Matt's MTC Blog

My MTC Experience

2007-05-05T22:35:00.000-07:00

My MTC Experience:

Matthew Lochen

Someone once said that without teachers there would be no doctors, no lawyers, no businessmen, no police officers, no writers, and no athletes. To me, this is an oversimplification. The statement implies that teachers are needed to pass on knowledge, a set of facts necessary to practice medicine, law, business, etc; however, teachers play a much more important, yet less glorifying role. Teachers inspire. Teachers tap into a student’s natural curiosities, hopes, and dreams and push the student toward excellence. The Mississippi Teacher Corps has inspired me and pushed me toward the precipice of excellence.

I am not one to give much credit to fate, but as I write my final essay as a member of the Mississippi Teacher Corps, I find myself reflecting on how I came to be a teacher in Mississippi. During my senior year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison I felt an unquenchable drive to make a true, lasting difference in the lives of young people. The most effective path towards achieving this end was, in my mind, to inspire children to pursue excellence. By the time I had learned about the Mississippi Teacher Corps, the final application deadline had passed. I was convinced by my significant other to send an inquiry to the program coordinator regarding an extension. Within three weeks, I was on my way to Mississippi to begin the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life.

My first year was the most difficult. While the program gave me the necessary tools to become a great teacher and provided me with a modest amount of experience teaching summer school, nothing could sufficiently prepare me for my first year. There were some days during which I would pray that this was all just a bad dream and that I would wake up living a different life. Those were the days when nothing seemed to go my way. Students were disrespectful and apathetic. Phone calls to parents yielded nothing more than disconnected numbers. A stack of ungraded lab reports and tests threatened to consume my entire existence. Some days I wouldn’t leave school until nine or ten at night, only to return less than eight hours later. All the while staring me right in the face was a poster on my classroom wall that stated, “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”

As much as I despised that poster during those moments, it was right. There are no shortcuts in the race to catch your students up to the rest of their peers across the nation, but it can be done. One of the greatest experiences of this program was witnessing many of my students overcome adversity. At Southaven High School, my home away from home for the past two years, adversity comes in many different forms. Students resist pressure to be involved with gang activity or they constantly struggle to overcome the effects of poverty. I had one student who managed to get to high school without learning how to read. Of course, these obstacles are compounded by the obstacles facing every adolescent across the globe such as trying to fit in with peers or resisting the urge to engage in sexual activity. With all the adversity facing my students, I am truly humbled and overjoyed when they succeed in the classroom, and what’s more is that they do so on a daily basis.

Through my involvement in the Mississippi Teacher Corps, I have realized one of my lifelong goals; to effect a sustainable change in the lives of young people. My students manifest this change through higher test scores, enhanced curiosity about the world around them, stronger critical thinking skills, and greater self-confidence. Several students have demonstrated my impact on their lives in other ways such as coming to me when they have a problem or need advice or simply telling me that I am their favorite teacher. These rewards more than make up for the late nights at school and the several hundred red pens I’ve gone through grading all those lab reports and tests.

The Mississippi Teacher Corps produced some of the finest teachers I have known and it has been a privilege working and learning along side them throughout the past two years. Not all of them, however, will remain in secondary education. In fact, I am leaving the field to pursue my true dream of becoming a physician. The lessons I have learned through my experience teaching and from my professors have given me a greater understanding of the effects of adversity on the lives of young people, and this is a lesson I know will continue to shape my future for decades to come.

How do you get kids excited about class when summer is around the bend?

2007-04-07T05:22:00.000-07:00

It's been three weeks since we have come back from spring break. Usually it takes me about a full week just to get back in the swing of things, but surprisingly it only took me a Monday this time. I wish I could say the same for the students. It appears that our students have taken an early summer break and it's barely April! They've got at least another two months left; well, most of them. (More on that later.) I don't know if I've worked them too hard this year and they are just worn out or if the taste of freedom they gained over spring break left them wanting more for whatever reason. Don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to summer too, but I view summer a little differently than most people. I'm going to tackle that topic in my next blog.

Back to the point of my students shutting down too early. Now I am not blaming my students for wanting to take an early summer vacation. Let's face it, we all were eager to get to summer when we were students ourselves. I do, however, feel that it is my responsibility to get them excited about class. I know, I know; excited about class? Come on. However, I think I have been successful up to spring break achieving this end. We really do have a good time in class especially when everyone is respecting the rules and each other. So, how do I get them excited about class when summer vacation is at the forefront of everyone's thinking? I have a few ideas that I will not post here because I know my students often read my blogs. Sorry guys. Perhaps I'll post some of them during next month's blogs.

Until then, good luck with state tests!

Sustitutes

2007-03-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

Last week I had to miss a day of school. It's really no big deal to miss one or two days a year so I went through the usual motions and left very detailed lesson plans for my substitute. The reason I left such detailed plans is that I think substitutes have an extremely difficult job, perhaps even more difficult than a teacher's job. They come to school with no more than an hours notice and have to basically babysit 150 + kids for almost 7 hours. It's no easy task. I've heard so many others say that a substitute has such an easy job because usually teachers just give students busy work while they're gone leaving the sub with the excruciatingly stressful job of sitting at the teacher's desk reading the latest Danielle Steele or John Grisham novel. This is not the way I see it. I know most substitutes don't read romance/mystery novels all day. They are constantly keeping the kids from talking/touching/teasing each other and trying to focus them on their work. They have to field a barrage of questions completely unrelated to anything all while trying to enforce rules that, for some crazy reason, students don't feel apply when the teacher isn't there. So let me make this clear, I have full respect for substitutes...unless...

On the day I returned, I learned that my particular substitute had not instructed the students to do their work. Instead, the substitute chose to sit at the front of the room and lecture them about how to head a paper in the "real world" for 45 minutes. Not only that but on my lesson plans, I remind them of some unwritten, in class rules. Rules like "do not open the window because there is no screen protecting students from a 20 foot drop to the concrete below." Well, as I drove by the school that day, coming back from an appointment, guess what I saw? The window was wide open and a student was leaning out of it. (NO JOKE!) When I came back the next day, I found out that the substitute had opened it because he/she wanted a breeze to blow through the room. I cringed as I heard this. Part of me wonders if my students are telling the truth and part of me wonders where on earth this substitute came from.

So anyway, I was left to pick up the pieces the day I returned, and eventually I caught up to where I needed to be in my calendar. I guess the only point to my rambling is that you just never know what to expect as a teacher. Most subs are fantastic but every now and then you get one that even drives the students nuts.

