Today we had a lock-down so the police could do a random search of lockers. That meant we had to stay in the classroom even after the bells rang until they gave the all clear. So we were stuck with the 8th graders for about an hour and a half instead of our normal 50 minutes.
In homeroom today, we had locker clean-out day, which means basically what it says: students clean out their lockers. One of the teachers shared what a student said to him, "Are we having locker clean-out day because of the lock-down?" The teacher said no, and the student explained that he thought the searchers must've seen the inside of his locker and wanted him to clean it out because it was so messy. Not quite buddy, they're looking for other stuff.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Mystery Class
Before I started teaching this clinical, I was poking around on my supervising teacher's website and was quite intrigued by her lesson plan schedule for the week. About every other day was a thing called "Mystery Class." I had no idea what it could be, but I soon found out.
All semester, Mrs. B's students have been deciphering data and recording the sunrise and sunset times of ten different locations around the globe. No one has any idea where they might be located, but that's the mystery my students are trying to solve. They've used their data to pinpoint the longitude of the locations and are currently in the process of using cultural clues (submitted by actual schools in other countries) to narrow down the continent, country, and city. They'll turn in their answers on April 27th and then the Mystery Class schools will be revealed.
Typically our science classes do Mystery Class on Fridays, but we're planning extra days next week to make sure the students have enough time to put everything together. The last set of cultural clues was made available, so my students were fully equipped to find those cities!
Some boys were really impressive in their map skills; using the few geographical clues given in the cultural clues, they looked on an atlas until they figured out the city. Mrs. B and I are kind of on a competition now. I had roughly three figured out and she had about the same. Good nerdy fun, that's what she calls it. It's a good thing I'm a nerd, because I can't wait to figure out the rest of them!
All semester, Mrs. B's students have been deciphering data and recording the sunrise and sunset times of ten different locations around the globe. No one has any idea where they might be located, but that's the mystery my students are trying to solve. They've used their data to pinpoint the longitude of the locations and are currently in the process of using cultural clues (submitted by actual schools in other countries) to narrow down the continent, country, and city. They'll turn in their answers on April 27th and then the Mystery Class schools will be revealed.
Typically our science classes do Mystery Class on Fridays, but we're planning extra days next week to make sure the students have enough time to put everything together. The last set of cultural clues was made available, so my students were fully equipped to find those cities!
Some boys were really impressive in their map skills; using the few geographical clues given in the cultural clues, they looked on an atlas until they figured out the city. Mrs. B and I are kind of on a competition now. I had roughly three figured out and she had about the same. Good nerdy fun, that's what she calls it. It's a good thing I'm a nerd, because I can't wait to figure out the rest of them!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
It's like pulling teeth...
It's rather surprising how much I enjoy working with the 7th graders. I didn't expect to like them as much as I do. The 8th graders take some getting used to. They are more conscious of how they look and try to act all cool, like they don't like school. But I know that secretly, some still like it, or at least still want to get their work finished. All three 8th grade classes have been preparing for the science MCAs, which is an important test that covers all the concepts they learned in science from 6th-8th grade. We've been doing lots of prep work for this test. Today, the 8th graders were supposed to complete some packets dealing with physical and chemical changes. A group of boys were "working" together in the back. I was walking around answering questions and supervising, so I stopped by their table. They weren't getting very far. Big shocker there. So I stood around, hoping that my presence would encourage them to get back to it. Nope. It didn't work. So I asked what question they were on and tried to get them to focus. It was like pulling teeth! I didn't want to give them the answer, but trying to get them to think for themselves... wow. What a challenge.
Not a whole lot of funny stuff goes on in these grades. I guess one of the 8th grade girls said something pretty funny today. Our classroom is pretty cold because of the ventilation system. So as soon as this girl walked in (she was wearing shorts and a fitted t-shirt), she said, "Are you raising penguins in here?" Mrs. B's response, "Did you know what temperature it was outside when you got dressed for school?" She said yes. Obviously you can tell fashion was more important to her than staying warm.
The 7th graders carry so much stuff with them everywhere! Their stacks of binders and planners and books is so high, they have to be getting some serious muscles lugging that tower around all day. However, they don't take very good care of their stuff. Both 7th and 8th graders throw their books around and slam them on the desks, and sometimes chuck them on the floor in the hallway. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Not a whole lot of funny stuff goes on in these grades. I guess one of the 8th grade girls said something pretty funny today. Our classroom is pretty cold because of the ventilation system. So as soon as this girl walked in (she was wearing shorts and a fitted t-shirt), she said, "Are you raising penguins in here?" Mrs. B's response, "Did you know what temperature it was outside when you got dressed for school?" She said yes. Obviously you can tell fashion was more important to her than staying warm.
