
In April, Kevin felt that I was finally ready to tackle the report. The students were obligated to post relfections on their personal Fiction Writing blogs at the end of the fall semester and at the end of the spring semester, just before taking college finals and graduating. As the Fiction Writing teacher, Kate showed me the archives of her Google Reader where students from the classes of 2009, 2010, and 2011 had posted their work. In their reflections, students had to respond to questions about study habits, scheduling, classes, college readiness, their opinion on study groups, where they do work, and contrast senior year to their previous 3 years spent on the high school campus.
The report's thesis would be crafted by me, based on whatever information I gleaned from the reflections, through interaction with the class of 2011, and my own thoughts on the Early College program. The assignment is extremely open-- my research and my reflection would provoke questions and those ideas would be my "guiding questions" that would serve as a roadmap.
I spent a whole month reading close to 300 students' reflections on their blogs. I kept a log of the students and any interesting comments they made. After a while, the blogs began to feel very repiticious. But every so often the students would make intriguing observations and demonstrate growth. Soon, the following essential questions emerged:
Allow me to give you some background info on the case study: When I first met Kevin in January, he told me that he had heard that I was a skilled writer and capeable with reseach. A project he and his collegue, Kate, were planning on pulling together was a scholarly paper reflecting on the construction of the early college program at Manhattan Hunter Science. It is one of the most suscessful Early College programs in the nation and Kevin thought I would be adept at compiling a professional paper that assessed the program. As a student teacher and study group moderator, I would be on the front lines-- communicating with the students, listening to their feelings towards the reflective learning practices and study group system, teaching (obviously), and doing some major reflecting on my own.
For the first two months, I was struggling to get my sea legs-- dealing with study group drama and trying to assert myself as a teacher. Doing research was THE LAST THING on my mind-- I just wanted to survive one day at a time! The students were resistant to completing the weekly assignment (or "task," as I called it) I gave to them. Some even went out of their way to not do it or do it so poorly as to get a rise out of me. It was a rough time-- I did lots of reflection, how I taught, how I interacted with my students in and out of class.
In April, Kevin felt that I was finally ready to tackle the report. The students were obligated to post relfections on their personal Fiction Writing blogs at the end of the fall semester and at the end of the spring semester, just before taking college finals and graduating. As the Fiction Writing teacher, Kate showed me the archives of her Google Reader where students from the classes of 2009, 2010, and 2011 had posted their work. In their reflections, students had to respond to questions about study habits, scheduling, classes, college readiness, their opinion on study groups, where they do work, and contrast senior year to their previous 3 years spent on the high school campus.
The report's thesis would be crafted by me, based on whatever information I gleaned from the reflections, through interaction with the class of 2011, and my own thoughts on the Early College program. The assignment is extremely open-- my research and my reflection would provoke questions and those ideas would be my "guiding questions" that would serve as a roadmap.
I spent a whole month reading close to 300 students' reflections on their blogs. I kept a log of the students and any interesting comments they made. After a while, the blogs began to feel very repiticious. But every so often the students would make intriguing observations and demonstrate growth. Soon, the following essential questions emerged:
- How can we create an Early College program that is holistic?
- How can we develop a program that teaches students study skills, intra-personal skills, empathy, connectedness, independence/self-reliance.
- What can be done to make study groups more focused?
- What role does goal setting and self-appreciation play in helping students to become reflective learners?
- How can we utilize technology even more in the 12th grade Humanities classes?
- How can we curriculm plan to promote global citizenship, activism, and awareness?
- What do the students think about study groups?
What resulted through those essential questions was a 25 page case study critically evaluating aspects of the EC Program employed by MHS. I used books by David Conley, the "father" of the Early College movement (so says Kevin), and James Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and a pioneer of promoting social justice history in the classroom. Loewen and Conley's research, while on two very different topics, spoke to eachother and complimented my desire for more high schools to push high-level thinking, social justic, and college readiness skills. I also cited an articles from the NY Times on how more students than ever lack the college readiness skills necessary to perform adequetly at the university-level.