The Countdown

2007-03-04T06:02:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since my last blog (there was some drama surrounding blogging in our program which has now been resolved to the best of my knowledge). You'd think I'd have a lot to talk about but the fact of the matter is, the past three months have just been business as usual at Southaven High School. Only one more week until spring break. How amazing is that? This year has just flown by. The wonderful thing is that with each passing day, I feel as though I'm improving as a teacher. I'd be a fool to think that I any where near perfect, but nevertheless, I can see myself getting better by the day.

Only 80 more days until the end of the year. Now that is 80 total days, in other words, I am including weekends and spring break. Yup, 80 more days, 1943 hours, 116592 minutes and 6995520 seconds, give or take a few. I've had a countdown going since the beginning of September not because I am loathing this year (on the contrary, I am enjoying it much more than last year) but because it is a sign of progress. It really makes you realize just what you have accomplished when you have a countdown the end. On the other hand, it also makes you realize just how much you have to do in the little time you have left.

New School

2007-01-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

Winter break is over and it is the beginning of a new semester. For most teachers, it will be business as usual for the next 138 days until summer but at Southaven High School, business is anything but usual. That's because over winter break, Southaven High School moved into a brand new building, and let me be the first to say how amazing the building is. According to my administrators, it is the best high school facility in the state of Mississippi. My new room is quite a bit smaller than my old room but I no longer have cockroaches crawling up and down my walls, I no longer have old shower paneling for my white board (which wasn't so white because I couldn't really erase it), I no longer have wild temperature changes from morning to afternoon. So all in all, I'm happy with my new room, and I think my students are as well.

The first week back, students were only present for three days, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It didn't feel like we were beginning a new semester at all, in fact, it felt as if we were beginning a whole new year. Students had to wander the hall in an attempt to locate their classrooms. Locker assignments had to be doled out. And students now had to figure out how to open the combinations on their lockers since we didn't have combinations of the previous building's lockers. Oddly enough, many of my students told me this was their greatest challenge. I think every Memphis news station has been through the school now and I imagine that people are getting tired of hearing about Southaven's new school. Nevertheless it is a welcomed new building. Things seem to be more efficient. No longer do students have to go outside the building to change classes as they did in the old building. Students can get to any classroom in the building in less than 5 minutes easily (although they will still argue against that claim). And believe it or not, teachers actually get a full half-hour for lunch, although that doesn't mean I won't have students in my classroom for extra help.

So no, it is not business as usual at the new Southaven High School but we're getting there. I am just counting my blessing to be out of that old, over crowded school and into a new state of the art building. How many Mississippi teachers can say that? What a great Christmas present.

How I get respect from students

2007-01-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

I think the question of how to get students to respect you is a tricky question to answer but undoubtedly a relevant one. The road to respect is varied and each teacher takes his or her own route. For an older teacher, I think respect is easier to earn simply because most adolescents have some concept or understanding that respecting your elders is a part of life. Granted, not all adolescents feel this way but I don't think it is a stretch to say that most do. Similarly veteran teachers possess a greater ability to command respect of the class simply because students recognize their names and face, and in general they probably have support from the administration. Most MTC teachers, however, are not older teachers and they are certainly not veteran teachers. They are young, novice teachers and the students know this. Gaining respect is not easy.

One of the ways that I gain respect is through consistently exercising my authority through proper classroom management techniques. You’ve heard it time and time again, students like to have a routine. If the students know what to expect day in and day out I think their respect for you will slowly increase. Being an effective classroom manager will only gain you so much respect, and quite frankly, if you want to be a great teacher this just isn’t enough. The next step to earning even more respect is to relate to your students. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t interact with some of my students on a more personal level, whether it is asking them about the college bowl games or what they are going to be doing over the weekend. Because I’m young, I think students tend to open up to me more so than they do with some of the older, more veteran teachers. Taking an interest in their lives and sharing a little bit about your own life outside of school reminds the students that while you’re their teacher, you’re still a person. Many students respect this.

Finally and most important, the number one way to gain the respect of your students is to show them that you care about them and their education. It’s easy for a teacher to think that they are part of a thankless profession because it is so rare to get a “thank you” from a student, but believe it or not, students know when you’re going the extra mile. They do appreciate it even if they don’t give you an apple every morning. Instead, to show gratitude for all your hard work, they give you respect. This respect doesn’t come cheaply. It has to be earned from day one of the school year.

Plans for next year

2006-12-03T14:45:00.000-08:00

The second of our required posts is to talk about our plans for next year. I doubt anyone really wants to hear my plans for next year in light of the fact that I won't be continuing as a high school teacher, but I'm at a loss for what else to write about. So here it goes. Last year I applied to and was accepted to medical school. I chose to defer my admission until this upcoming year. In general, I don't like to talk about my future as a medical doctor. It's not that I am regretting entering medical school because I would love nothing more than to become a physician. I'm passionate about the medical sciences, I am fascinated with the workings of the human body, and I want to continue serving others, etc; however, I can't help but feel a little guilty that I won't be continuing my service to the students of Mississippi.

This year has been a great year. I feel that my students have made significant gains in the classroom, and I feel that I have made significant gains as a teacher. Without a doubt, I am 10 times the teacher I was last year. (For those of you who think I'm bragging, rest assured, I am FAR from a perfect teacher, and I've come far enough in my teaching career to feel comfortable enough to acknowledge that fact.) That said, I can't imagine how much I will improve if I stay for a third year, or a fourth year, or a fifth year, etc. So I am left with the question, will I help more people as a physician or as a teacher? (That question seems irrelevant until you define the word "help" but you get the point.)

I feel guilty that I have taken so much from the Mississippi Teacher Corps. Two years of experience as a teacher and a Masters degree in Education. The program has spent a lot of money on me. I was and am still an investment. Was I a smart investment? What are the Teacher Corps's gains on this investment? I'm leaving Mississippi and leaving the field of secondary education. What if someone else, someone who was planning on staying in teaching could have had my spot? These are the types of questions that swirl around in my head as I look ahead toward next year.

Finally, I feel guilty about leaving the profession in general because of the nature of the job. Let's face it, there is a shortage of teachers and the field could certainly benefit from having one more teacher with a Masters degree in their ranks. Students need good teachers and yet I am leaving. I am perpetuating the shortage.

Yet if I was given the opportunity to go back in time and apply to medical school earlier, so that I could matriculate right after college, I think I would still choose to teach for two years. I would choose to teach because I can't even begin to tell you how much I've gained from this experience. I have grown so much as a person and have gained invaluable life skills. I feel like I've been forced to grow up over the past two years and I don't mean "grow up" as in I've become more mature. I mean it in the sense that I've had to constantly struggle day in and day out to figure out how to make the lives of my students better. It's a type of empathy that you can't learn from your parents or from being in college. In fact, few other professions offer this type of learning. Today, in many respects, I am a completely different individual than the one that originally applied to the program.