The 7th graders carry so much stuff with them everywhere! Their stacks of binders and planners and books is so high, they have to be getting some serious muscles lugging that tower around all day. However, they don't take very good care of their stuff. Both 7th and 8th graders throw their books around and slam them on the desks, and sometimes chuck them on the floor in the hallway. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Friday, April 6, 2012
What do you want to be when you grow up?
An Education Talent Search speaker came to give a presentation to the 8th grade classes today about making the transition from middle school to high school and beyond. One of the first things she asked them was, "Where do you see yourself at age 30? What do you wear? What do you drive? Where do you live? What do you do?"
Some of their career choices were quite interesting, to say the least. A lot of students wanted to be engineers or cosmetologists. Two boys said they would be writers. A couple girls said they'd be artists or hairstylists. Some students said they'd be lawyers or doctors or astronomers or farmers… there was even someone who wanted to be a gator hunter! His dream job location was in the swamps of Louisiana (I'm pretty sure he was serious about that job). Two boys declared they wanted to be underwear models, and another one piped in to say he'd be their manager. Given the fact that one of those boys said he'd probably be living in a box, I think they were kidding. But you never know with 8th grade boys.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones...
Our 7th grade activity for today was to look at bones, real bones from a real human skeleton. "Mr. Bones" has been around since before Ms. B started teaching at this school, so he's been here for over 30 years. Pretty neat if you ask me. I decided it would be awesome if I could have my own authentic skeleton when I get my own classroom, so I did some research on Amazon and Ebay. It turns out that they do sell real skeletons (and it's legal), mostly for medicinal purposes. The cheapest one I could find was $1000, but they average between $2,000-$5,000. Yeah, chances are, I'm not going to buy one in the near future. Mom, Dad? My birthday's coming up...
Anyway, my 7th graders had a blast checking out the bones. Since the skull is pretty easy to identify, I had it sitting up on a chair at the front of the room to use as an example. One guy came up to me right away and asked if it was from a real person. I told him that it was, so he of course wanted to know who the person was. I had no clue, but decided to tease him a little; I said it was a former principal. He did a double take and then, "No, you're joking." Yes, I was. Then he said, "It's probably Mr. So and So." (I'm guessing one of their old principals. That's one of the things I love about 7th graders; they can actually take a joke. 4th graders tend to take everything literally and will cry at the drop of a hat.
But back to the bones... The rest of them were numbered and my students had to figure out what part of the body the bones belonged to and then had to explain their reasoning. Some were trying to stick the bones together, some got grossed out, some wanted to look at them a second time during study hall! Of course I let them do so. Overall I'd say it was a success.
Anyway, my 7th graders had a blast checking out the bones. Since the skull is pretty easy to identify, I had it sitting up on a chair at the front of the room to use as an example. One guy came up to me right away and asked if it was from a real person. I told him that it was, so he of course wanted to know who the person was. I had no clue, but decided to tease him a little; I said it was a former principal. He did a double take and then, "No, you're joking." Yes, I was. Then he said, "It's probably Mr. So and So." (I'm guessing one of their old principals. That's one of the things I love about 7th graders; they can actually take a joke. 4th graders tend to take everything literally and will cry at the drop of a hat.
But back to the bones... The rest of them were numbered and my students had to figure out what part of the body the bones belonged to and then had to explain their reasoning. Some were trying to stick the bones together, some got grossed out, some wanted to look at them a second time during study hall! Of course I let them do so. Overall I'd say it was a success.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
The Case of the Missing Teacher
So I was thrust right into teaching today. Yesterday, Ms. B and I decided to each teach part of the lesson for the next day and I planned a lesson and threw together a SMARTboard lesson. I emailed it to her so she could look it over. This morning, I got to school and found an empty classroom. Ms. B was nowhere to be found. I don't know my way around the school very well as this is only my second day, so I thought it'd be better if I stayed put. I figured she'd be back in a few minutes. But she wasn't. So I tried to turn the computer on. It didn't work. I started to panic, but calmed myself down. In a few minutes Ms. B would probably be in the hallway monitoring the students like we did yesterday; I could catch her then. So I looked out into the hallway. Nobody was there. I waited a few more minutes... still no teacher in sight. A few minutes later (10 minutes before class was starting)... no Ms. B. Finally the bell rang and Ms. B came swooping in. She had been at a meeting.