The bulk of my paper was the result of reflections, supported by ideas discussed in Conley, Loewen, through conversations with Kevin and Kate, and conversations with my students. I know my paper is fantastic (please comment me if you'd like to read part or all [!!!] of it), and Kevin told me he's planning on using it to help improve the EC program and educate future student teachers on the nature and expectations of this one-of-a-kind program.
This report was the perfect capestone project-- I will always remember my time spent student teaching at Hunter College with Kevin Froner and the MHSHS class of 2011. I am satisfied that I made my mark on this EC program.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Still swimming! Still hoping! :)
"Thought you had all the answers to rest your heart upon. But something happens, don't see it coming, now you can't stop yourself. Now you're out there swimming... In the deep."
--Bird York, "In the Deep."
I am in a much better place then I was two weeks ago. Having off for mid-winter recess gave me the opportunity to kick-back, catch some shut-eye, and contemplate my teaching methods that I've developed so far.
Good news: I'm penciling in time for lunch and coffee breaks in the afternoon! It's kinda pathetic that I have to actually, "pencil it in" on my weekly schedule but if I didn't do that I'd forget. But I'm remembering to take at least 30 minutes to an hour (often my break time hovers between 30-45 minutes daily) to sit quietly or in the company of friends and eat lunch. If I have a gap in my schedule before an afternoon class, meeting with my CT, lesson planning, grading, or meeting with study groups I make an effort to walk to my favorite coffee shop that is three blocks from the school. The crisp, chilly air awakens my spirits just as well as a dose of caffeine can and I feel invigorated and ready to tackle the afternoon's activities.
The effort the students are putting into their homework assignments has mostly increased. They are gradually falling back into school-mode; even though they wish they were graduated already. I'm giving them higher grades but I am being fair. I didn't have any students verbally attack me for "giving them" a sub-par grade.
Study groups are going ok. I'm developing a strong rapport with most of my students in the groups. I also am developing a bond with students who aren't necessarily in any of my groups. Plus, many of my students are feeling comfortable telling me things, even complaining about their Social Studies class! (I told one group incredulously, after they called a change my CT made to their assignment as, "stupid": "And who do you suppose I converse daily face-to-face and via email?"). Most of my groups complete their weekly task of outlining their notes and showing it to me in a graphic organizer or their notebooks.
But we've come to a period when the students are getting lazy and are falling back into their old, sometimes not so good habits. Today, for instance I had a total of 4 students skip out on study group without telling me! I had to play bad-cop and assign the cutters an assignment to do over the weekend; I don't like being a bitch but sometimes I feel like I need to show them that I have sharp teeth and that they should fear my bite, metaphorically speaking of course. Sometimes gathering the students who don't get along well with each other and who are not comfortable with me is challenging. It can be a headache-- they need to understand that working collaboratively is an important skill to develop early on if they are to survive in college and in future careers.
I actually taught 3 lessons this week: on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I'm feeling comfortable teaching. On Monday, I was a bundle of nerves. I forgot to take deep breaths, but my CT told me that I did a marvelous job fielding questions and handling controversial comments some students gave me. He was delighted and did not step in during my 15 minute lesson once. I was scarred witless but I'm pleased with myself that it went so well. On Tuesday I felt more confident but the lesson was not quite as effective. I lost my students halfway through and my CT had to take over. On Monday, I was so scared that I asked my students "scripted questions" and didn't get too exuberant. On Tuesday, I went off-script and that was when I got myself into trouble. My CT said that going "off script" is a major issue new teachers often make but it is understandable-- and section two is behaviorally and academically the toughest of the three sections. Wednesday was the best class though. I stayed on script, I was comfortable and confident in front of the class, and I floated around the front of the room. There was a time when I asked my students an overly specific question and I thought I lost them, but then I asked them a more general question and I pulled them in once again.