But the fact remains, I am leaving the profession. I will still teach. After all, the word doctor means teacher in Latin. My teaching, however, will be in a completely different capacity. So I ask myself, will I commit a selfish injustice by leaving the program and the profession despite the investment of the Teacher Corps and the teacher shortage? I fear the answer is yes.

Balancing Teaching and Coaching

2006-12-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

To all of you first years who are coaching, let me just say that you're doing a great job if you have managed to balance both teaching and coaching. I began coaching Cross Country as a second year because I realized that coaching was a demanding job especially if I wanted to have a decent team who cared about showing up day after day to run several miles. Honestly, I don't know how I would have balanced coaching and teaching last year. It seemed as though I was in over my head as it was without coaching in my schedule.

Nevertheless, here are my tips for balancing coaching and teaching:
1.) When you're teaching, put teaching first. When you're coaching, put coaching first. It is very easy to plan a practice or a workout when you really should be walking around and helping students. Similarly, it's also very easy to lesson plan for the next day while your runners are out running or in the weight room. Avoid these temptations. Your students deserve to have your full attention during school hours and your runners/athletes deserve to have your full attention during practice.

2.) Practice with your team whether it is doing the conditioning exercises in football or baseball or whether it is running with your team during cross country or track practice. Not only will your athletes will appreciate it but it will also allow you to burn some stress from the day’s classes. One of the things I loved most about coaching cross country was that I could always run my stress away after school. Trust me, exercise melts the stress away.

3.) Get used to working overtime (as if you're not already!) When I was coaching I devoted at least (no joke) 12-14 hours per day to teaching responsibilities such as lesson planning, coming up with new and creative classroom management techniques, grading, etc, and coaching. Not all of those hours have to be spent at school; however if you want to go home, come to terms with bringing some work with you. On weekends you may have games or meets, especially on Friday nights or Saturdays. It's all part of the gig.

4.) Don't do it for the money. Some coaching jobs may give you a little extra income but, for the amount of work you put into it, it's not worth the money you get out of it. You have to truly love the sport you’re coaching and genuinely want to devote your time to the sport and your athletes.

Coaching can be very rewarding. I wouldn't trade my coaching experiences for anything. In fact, sometimes I think I had more fun coaching than I do teaching. There is no better way to get to know a handful of students on more familiar terms. Your athletes will see you as more than just a teacher. Some may go so far as to view you as a mentor. I still have a few athletes who, a month after our season has ended, come and ask me for advice with a struggle they are going through. Granted it's usually about a boy or a class, but sometimes it's more serious than that and I really have the opportunity to guide a student in the right direction.

Despite the hard work involved, coaching is without a doubt one of the perks of being a teacher. Because you are all ambitious, hard-working, caring individuals, I would go so far as to say if you can get involved with coaching or leading some other extracurricular activity, do it. You really can't go wrong.

Coaching Cross Country

2006-11-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

The Cross Country season is over. We just competed in the state meet yesterday, and while I like to think we did well, the reality is that our boys team came in 20th out of 23 and our girls didn't even score as a team. Ouch. The season ended on a sour note with one of our girls backing out at the very last minute and ruining any hopes for our girls to run as a team. In cross country, you have to have a minimum of 5 runners to be scored as a team. If you have less than 5, the runners will be entered individually. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was when I heard that one of our girls who had run all season decided not to go to the state meet just because she had crew practice. It really showed a lack of loyalty to the team. Team comraderie and sportmanship are two characteristics that both Kate and I tried to instill in our runners and to some extent it worked; however, if you really step back and take a look at the big picture I think this is the one area we clearly failed especially with the girls. There was just so much complaining and whining among them. That is not to say every girl had a poor attitude but a good number of them had their moments.

Beyond the lack of sportsmanship and dedication on the girl's team, I had a blast coaching this year, even if we did score 20th at the state meet. Coaching has really brought me a lot closer to some of my past students. I know what they value, who their friends are and I've even dolled out advice to two of them during times of struggle. I truly felt as if I was making a difference through coaching cross country, and a large part of me is sad to see it go. It will be nice to get home at a decent hour though.

Quitting the Corps

2006-11-04T16:39:00.000-08:00

Last year I was presented with a wonderful opportunity, an opportunity that did not involve teaching high school students in Southaven, MS. After a very difficult first year as a teacher, the opportunity to chase another dream was more than enticing. But I didn't. After two months (no exaggeration) of going back and forth between quitting the teacher corps and finishing my second year, after two months of restless nights, after two months of what seemed like an insurmountable burden weighing on my shoulders, I had finally made the decision. I would continue with the program and teach another year. I thought about the work that I had already invested into the Mississippi Teacher Corps. It's true that I didn't want all that effort to be for naught. I thought about earning a Masters degree in Education. Yes, that may come in handy some day and look impressive on a resume. I thought about the commitment which is so engrained in all of us from day one that we feel like we've been sentenced for two years of teaching rather than choosing to serve for two years as a teacher. I thought about my school and how they would have to work to find another teacher to fill my place. I thought about a lot of reasons why I should stay in the program, and at the time I made my decision I couldn't tell you why I made the decision I did. Only after several months of being a second year teacher can I put my finger on the exact reason I chose to stay in Mississippi. Yes, to some extent it involves all of the above, but while good reasons, these are only half of the picture. Let's face it. If I had left the program half way through I wouldn't have had to work as hard on my current graduate classes. In fact, I wouldn't have to invest any time and energy into the program. Furthermore, I don't need a Masters in Education. Plain and simple. At the time, I felt a little betrayed by the program anyway so breaking my commitment wouldn't have been the end of the world.

I stayed because for once in my life I had the ability to really affect change. Remember how I said that I couldn't tell you why I stayed until a few months into my second year? During your second year, you begin to see the fruits of your labor. Students who were in your class last year come to your classroom and express gratitude for going the extra mile in the classroom and teaching them beyond the text-book, and as a result they are excelling in more advanced science classes. Students all across the school begin to take you seriously. You came back. Now you're a real teacher and worthy of at least a smattering of respect. Your old students pop their heads into your class just to say hi and see how it's going. Students from your first year sign up for your cross country team because they think you'd be a cool coach because let's face it, you were a cool teacher. And students literally beg you to come back for a third year because they want YOU and only YOU to teach them Environmental Science and be their Cross Country coach.

