Video Blog - After The Editing

This part of the assignment was painful. I have not had to watch myself teach yet so editing the video of my lesson was definately an interesting experience. I was surprised at my modeling. I think I did a good job explaining what I wanted from the students. The video shows how they were engaged during the activities and when I looked at the worksheets I created, they had really good things written down. They really liked that I brought in "crude oil" and although I knew they liked it when I taught the lesson, I did not really see how much they liked it until I saw them on the video.

As I suspected, you can see and hear on the video the spells of extreme silence when I asked the students questions. I thought I asked pretty simple questions, but when I edited the video I thought that I could make them more simple. I purposely tried to wait for answers because this was a challenge for me during my first lesson. When I looked at the video it seemed like I waited a long time, but maybe it could have been longer. The same student answering the questions is very apparent in the video as well. This, of course, is what I will be writing my third teaching inquiry about.

I did not realize how short five minutes really is. It was really hard to select what I wanted in the video because there was so much I wanted to put in there. I closed the lesson and still had some time left in class. I am glad I had an extension video clip that I found just in case the lesson went quickly. I did not have time to put that in the video.

Video Blog - After The Lesson

The lesson went well. I modeled everything for them and we went through the lesson step by step and they followed along well. The students seemed genuinely engaged in the activity when I thought they would be distracted by all of the extra people in the classroom. The only problem I had was that it was difficult to get them to answer questions for me. It seemed like everytime I asked a question noone wanted to answer. I kept getting the same child answering my questions. This child is a gifted/talented student and always answers questions quickly in every class. Other than that, the students enjoyed the read-aloud we started with and ended with. Looking back, I think I would ask more questions as we are reading the book so I can make sure they are listening and to reinforce the information in the book.

Video Blog - Before The Lesson

I cannot wait to teach this lesson! My second grade class is currently learning about environments and since I am teaching this lesson during the week of Earth Day, my SBTE and I came up with the idea of doing a lesson about oil spills. I am going to have the students see the effects of water and "crude oil" (black tempura paint and vegetable oil) on a feather. The students will have to make predictions about the effects of both on the feather, then write their observations on the sheet I created when they complete the activites. I hope to take the lesson to another level by brainstorming with them how to clean up oil spills. I have my materials ready to go and I am ready to teach!

Final Teaching Blog

I just loved my second rotation. I was assigned to the science lab teacher who had one class each of second thru fifth grade. It was so great to have a variety of grades! I looked forward to our SBTE days and creating lessons for the different grades. I loved having to model everything for the second graders, as well as the independence of the fifth graders. It made planning a long process but it is well worth it.

One important thing I learned is that you have to be very organized to be able to effectively teach a variety of grades. Everything you would need to teach your lessons had to be prepared or you would lose the focus of the class. Another important thing I learned is that good teaching takes practice. At the beginning of the semester I had concerns that I would be a good teacher. After my first observation lesson, I was really worried about the feedback I received. As I taught lessons required by my methods classes I felt more comfortable and found little tricks (thanks to my SBTE) to help me along the way.

I feel like I grew as a teacher. I can see this because I became more independent as the semester went on. At the beginning of the semester I was asking questions about every little thing all the time. Now I feel like I know more so the questions I ask now are more meaningful. I also feel that I grew because my lesson planning became easier. It used to take me forever to create lessons, but now I can write one quickly with the 5E model. As a whole I think my second rotation went much better than my first. Not only did I enjoy the variety of grade levels, but my SBTE was extremely helpful. She gave me constructive criticism and meaningful praise just at the right times.

The first rotation is over and there is much to be reflected on. When I first began the QUEST program, I thought I wanted to teach prekindergarten or kindergarten. After six weeks with a fifth grade class I am planning on keeping my options open. The fifth grade class I had was so much fun that now I am thinking I would like to teach the older grades.

One challenge I had in this rotation was the testing. The fifth graders took two TAKS sample tests and the actual reading TAKS test. This took three full days of teaching away. Unfortunately the students did not do as well as expected on their reading TAKS test. This, of course, began the frenzy which I have never seen happen before. Every fifth grade teacher and the principals went in to overdrive. They visited classes daily, they quit teaching social studies entirely, and then incorporated reading in everything they taught. I took it as a learning opportunity and definately finished my Language Arts lessons.

Another challenge I faced was the resistance I faced creating my own lessons. Since I was in a departmentalized grade level I had to go to other classrooms to teach lessons. It was like all of the teachers were scared to let me teach. It seemed like they are so pressured that the teachers did not seem to be able to spare ten minutes. So, I taught what they wanted me to teach with as much enthusiasm and helped the students plow through their TAKS packets.

My personal goals for the next rotation are few but important. It is important to me to create my own lesson because if I do not, I will never know if the lessons I have been creating are effective or not. Another goal is not to get sick. Unfortunately I got the flu and was sick for a week. The final goal is to work on higher level thinking questions. One of the most made comments about the lessons I have taught is that I do not ask enough higher level thinking questions.

With that said, I am very glad spring break is here. I will be taking full advantage of the break by resting up for another rotation in a younger grade level.

The professional attributes are attributes that every person with a job should display. It is most important to teachers because we are models to the children we teach. Children watch those important figures in their lives carefully. Not only do children observe but so do our supervisors, co-workers and principals making professional attributes very important. I believe I possess both strengths and weaknesses in the professional attribute list.

I will excel in patience, tactfulness, and with-it-ness. I am a very patient person and it takes alot to get me riled up. I am a very tactful person who has always been able to state my position or opinion in a very diplomatic way. With-it-ness has always been easy for me as I have always been able to adapt to my environment and blend in when needed.

The attributes that I will have to work on is organization. I lead a very busy life. With three different websites and an email address to check daily, I sometimes have problems remembering when due dates come around. To help me with this I have purchased an organizer so I can keep everything central and remind myself do complete assignments. I will also have to work on the attribute of being a reflective practitioner. I always remember to reflect and see what went wrong or right with things but seem to forget to change what went wrong. To help me with this I have decided that I will reflect and immediately change anything that may not have been correct or may make things go more smoothly.

At anyrate I am excited that I have entered Quest 2 and am that much closer to being a teacher. I plan on working as hard as possible and being the best that I can be.