Within minutes, she had the computer up and running and checked her email. But it wasn't working. Thank goodness I had my flashdrive! I had almost left it in my room this morning, but ran up to grab it at the last minute. So I was able to get my lesson up and running, even if my mind wasn't completely ready for 7th graders.
Ms. B taught the first fifteen minutes of the 7th graders' science lesson and then turned the class over to me. It actually went okay. Sometimes the students got a little chatty and didn't raise their hands; I didn't know what to do so I basically ignored them and talked a little louder (that's how Ms. B handles it). That worked pretty well most of the time. I'm still looking for a better alternative. Anyway, after I finished the lesson, the whole 1st hour 7th grade class started clapping for me! I didn't think the lesson was that great, but whatever; I'll take what I can get. The other two hours of 7th graders I taught paid attention in class, but no one else showed their appreciation as much as that first hour.
Tomorrow is a shortened day for the high school parent teacher conferences. All our classes are shortened to about 20 minutes, so we'll see how the day goes. I have high hopes... hopefully they won't be dashed!
Within minutes, she had the computer up and running and checked her email. But it wasn't working. Thank goodness I had my flashdrive! I had almost left it in my room this morning, but ran up to grab it at the last minute. So I was able to get my lesson up and running, even if my mind wasn't completely ready for 7th graders.
Ms. B taught the first fifteen minutes of the 7th graders' science lesson and then turned the class over to me. It actually went okay. Sometimes the students got a little chatty and didn't raise their hands; I didn't know what to do so I basically ignored them and talked a little louder (that's how Ms. B handles it). That worked pretty well most of the time. I'm still looking for a better alternative. Anyway, after I finished the lesson, the whole 1st hour 7th grade class started clapping for me! I didn't think the lesson was that great, but whatever; I'll take what I can get. The other two hours of 7th graders I taught paid attention in class, but no one else showed their appreciation as much as that first hour.
Tomorrow is a shortened day for the high school parent teacher conferences. All our classes are shortened to about 20 minutes, so we'll see how the day goes. I have high hopes... hopefully they won't be dashed!
180
Well, I survived my first day of 7th and 8th graders. Whew! I was so exhausted after I got done with school for the day. I think it was trying to learn all their names. There are 8 periods of about 50 minutes plus a half an hour for lunch and the same amount for homeroom. Each class has about 30 students in it, so I have somewhere around 180 students. Learning their names is going to be a monumental task.
I wasn't too worried about these kids, and I guess I'm still not too worried. There's only one class of 8th graders that were intimidating; a group of girls were eying me up and they didn't look too friendly. Most of the students seemed okay with me being there. One 8th grader asked me how old I was and another guy quickly followed with the question, "Are you married?"
My supervising teacher is really cool. She's been teaching for 27 years and knows what she's doing. We actually kind of matched yesterday. Both of us wore a purple shirt, gray pants, and black shoes. More than one person commented on it. One 8th grader remarked as she walked past, "Ms. B, she's like your twin!"
Apparently, these students have trouble keeping track of things... I asked to see one student's graph and he said, "Oh I don't have it. Abby has it so I don't lose it." I guess that's one way to keep your stuff from being misplaced.
These kids are obsessed with their grades. There are a few computers scattered around the room and the students love to log onto InfiniteCampus to check their grades. The 8th graders got a test back today and one boy turns to another and says, "Hey, what'd you get? ... I got a 97... backwards." I take that to mean he got a 79. Not the best grade in the world. But there's always room for improvement!
I wasn't too worried about these kids, and I guess I'm still not too worried. There's only one class of 8th graders that were intimidating; a group of girls were eying me up and they didn't look too friendly. Most of the students seemed okay with me being there. One 8th grader asked me how old I was and another guy quickly followed with the question, "Are you married?"
My supervising teacher is really cool. She's been teaching for 27 years and knows what she's doing. We actually kind of matched yesterday. Both of us wore a purple shirt, gray pants, and black shoes. More than one person commented on it. One 8th grader remarked as she walked past, "Ms. B, she's like your twin!"
Apparently, these students have trouble keeping track of things... I asked to see one student's graph and he said, "Oh I don't have it. Abby has it so I don't lose it." I guess that's one way to keep your stuff from being misplaced.
These kids are obsessed with their grades. There are a few computers scattered around the room and the students love to log onto InfiniteCampus to check their grades. The 8th graders got a test back today and one boy turns to another and says, "Hey, what'd you get? ... I got a 97... backwards." I take that to mean he got a 79. Not the best grade in the world. But there's always room for improvement!
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