These are the reasons I stayed for a second year. Did I know any of this at the time I made my decision? No I didn't. I wished for these things. Will any of you first years have these experiences during your first year? Probably not. But when you think about quitting, just know that it takes time to earn the respect of students. It takes time to know that you're making a difference. If all the rewards of teaching came over night, we wouldn't have such a shortage of teachers. Hang in there. We have all been there and some of us are still having difficulty making it through each day. I will be the first to admit it. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Depth vs. Breadth

2006-10-08T04:34:00.000-07:00

Next week we have our first batch of exams; the nine week's exams. To be completely honest, I don't think my students are ready for them. In the past 9 nines, we've only covered three and a half chapters in Physical Science, a rather slow pace if you ask me. I have read, time and time again, in various education books, that many public high school teachers teach "a mile wide, but only an inch deep." My goal over the last 15 months of my teaching career has been to erase that stereotype, even if it's on a small scale. Because I go above and beyond the textbook, it takes me quite a bit longer to cover the material. I think it is a fair price to pay; however, I do sometimes wonder if teaching more in-depth is best for ALL of my students. I have a handful of students who are very bright and have a strong work ethic. These students seem to appreciate the depth with which I cover topics. The majority of my students, however, seem to be in school only because they have to be. They don't want to learn any more than what is absolutely necessary. If a topic isn't in the textbook, they resist with all their might. And then I have the handful of students that I really worry about. These are the students who consistently tell me they are dropping out the second they can and may or may not pursue their GED. For these students, it doesn't matter what I teach them or how I teach them, they don't seem to care.

So the vast majority of students resist my attempts to go above and beyond. Because of this obvious fact, last week I resolved that I would stick to the textbook, speed up a bit and see if most of my students could do better. I tried it for the week, and they still complained. It was as if I didn't make a single change. I was so frustrated. Then one student changed it all. It was a student I had last year, a trouble maker who seemed to never pay attention. I remembered he barely passed my class with a 71%. I found him standing in my door way after school. He informed me that he was taking chemistry and that it was "so easy" because he hadn't learned anything new yet. Everything they were covering in chemistry had been already explained to him in Physical Science. He spoke of electron configurations (a topic with which many students struggle) coming to him right away. He said that he was the only student in the class that had recognized a Lewis dot structure. Best of all, he said, "And it's all because I took your class last year, Mr. Lochen."

It's moments like these that give me a greater sense of purpose. Believe me, they don't come often but when they do, these moments make me feel like I'm actually making a small difference. So, I am reverting back to my former teaching strategy (after the nine week's test) and I'm going to continue to teach topics with more depth than breadth because maybe, just maybe, students will come to appreciate it and achieve more as a result of it, in time.

Getting Students to Do Homework

2006-10-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

I admit I am still struggling with motivating students to do their homework. It seems that no matter what I try, I can never get 100% participation, and forgive me for being pessimistic, but I am willing to bet that none of you are either. Even the best of teachers must surely struggle with students not completing assignments. So first years, if you and your students are struggling with homework, you're in good company. I'll let you in on a few of my secrets.

The first thing I do is to establish a homework routine. There are of course, many components to this routine, some obvious, others not so obvious. Every day, I write the homework assignment in the same place and in the same format. Yes, I tend to give homework every night (except Friday) with a few exceptions. This is all part of the routine. Every day, before class, they put their homework in the homework box (which hangs on the wall just as you pass through the door) before they do anything else. They always do their homework in the same format, using the same headings, and on the same type of paper (loose-leaf of course!) So there is an air of familiarity with every assignment. The intent is that they will establish this routine and it will become second nature to carry it out. (In a perfect world.)

Second, I hold students accountable. If they don't turn in an assignment, they must sign their name on the "I chose not to do my homework last night" sheet. This ensures that they at least consider the fact that they didn't do it and it will affect their grade. Too often, I think students who are not explicitly held accountable don't even realize that they are not doing their homework anymore. It's almost as if they are living in a fantasy world in which homework doesn't exist. Signing their name forces them to consciously think about their choices each time they chose not to complete an assignment. Furthermore, it also gives me ammo for parent-teacher conferences. I can simply pull out the no homework sheet and easily explain that Tamekwa is actively "choosing" to fail my class.

Last, I solicit the help of the parents. I send home a letter each quarter reminding parents that I do in fact give homework, and they should be expecting their children to be working on it at night. I also include a plea to the parents to take homework seriously and to simply ask little Suzy if all of her homework for Mr. Lochen's class is complete.

Even with this three-pronged approach, I still fall short. On a good day, I can get about 70-80% participation. On a bad day, I'm lucky to get 50% participation. Some days I feel like pulling out all those studies that suggest students are given too much homework, and lightening up a little. It would certainly do away with some stress, but I truly believe that homework is beneficial for students (to an extent of course) because it allows them to practice the material independently, a feat not usually accomplished in school thanks to the cafeteria (the site of rampant cheating.) Anyway, that's my two-cents on the homework war.

Comparison of first weeks of school (past and present)

2006-08-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

In this blog, you will find a detailed account of some of the changes I've made during the first week of school this year as opposed to what I did last year. Let me start off by saying that this new year has been amazing. I feel like I'm teaching in a different world. It's amazing. Test scores are higher, I haven't written up a single student, and I'm enjoying going to work everyday. So what is the difference? Well, it helps to know my way around the school. Instead of asking other teachers where this is or what I do with that, I know because I've been through it before. It gives me a more general feeling of confidence.

By far, however, this new feeling of actually being a "real teacher" is a direct result of two key changes. First, discipline. Last year I was a push over the first couple of weeks and I paid for it the whole year. Students were rude and obnoxious. They were disrespectful and constanly complained. This year, I hit the ground running. I went in that first week and expected nothing less than complete subordination and respect. It may sound bad to you non-teacher folks, but it is so important to establish yourself as the authority of the classroom during the first week because if you don't, you won't ever establish it. Your students will win the authority. I wasn't going to let that happen this year. I was firm with my rules and followed through with my consequences. Now I have near perfect classes.

I have to admit though, it is easy to get comfortable and to let up a bit. In fact, today, I found myself letting somethings slide. In 4th period I let a student in after the bell without a tardy and in 6th period, I let some members of the class talk without punishment. That is unacceptable. Tomorrow I will be extra strict and won't let anything go. The key is consistency. I'm practicing what I preach this year because last year was miserable.

The second major change that I made has little to do with school but at the same time it has everything to do with school. I am now a coach. I took over the newly formed cross country team this year. I absolutely love coaching. It has always been an aspiration of mine to coach a track or cross country team and now I'm doing it. It's without a doubt the highlight of my day. If I have a bad day for whatever reason, I now have a constructive outlet for my frustration. What's more is that I love to run but last year I always had excuses not to. Most of them consisted of the fact that I had very little time to run because of all the school work I had to do. This year, I am forced to run and I love it. My team is amazing. We have our first meet tomorrow. Most of my runners are dedicated and hard working. I think we'll even have some runners in the top 20! Coaching also has won me more credibility within school as well. Even students who aren't on my team identify me as Coach Lochen and respect me more. In fact, students I've never had know who I am and they've heard how great Cross Country is. It's just great to establish a role in which students look up to you.

Where do we draw our strength?