I get observed on Wednesday. I am happy I am working with Section 003 that day, they are my favorite class because they are so smart and well-behaved. I'm afraid of being observed because the guy who will be rating me is "old-school" and a bit of a traditionalist. I wish my CT was the one rating me . . . I know I will be uncomfortable but I need to direct my lesson and hook the class in. My lesson must be structured but it must be engaging. I want to prove that I have a connection with my students and that I am "ballsy" (to quote one of my students) in the sense that I am not afraid to have a controversial discussion with my students during class.
My CT is still great; he keeps telling me to relax and focus on delivering a tight, intriguing lesson. You never know how the students will respond to your questions so it is best that you always have ideas up your sleeve.
Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
In the trenches
I cannot believe it has been three weeks since we've started student teaching. Time has flown certainly; it's been a mixed bag in terms of my expereinces. I'll expand on a few themes below:
Scheduling: Unlike most of my peers who are teaching 1 or 2 sections then go to PDs for the rest of their day, I am constantly on the move. The hours when I am not in class, I am sitting with Mr. Froner and the other ST in Froner's office at Hunter talking about students, assignments, goals, and reflecting. I devote the bulk of my time meeting with eleven study groups twice a week. I'll talk more about study groups below. I'm so busy planning activities and grading 200 assignments weekly that it is really hard for me to find time to take lunch breaks. I tend to eat my lunch during conferences with Mr. Froner or in class while I'm working on managing the Power Point slides. I think this lack of "me time" during the day is starting to get to me. I want to prove myself competant and capable, I want to prove that just because I have not taught full-time before, I can hold my own. If I need to eat lunch at 11 AM just so I can chill for 45 min-1 hr each day then so be it. If I don't schedule lunch, once I start teaching, I might take out my frustration (and hunger) on my students, which would not be fair at all.
Study Groups: Building rapport with students, according to Mr. Froner, is crucial to establishing a productive and postive learning environment. The study group system is the most direct way us ST's are working to build relationships with students. It is so freakin' hard; whoever said that building relationships with students was simple must be high on something illegal . . . Every day I struggle to form connections and bonds with my students. From the get-go I was not getting anywhere, they stared at me and asked me, "Why are you here? Don't bother us, Ms. The old Student Teacher hardly ever visited us so why are you asking us annoying questions about classes and notes?" I've never managed study groups before, AVID was not sufficient practice for this mainly because AVID is a formal class period. Students are still in "class mode" and they know they have expectations that have already been established by the class's AVID instructor.
Study groups at MHSHS is a totally different animal. These groups aren't formal classes; there is no moniter who makes sure they're doing their assignments and not goofing off other than my daily 15 min. "check in." Study groups have from 2 to 5 members who are in the same sections of high school and college courses. I have been given authority to manage my 11 groups with little supervision from Froner. Study groups meet 2 days a week, 1 hour each day in the Hunter College library. Attendence is not taken and it falls in my hands to ensure that group members are coordinated and know where to meet. There have been times when the groups have been rebelous and decided to change their meeting times at the last minute without telling me.
I give my groups a weekly assignment to synthesize notes they've taken in their classes for that week. Each group is required to hand in an outline/synthesis of their groups' notes every Monday to me. From the get-go, there has been some resistance. One student told me that my assignment was "wack" and he and his group weren't going to do it. I stood my ground and they accomplished the task. It's stressful running around the library, finding groups who don't always show up or are tardy. Mr,. Froner tells me that the management of the 11 study groups is my personal contribution to the early college program; it is my job to ensure they pass their classes and develop self-directed study habits. The study groups are a key in prepping the students for college. The pressure is on me.
But this week I've noted that I've established some progress in some of my groups. It's been a struggle but I'm delighted that I've accomplished this much. I have a lot of ground to cover; if I do not establish more rapport I will fail at delivering a lesson. The fear is in me.