2006-08-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

Having just returned from Sunday morning Mass, I find myself in a reflective state. (Mass seems to have that effect on me...Go figure.) Today's homily was typical in that it presented the dichotomy of earthy possessions versus God's spiritual gifts. (Although the message is one I've heard several times before, the priest used an amazing set to pull us in. He spoke of the meeting of Makeda, better known as the Queen of Sheba, and the wise King Solomon. Sometimes I think priests with their uncanny abilities to focus a large number of people would make amazing classroom teachers.) Anyway, the homily got me thinking about different types of spirtitual gifts. The gift that I find myself reflecting on at present is the gift of strength. I'm not talking about physical strength but I'm talking about the strength to carry on in difficult situations. The strength that I am thinking of is more like determination or will.

Last year was a difficult year. Perhaps the most difficult year of my life. I was cast into an unfamiliar setting, hundreds of miles from home, doing something that didn't really make me happy except for a few fleating moments. (Last year happens to be the complete antithesis of this year, but I'll explain in a future blog.) Last year is over and a new year has begun. The question is, from what did I draw my strength? How did I ever make it through all those days in which I struggled to survive (not literally of course) and end up where I am now?

The simple answer to this question is faith. When I felt down, I could always look to my faith to pull me through. However, I also feel that I am strengthened by the challenges that others face. Case in point; I recently learned that my grandfather is an avid reader of my blogs. (Hi Grandpa!) I find it a bit ironic that he followed along closely with my struggles in the classroom even as he was struggling with his own battle with cancer. The irony lies in the fact that I drew much of my determination from his own struggles. He inspires me in the face of his illness. What's more is that it puts my struggles into perspective. His determination to fight his illness day after day after day ispires me to fight the disadvantages that many of my students have faced throughout their entire childhood.

Another inspiration is my mother, truly the best teacher I have ever known in all aspects of the word. Even though she teachs first grade in a parochial school, she has seen it all and offers comforting "teaching" words when I feel like I won't pull through. If you ever want to be inspired in your teaching, talk to a first grade teacher. Theirs is unarguably the most important job in education. They not only have to teach students how to read and write, and we all know that reading is the single most important key to an educated life, but they also have to shape young children into students. First graders are not used to an academic environment. In many cases, it is the first time these students are going to school for a full school day. Furthermore, first grade teachers have 7 preps! And we high school teachers think we have problems?! Geeze.

Summer School Reflections II

2006-06-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

Because I like to end on a positive note, I'm going to start with things I'd like to see changed about Summer School, but before I do that, let me start with a brief overview. I can't say that summer school wasn't interesting this year. It had its ups and downs, and yes, I'm trying to build suspense before I tell you what those were. Actually I'm trying to hit the minimum number of words. Ok, let me get to the point.

Things that need to be changed (Cons):

1.) Put two second years in a room. Honestly, I think Dave O. got the shaft this year and had to do way more than many other second years.

2.) I got very little out of summer school for two main reasons.
a.) We had two students for the whole month. What is that going to teach our first years? Classroom management was a breeze for everyone involved. Some of the biggest problems our first years will have next year are going to relate to classroom management. Summer school is giving my first years a false sense of security. They think they are management goddesses but they have two students. Even the best teachers struggle with management when you cram 30 students into a small classroom.
b.) I'm not teaching anything that I will teach next year. Therefore all the lesson plans that everyone is producing, even me, will be useless to me. In fact, they will be useless to 33% of our first years because they are not teaching their subject area.

3.) Second years are getting very little out of this deal. We're not really teaching all that much (maybe 15 lessons all together) so the practice isn't really worth the month of 35 hour weeks. We're not really getting laptops (I think it's dead in the H2O.) which would be so very helpful during summer school and would allow us to integrate technology into our classrooms in the fall, something the delta desperately needs. We're not really getting paid for our efforts (a mere $200 TAXED stipend that in the end won't even cover half of my gas money to travel to Holly Springs.) Other summer school teachers are making thousands of dollars.

4.) This is the kicker. I don't feel it is a good use of my time to teach summer school. So many people in MTC told us that we should avoid teaching summer school at all costs. That was last year. This year, we're teaching summer school. It's so contradictory. We've been teaching for 12 months straight if you could last summer's teaching during summer school. We need a break.

Now for the good things (Pros):

1.) We're getting practice...kind of. Practice is almost always good.

2.) It's better than sitting in some class in Oxford.

3.) And the best pro of all, the kids are really learning. We're providing an excellent (practically free service) for these kids and they are getting some great instruction. It's probably the best thing that ever happened to our two students. There is a 2.5:1 teacher to student ratio. Where else in the world will you get that? It may look like the cons outweigh the pros but seeing their learning makes summer school all worthwhile.

And that's my 2 cents...

My blessings...You said we could write about anything we wanted...

2006-06-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

Summer school is almost over. June is almost over. It seems as though my summer is almost over and it hasn't even begun yet! Life moves so quickly lately. It's a bit unsettling to me because I value it so much. Yeah, I know. Of course I value it. Who wouldn't? But honestly, I just feel so blessed in this life that it's difficult to truly wish away a day.

I am blessed to have been accepted into the Mississippi Teacher Corps. While I have my bad days just like the rest of my peers, I am blessed to affect the lives of children in a positive way. I have had so much respect for teachers, at all levels, for the work they do. They don't get paid much, they work long hours, and many of them are shown little respect by their students every day yet they keep coming back for more. I'm proud to be part of their ranks.

I'm blessed with an untamable sense of drive towards my dream of becoming a physician, and I'm blessed with an opportunity to pursue that dream at a medical school near my family in Wisconsin.

I'm blessed with all of my peers, great teachers, great friends and really great people. You can't say that about everyone. They're fantastic human beings and every day seem to amaze me.

I am blessed with a loving family who supports my every whim, including putting off my dreams of going to medical school to move across the country, to Mississippi of all places, and teach at risk students. They have never failed me. Just this past weekend, my mother gave up 24 hours of her day to drive down to Mississippi only to drive back 3 hours later with my fiancé because it was her first time navigating her way across the country. My older brother dropped everything to come and help me move to a new apartment. My family is always there to give me emotional support for those days that I actually do wish away. They are amazing.

My greatest blessing is my fiancé, Andrea. While MTC, my dreams of medical school, my fellow corps members and my family keep me going, Andrea is the reason I'm living in the first place. Not literally of course, but she's the reason I'm in MTC, she's the reason I met all of you, she's the reason I keep chasing my dreams. She's leaving me next year to pursue her own dream to become a writer. Look for her books coming to a bookstore near you! She's going to be great, I just know it. What I don't know is how I'm going to survive next year without her here with me in Mississippi. I've never lived more than a mile away from her since we started dating. It's going to be my greatest challenge yet.