Reflection: I have learned to both love and loathe reflection with my CT and the other ST. It's great talking about things that have "gone right" in study groups, grading, and class. Those sessions really bulster my confidence. My CT is a wonderful coach; I'm really blessed that I've been given such a supportive mentor to aid me in this journey.
But there have been times when reflections have caused me to think about awkard situations with students that I've tried to forget. I am a very rigorous grader compared to my CT and the other ST. We had a long conferance about alligning our rubrics after the first economics assignments were graded and entered into Mr. Froner's online grade book. I was worried there would be negative fallout from the students but I knew that my CT would have my back.
There was fallout indeed. Many students came up to me and demanded to know "why did I receive half-credit on a question when my resonse came directly from the text?" If I had a dime for every time I heard that statement . . . Then I had students who were less civil. One student told me that I personally destroyed his GPA because I "gave him" a 70 on his assignment. I heard a lot of them grumbling, "Her rubrics are wack . . . this is bull shit . . . what the f-"
I was civil and patient, in the end some students were able to earn points back. I didn't think about the hateful glares and comments, until Thursday afternoon. We just gave back Section 002 their assignments back and one of the most troublesome students in the class came up to me to protest. In defense to myself, she received a 92-- compared to most of her classmates, she did really well. I was puzzled then why I was feeling all this hatred being directed to me from her. She was testy, angry and was unwilling to compromise. In her opinion, she deserved full credit on each response, earning 3/4 on a question was not good enough for her. She was looking to pick a fight with me, she wanted me to get angry and yell. But I remained poised and calm even though she was clearly invading my personal space. Why was she attacking me?
My CT had to step in, diffuse the negative energy and promised the hostile student that she should address all issues to him and not attack the ST's. I thought I was ok, my cashier job has taught me about dealing with angry people looking for a fight. You deal with it, and then you don't think about it anymore. But then Mr. Froner wanted to talk about that incident during "reflecton time." It was like reopening a sore that had started to form a scab. I felt anger towards the students who had cursed at me under their breathes, the girl who got in my face, the student who called my assessment "wack." I didn't want to re-explore those incidents again, because they hurt too much. I was forced to realize that I was hurting and that my poker face would not shield me from dealing with pain and awkard situations with my students. Addressing my emotions and talking about them is really the only way I can move along, grow personally and psychologically from this student teaching journey. I cannot ball it all up and pretend that everything's dandy.
In retrospect, I'm feeling better. I'm grateful for this blog and an opportunity to have an outlet. I'm also grateful for a week off and an opportunity to relax :)
Scheduling: Unlike most of my peers who are teaching 1 or 2 sections then go to PDs for the rest of their day, I am constantly on the move. The hours when I am not in class, I am sitting with Mr. Froner and the other ST in Froner's office at Hunter talking about students, assignments, goals, and reflecting. I devote the bulk of my time meeting with eleven study groups twice a week. I'll talk more about study groups below. I'm so busy planning activities and grading 200 assignments weekly that it is really hard for me to find time to take lunch breaks. I tend to eat my lunch during conferences with Mr. Froner or in class while I'm working on managing the Power Point slides. I think this lack of "me time" during the day is starting to get to me. I want to prove myself competant and capable, I want to prove that just because I have not taught full-time before, I can hold my own. If I need to eat lunch at 11 AM just so I can chill for 45 min-1 hr each day then so be it. If I don't schedule lunch, once I start teaching, I might take out my frustration (and hunger) on my students, which would not be fair at all.
Study Groups: Building rapport with students, according to Mr. Froner, is crucial to establishing a productive and postive learning environment. The study group system is the most direct way us ST's are working to build relationships with students. It is so freakin' hard; whoever said that building relationships with students was simple must be high on something illegal . . . Every day I struggle to form connections and bonds with my students. From the get-go I was not getting anywhere, they stared at me and asked me, "Why are you here? Don't bother us, Ms. The old Student Teacher hardly ever visited us so why are you asking us annoying questions about classes and notes?" I've never managed study groups before, AVID was not sufficient practice for this mainly because AVID is a formal class period. Students are still in "class mode" and they know they have expectations that have already been established by the class's AVID instructor.