My life is blessed. I love it.

Corporal Punishment

2006-06-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

When I began the year I knew nothing of corporal punishment except what I saw in old 60's and 70's movies in which the nun is paddling the student for saying the Lord's name in vain. As far as I knew, it was a punishment of the past, no longer used in today's schools. All of my "misconceptions" about corporal punishment seemed to be contradicted when it was mentioned in Ms. Monroe's class. In fact, I remember doing a double take when I heard that it was still used. Truly we had stepped into the past. Well, maybe the Delta was still hanging on to old times, but surely Southaven High school at the top of Mississippi, a suburb of Memphis wouldn't employ such barbaric tactics to curb misbehavior. Wrong again. Yes, even Southaven, not really a city you think about when the Delta comes to mind, employed corporal punishment. It was absolutely absurd.

Many of us non-Mississippians, especially us Yankees, have been drilled with literature that corporal punishment, really any form of physical beating if you will, even spanking, is detrimental to the psychological development of a child. What's more is this really what we want to teach our children; that hitting is ok? Geeze, these students will turn into child abusers or end up beating their spouses! Again, corporal punishment? Absurd! It cannot be healthy.

So I thought. I am proud to say that I have not implemented corporal punishment; it's definitely not one of my consequences. Personally, I don't agree with it for the above reasons but that really doesn't mean that I'm for its eradication. I've had to witness corporal punishment several times and I've come to the conclusion that it really depends on the student. Sometimes it seems warranted, other times it is not. Let me repeat myself, I would never employ it as a punishment because I don't believe it is helping the child; however, just because I don't believe it is helping the child doesn't mean that it is an ineffective way to curb misbehavior. In fact, in some cases, I've seen it completely alter a child's misbehavior patterns.

I guess you could say that my views have changed in that I accept it as a reality of the Delta and, as I’ve learned, many other parts of the country. I’m not really sure if it works or doesn’t because I haven’t been in the profession long enough to see significant changes in individuals who were exposed to it compared with those who weren’t. All I know is that I would never personally lay so much as a finger on a child in my classroom.

Morale Slipping

2006-06-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

I have to be honest; I've never seen morale so low among my peers in the Mississippi Teacher Corps. It seems like every day there is something new that someone isn't happy about. Some of the most recent complaints I've heard include "the online class is pointless," "we're practically working ourselves to the bone over summer for free," "we're never going to get these laptops," "blogging is stupid," "I have a (insert special event here) to plan! I don't have time for this." Oh, the list goes on. To some extent, it bothers me because I've never heard so much pessimism in my life, but at the same time, I think my peers have valid arguments.

I will admit that I've voiced some complaints as well, mainly about the class we are taking online. I thought it was supposed to be about integrating technology into the classroom, but everything I've read so far has to do with how we transfer knowledge to novel situations and how infants acquire knowledge. There hasn't been mention of technology at all throughout the course and I only have a week and a half left. Even though some of these things get to me a little just because I feel like I should be using these academic courses to improve my teaching in my own classroom, I'm going to try and take a backseat to the negativity.

I'm going to be a shoulder to lean on for my peers, but I hope that we can all put this in perspective. It’s tough being guinea pigs for MTC, but someone has got to do it. How is this program ever going to get better if changes aren’t made? I don’t want to spend my precious vacation time teaching summer school any more than the rest of my peers but the fact of the matter is, it’s practice, and it is helping most of us become better teachers whether we have 2 students or 22 students, whether we’re teaching our subject matter or teaching a subject we’ll never teach again. Practice makes perfect. We owe it to our students to be perfect.

I'm not really sure what to do about the low morale. All I know is that this program has potential to be an amazing program for both the participants involved and the students we teach. Of course, that is the goal of the MTC administration; to make this the best alternate route teacher certification program in the country. Their hearts are in the right place, but it’s really not up to the administration as much as it is up to the teachers that make up the program. We are responsible for making this program great. The administrators may provide needed leadership (even if it’s not the kind of leadership we always would like) but it’s up to us to get in the trenches and teach disadvantaged students. We make the difference. We cannot make as great of a difference if we’re constantly fighting the administration.

What’s more, to all you administrators out there, you need to work with us too. I’ve been watching from the sidelines over the past three weeks and it seems to me that we’re being treated like high school students rather than graduate students and the teachers that make the difference in this program. I wish we could get over the highlighting of names (and for gosh sakes people, just show up on time even if you’re sick of 20 minutes worth of announcements); I wish I’d never have to hear how “pissed off” the program coordinator is at the group (if you're upset with someone, take him/her aside and talk to him/her like an adult please). Let’s revitalize the need for professionalism. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the program and we owe it to the students we teach.

What I will do differently this year

2006-06-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

The one thing that I will do differently this year is to spend more time driving home my procedures and my rules. Last year I didn't spend as much time on this because I honestly didn't know how rough it could be if I didn't spend time describing each little aspect of what I expected. This year I plan to literally act out my procedures. For my procedures to enter the room before class, I will ask the whole class to go out in the hall and line up against the wall. Then I will continually have the students enter the room according to my procedure until they get it absolutely perfect. There will be no room for students to question my expectations. I also plan on being more firm as I describe my rules to the class. Last year I assumed my students would be respectful because I have rarely been in a school with disrespectful kids. I will no longer make those assumptions.

Another change will come in the form of instruction. More group work, more collaboration. It is clear that students seem to do better when they can talk out complex lessons with their peers. Again, because of management difficulties, last year I was hesitant to allow students to work in groups. I didn't know if they could handle it. Because of the changes I will implement at the outset, I don't foresee having this problem next year.

What's more is that I want to use different instructional techniques. More demonstrations, more class involvement. I felt as if my students were just a bunch of robots last semester. I needed to get them up and out of their seats and get them involved in the lesson. My biggest challenge will be connecting Physical Science to the real world. It's very difficult to make the concept underlying transformers (not the cartoon) applicable to things they do in their everyday activities. Next year, I will find a way to bring Physical Science into their lives whether it’s through video, power point presentations, examples. We’re talking quite a bit in our online class about the transfer of knowledge from the classroom to the real world.

Comments on Summer School

2006-06-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

I'm about a week into teaching summer school and I've been teaching every day so far. It's ok, but it's not how I envisioned my summer to be. I just don't understand why MTC told us so adimantly last year that we should never teach summer school and then instructs us to do the exact opposite this year. Honestly, I don't even remember which member of the program gave us this advice but many MTC members remember hearing it. It's alright though. I'm trying to make the best out of the situation. I know that it just provides extra practice for me as a teacher and to some small extent will help me improve. Unfortunately, for the second summer in a row I'm teaching a subject that I've never taught before and will never teach again so much of what I do on a daily basis is useless to me. What's more is that my class is comprised of two kids (two wonderful kids at that). Again, I see some benefit albeit very small for the first years who are just beginning their teaching careers. It seems to me that they are becoming more confident each day which is a great thing especially going into teaching cold turkey, but I honestly feel that at least a few of them are going to have a mental breakdown when suddenly they are standing in front of 30 high schoolers staring right back at them. I feel really bad for my first years. Moreover, we have absolutely no management problems in our class. I mean, come on. There are two students and five teachers. It isn't often that the students are outnumbered. If I were in their situation, I wouldn't make so much as a peep throughout all four periods. Our first years are not learning any practical management skills in our class, nor do they have the opportunity to test some of the management skills they are learning in Ms. Monroe's class. It's unfortunate.

Now I'm not placing any blame on anyone in the corps but I just so see this summer school project as benefitting any of the teacher. Who it does benefit is the kids. I think our students are extremely lucky to have such individualized instruction. It's probably the best thing to happen to these kids since sliced bread, even though they would never agree. In fact, it is the fact that I see these kids improving that gets me up in the morning.

More comments coming in the future including comments about the slop they try to pass off for lunch down here. Gross! I miss Annies!

Five Pieces of Advice for First Years

2006-06-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

As many of you first years will learn in the upcoming weeks, you'll be bombarded with so much information that you'll begin to second guess yourself from the get-go. I'm writing this blog to contribute to all of that. Luckily for you, since these blogs are relatively permanent, you'll have this to refer to when things start to calm down in late September or early October. So, here are my words of wisdom:

1.) As difficult as it may be, don't stress out about things you cannot control. For instance, unexpected schedule changes. I'm telling you, your daily schedule will change at the drop of a hat. You'll be expected to restructure lesson plans on the fly or go chaperone someone elses class while still teaching your own...yeah, figure that one out! Things may (rather, will) get messy. Don't stress, it's beyond your control.

2.) Take things seriously but not so seriously that you psych yourself out. When you really take time to stop and think about the responsibility you have towards 150 + kids, it suddenly becomes this inescapable weight on your shoulders. For those of you who are coming straight from college, more will be expected of you than ever before. Many of you are not used to this kind of pressure. Try not to think about it. Just take things one day at a time, and soon your responsibility won't seem so daunting.

3.) If possible, get direct deposit. Our school district would hold checks over our head and make us jump through hoops of fire to get them. If you have direct deposit, you're good to go.

4.) Hook up with someone special. This may sound silly but the one truth I've taken from this first year is that I could not have survived without a shoulder to lean on. My finace pulled me up when I was feeling low and kicked me in the behind when I got lazy. She also gave me a reason to put down the endless stack of papers and tests and realize that I had a life outside of school. This should really be number one but I'm too lazy to copy and paste.

5.) Have patience. Students will drive you nuts even if you're Mother Thersea reincarnated. Deep down they appreciate you but I guarantee you they will rarely show it. Throughout the entire first year, I thought I wasn't making a difference. It wasn't until the last day of school when I actually saw the fruits of my endless efforts. Hang in there.

Best of luck newbies. You'll do just fine.

First day of school

2006-05-31T16:05:00.000-07:00

Today was our first day of summer school. Many MTC members are staying in Oxford because they live too far away to commute to classes. I'm commuting because I have a $600 rent to pay every month so there is no point in shelling out more money for an apartment in Oxford for only a month. All of the DeSoto county teachers have decided to carpool to and from Holly Springs/Oxford to cut down on the amount of money spent on gas and so that we don't succumb to the monotony of driving to and fro every day. Anyway, today was our first class and I have to say that the morning session was useless. All we really did was follow along with the professor as she read the syllabus and class schedule. The afternoon session however was quite an improvement. We talked about different instructional techniques which is something I really need to improve upon. I think the 45 minutes spent after lunch were some of the most productive minutes I've spent in the classroom (as a student) all year. It was really a breath of fresh air. For so long, (much of first semester and all of second) we didn't learn anything in our graduate classes that could really be used in our classroom. I want that back. Although it may sound bad to traditional education folks, I don't really care about all the theory behind education. I just want to become a better teacher for my students. Give me something I can use MTC. The problem I see with this summer is that I am not going to come away with much that I can use in my own classroom. I am teaching Biology in the summer but I don't teach that during the year. I don't view it as a waste of time as others might because I will be teaching students and trying different instructional techniques and management plans. I keep telling myself that I will get out what I put in, so even though I'll never use these lesson plans again, I know I can really use this time to hone in on a few skills that still need a bit of developing.

For better or worse, it's over

2006-05-31T06:22:00.000-07:00

We're finally finished. I have one year under my belt. It's funny, I don't feel any different. I don't really feel like a second year teacher. Maybe that's because it hasn't hit me yet. It's only been a few days since school has ended and I'm soaking up these last, fleeting free moments before I start summer classes.

It seems like the year went by extremely fast in hindsight, but we all know that it was painfully long. Those who have gone before me in MTC told me that the second semester of my first year would be so much better than my first semester, but the second semester seemed never ending. I think the reason that the second semester went so slowly was that my instruction was stagnant. I didn't vary my instructional techniques as much as I did the first semester. Next year, I will work on using many different instructional techniques all year. In fact, what I really want to get out of this summer school graduate class is examples of varying instructional techniques for science, especially the Physical Sciences.

Lessons I've learned and the person I strive to be

2006-04-30T06:29:00.000-07:00

My last post detailed what I will do differently as a teacher next year given the lessons that I have learned this year. This blog is along those same lines; however, here I will discuss what I will do differently to enrich myself as person. One of the problems I encountered during my first year of teaching is that I couldn't seem to separate my work life and my personal life. I found myself bringing home papers to correct, spending more time with my school work than Andrea, and when I wasn't physicallly working on school work, I would be worrying about it. It consumed every aspect of my life. It even became the focus of my dreams...or should I say nightmares.

This year I will try to separate my two lives more; although because Andrea is moving across the country, I guess I don't have much incentive anymore. Well, I suppose my mental health should count for something. So here is my plan to live an enriching life OUTSIDE of school.

1.) Only work at school. I will not bring work home even if I have to stay late.

2.) Get more involved with my community. Next year I will be volunteering at St. Jude's research hospital. Since I was little, I have been very excited about their mission. Now that I find myself living 15 minutes away, I simply can't pass up this opportunity.

3.) Plan my wedding from 750 miles away. Not exactly the easiest feat but if Kate and Lee can do it, Andrea and I can do it too.

4.) Go running more often! It has been so difficult this past year to find time to go running, something I love to do. This year, I will be coaching cross country so there will be some time for that, but I want to continue running throughout the year on account of such mild winters.