Study groups at MHSHS is a totally different animal. These groups aren't formal classes; there is no moniter who makes sure they're doing their assignments and not goofing off other than my daily 15 min. "check in." Study groups have from 2 to 5 members who are in the same sections of high school and college courses. I have been given authority to manage my 11 groups with little supervision from Froner. Study groups meet 2 days a week, 1 hour each day in the Hunter College library. Attendence is not taken and it falls in my hands to ensure that group members are coordinated and know where to meet. There have been times when the groups have been rebelous and decided to change their meeting times at the last minute without telling me.
I give my groups a weekly assignment to synthesize notes they've taken in their classes for that week. Each group is required to hand in an outline/synthesis of their groups' notes every Monday to me. From the get-go, there has been some resistance. One student told me that my assignment was "wack" and he and his group weren't going to do it. I stood my ground and they accomplished the task. It's stressful running around the library, finding groups who don't always show up or are tardy. Mr,. Froner tells me that the management of the 11 study groups is my personal contribution to the early college program; it is my job to ensure they pass their classes and develop self-directed study habits. The study groups are a key in prepping the students for college. The pressure is on me.
But this week I've noted that I've established some progress in some of my groups. It's been a struggle but I'm delighted that I've accomplished this much. I have a lot of ground to cover; if I do not establish more rapport I will fail at delivering a lesson. The fear is in me.
Reflection: I have learned to both love and loathe reflection with my CT and the other ST. It's great talking about things that have "gone right" in study groups, grading, and class. Those sessions really bulster my confidence. My CT is a wonderful coach; I'm really blessed that I've been given such a supportive mentor to aid me in this journey.
But there have been times when reflections have caused me to think about awkard situations with students that I've tried to forget. I am a very rigorous grader compared to my CT and the other ST. We had a long conferance about alligning our rubrics after the first economics assignments were graded and entered into Mr. Froner's online grade book. I was worried there would be negative fallout from the students but I knew that my CT would have my back.
There was fallout indeed. Many students came up to me and demanded to know "why did I receive half-credit on a question when my resonse came directly from the text?" If I had a dime for every time I heard that statement . . . Then I had students who were less civil. One student told me that I personally destroyed his GPA because I "gave him" a 70 on his assignment. I heard a lot of them grumbling, "Her rubrics are wack . . . this is bull shit . . . what the f-"
I was civil and patient, in the end some students were able to earn points back. I didn't think about the hateful glares and comments, until Thursday afternoon. We just gave back Section 002 their assignments back and one of the most troublesome students in the class came up to me to protest. In defense to myself, she received a 92-- compared to most of her classmates, she did really well. I was puzzled then why I was feeling all this hatred being directed to me from her. She was testy, angry and was unwilling to compromise. In her opinion, she deserved full credit on each response, earning 3/4 on a question was not good enough for her. She was looking to pick a fight with me, she wanted me to get angry and yell. But I remained poised and calm even though she was clearly invading my personal space. Why was she attacking me?
My CT had to step in, diffuse the negative energy and promised the hostile student that she should address all issues to him and not attack the ST's. I thought I was ok, my cashier job has taught me about dealing with angry people looking for a fight. You deal with it, and then you don't think about it anymore. But then Mr. Froner wanted to talk about that incident during "reflecton time." It was like reopening a sore that had started to form a scab. I felt anger towards the students who had cursed at me under their breathes, the girl who got in my face, the student who called my assessment "wack." I didn't want to re-explore those incidents again, because they hurt too much. I was forced to realize that I was hurting and that my poker face would not shield me from dealing with pain and awkard situations with my students. Addressing my emotions and talking about them is really the only way I can move along, grow personally and psychologically from this student teaching journey. I cannot ball it all up and pretend that everything's dandy.
In retrospect, I'm feeling better. I'm grateful for this blog and an opportunity to have an outlet. I'm also grateful for a week off and an opportunity to relax :)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
On student teaching . . .
Well, here we go! In less than one week we will be embarking on the culminating expereince in our pursuit of mastering the art of teaching. Student teaching will either make us or break us. I'm a bundle of nerves just considering the prospect of starting on Monday!
I received my assignment a little more than a week ago. I'll be working with Mr. Froner, from Manhattan-Hunter Science HS. MHSHS has an interesting program in which seniors take their classes on the Hunter College Campus. This program is designed to prepare them for the rigors of college academics and scheduling-- I have orientation on Thursday in addition to Hunter's orientation on Friday, so I'll be able to evaluate this innovative system myself. Mr. Froner is mentoring me and a grad student teacher. We'll be co-teaching classes in Civics and Economics; but since the classes will not be meeting every day, thus I will not be teaching every day. To supplement my hours I'll be teaching some recitation/discussion periods-- I want to offer college guidance to the seniors and help them prepare to write research papers/college essays during those sessions. I will also be doing research for Mr. Froner; he's involved with an organization called Youth Cabinant and he's also doing a study on the impact social networking has had on adolescence.
Mr. Froner will not be shadowing me all the time, and he expects a lot from me. Even though I know it will be tough, I'm ready and willing to meet his expectations. Compared to what almost everyone else will go through, my student teaching expereince will be very different. Looking forward to Thurs-- when I get to meet my students and create a schedule with Mr. Froner-- and Friday, when I get to see my friends again!
Here's to a productive semester.
Cheers,
Lydia
I received my assignment a little more than a week ago. I'll be working with Mr. Froner, from Manhattan-Hunter Science HS. MHSHS has an interesting program in which seniors take their classes on the Hunter College Campus. This program is designed to prepare them for the rigors of college academics and scheduling-- I have orientation on Thursday in addition to Hunter's orientation on Friday, so I'll be able to evaluate this innovative system myself. Mr. Froner is mentoring me and a grad student teacher. We'll be co-teaching classes in Civics and Economics; but since the classes will not be meeting every day, thus I will not be teaching every day. To supplement my hours I'll be teaching some recitation/discussion periods-- I want to offer college guidance to the seniors and help them prepare to write research papers/college essays during those sessions. I will also be doing research for Mr. Froner; he's involved with an organization called Youth Cabinant and he's also doing a study on the impact social networking has had on adolescence.
Mr. Froner will not be shadowing me all the time, and he expects a lot from me. Even though I know it will be tough, I'm ready and willing to meet his expectations. Compared to what almost everyone else will go through, my student teaching expereince will be very different. Looking forward to Thurs-- when I get to meet my students and create a schedule with Mr. Froner-- and Friday, when I get to see my friends again!
Here's to a productive semester.
Cheers,
Lydia
Thursday, January 20, 2011
A "Perfect" Record . . . but no one's smiling.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/education/20grades.html?pagewanted=2&nl=nyregion&emc=ura1
"A stunning 94 percent of its seniors graduated, more than 30 points above the citywide average. The school, which has about 500 students from grades 6 through 12, achieved a nearly perfect score in the category of “student progress,” based partly on course credits earned by students.
"A stunning 94 percent of its seniors graduated, more than 30 points above the citywide average. The school, which has about 500 students from grades 6 through 12, achieved a nearly perfect score in the category of “student progress,” based partly on course credits earned by students.
"'When I interviewed for the school,' said Sam Buchbinder, a history teacher, 'it was made very clear: this is a school that doesn’t believe in anyone failing.'
"That statement was not just an exhortation to excellence. It was school policy."
Saturday, December 18, 2010
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