5.) Read more. Despite what Andrea thinks, I really enjoy reading. I just don't have time to read 5 books a week like her. I couldn't be more excited that she will be back in her literary realm at the University of Michigan's MFA program. At Michigan, I hope she will find a supportive community of writers who are just as obsessed with creating the perfect story as she is. We have this deal in which I am able to be the FIRST to read any completed work of hers, and in light of the fact that she'll be surrounded with creativity and support, I have a feeling I'll be able to accomplish my goal of reading more often quite easily.

Well, that's just the start of some of the steps I hope to take this year to preserve my sanity. I've come to find that many people think teaching is the perfect job with the perfect hours. 8-3:30 and summers off. What is better than that? What idiots! Teaching for me is like 2 full time jobs! From 4:30 in the morning until about 9:30 at night! I rarely get a break. Well, next year my focus will be to win back my life.

Lessons I've learned and the teacher I strive to be

2006-04-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

After one year of teaching under my belt, I have come to several realizations. First of all, I think I have learned more than my students this year. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing but it's a truth that I can't deny. Second, if you slack on your classroom management plan even for only a couple of weeks, you're going to pay for it the rest of the year. Third, I need to overhaul quite a few aspects of my teaching strategies for next year. The following is a description of what I want and need to do better next year.

1.) Become a better classroom manager. My classroom management plan was fairly strong this year and my consequences and rewards seemed to work well...when I used them. It's funny, my students always reminded me when I should be given them rewards for a job well done but they never once reminded me that I should enforce the consequences just as much as the rewards. Go figure. Next year I will probably stick to a similar classroom management plan but you can bet that I'm going to hit the ground running with it come August. After seeing the effects of a loosely enforced management plan, I'd be a fool to let any deviation from a rule or procedure occur in my classroom. While I hate to say this, I'm going to be a lot more strict than I was last year. Unforunatley, my students interpret strict as mean. No matter how you look at it, I'm going to have to really push management next year.

2.) Build more bridges between Physical Science lessons and the real world. I was overwhelmed this year with student apathy. No matter how excited I was about the subject matter, no matter how flashy the demonstration was, no matter how unique the lab was, my students showed little to no interest in the course. I NEED to remedy this next year. I want them to look at Physical Science with the same passion that I see it...well, at least half the passion. I think I can do this by helping them see how they use Physcial Science every day without knowing it. For example, we use magnets in everything from speakers to hair dryers. Furthermore, I still want to do more labs. Less notes, more inquiry. I felt that I stressed too much memorization this year. Science isn't about memorization; well, at least the majority of science. It's about discovery. Yes...more discovery.

3.) I want to STOP dressing so professionally. Every day this year (except for some Fridays) I wore slacks, a dress shirt and a tie. I originally thought that it was the only way that I could distinguish my baby face from one of the students, but now that most students know who I am I will NOT dress up every day. Dressing up professionally is great for many professions but I don't think it is right for my personality, my age, or my teaching strategy. Without going into how I almost set my tie on fire with a bunsen burner during the first semester, I think that my professional get-up really alienated me from my students. I felt as though they thought I was trying to elevate my importance to a level it shouldn't be at. What's more is that I think I was the only teacher who ever wore a tie. My studetns said I looked more like a business man than a teacher.

4.) Get more involved in my students lives outside of school. I made an interesting progression throughout this past year. At the beginning of the year, I would do everything in my power to avoid seeing my students out in public. I thought that they saw enough of me (and I saw enough of them) at school that any further encounters would just be awkward and overkill; however, as the first semester faded into the second, I found that when I did encounter a student outside of school, it was usually a positive encounter which strengthened our bond. Maybe they saw that I was a real person just like them, something I think got lost during the school hours on account of my professional attire. I plan on connecting with some of these students through coaching. I have accepted the head coaching position for both the boys and girls cross country teams next year. Now that sounds misleading; there aren't that many individuals going out for it...yet. I plan on changing that.

Overall, next year I want to love my job even more. I don't just want to make waking up bearable but a joy. I want to be excited to go to school, to see my students and to share my passion for Physical and Environmental Science. I know that I won't be doing this forever. Next year is my last chance to create a lasting impression on the kids of Mississippi. After next year, I'll just be a memory for them. The question is, what kind of memory will I be? Maybe I won't be their favorite teacher, but perhaps if I play my cards right they will leave my class knowing that someone cared deeply about them and their education.

Spring Break

2006-04-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Well spring break has been over for just about 2 weeks now and I find that I miss it already. I had so much fun over the break that it made coming back to school feel like my own personal hell. Don't get me wrong, I love to teach. It's probably one of the best creative outlets of any profession and you get to have fun and joke around while doing it! The problem is that I don't like being a disciplinarian. I've said this before and I feel as though it's water under the bridge, but I feel like I'm baby-sitting sometimes and that’s what makes getting up in the morning so difficult.

Well, enough of that. There is no point in complaining. You just have to hope that each day will bring less disruption and more learning. Back to spring break. My fiancé and I went to Chattanooga, TN to visit Lookout Mountain. Lookout Mountain is just west of the Smokey Mountain National Park. Our first stop was Inclined Railway, the railcar with the steepest grade tracks in the entire world. We literally went up the mountain at a 70 degree angle during the steepest leg of the ride. Once there, it wasn't too exciting. I bet the view would have been fantastic if it hadn't been foggy. Still, it was a nice ride up and down the mountain.

Next we visited Rock City which isn't really a city at all. It's just a plot of land that some horticulturalist (I think) donated to the state. Ok, a little heads up. My facts may be really skewed here. I'm trying to do this from memory and it's so hard to pay attention to those boring tour guides when there is so much to see and do. Anyway, my fiancé and I really got a kick out of Rock City. It was basically just a path that wound through caverns and through a wide variety of flora. We did get to see an incredibly view (by this point, the fog had cleared) and 7 states. The park claims you can see 7 states from a vantage point high up on a mountain side but this is complete B.S. How can one see South Carolina and North Carolina from Tennessee? That's right you can't, but for some odd reason I fell for it when I was reading the brochure.

Finally we saw my favorite attraction, Ruby Falls. I had always seen billboards for Ruby Falls as a child when my family would take road trips to South Carolina but I never thought I'd ever get there. It's amazing and I would definitely recommend it to any non claustrophobic adventure seeker. It involves and elevator ride 280 feet below ground and a tour through winding caverns with several breath-taking geological masterpieces. The tour culminates with the amazing Ruby Falls, a huge water fall in the middle of the cave. What's crazy is that nobody knows where the water that feeds Ruby Falls actually comes from.

Our break was a blast and if any teacher corps member is looking for a quick weekend trip, I highly recommend heading to Lookout Mountain just outside of Chattanooga.

Disorganization in the Teacher Corps

2006-03-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

As you all know, the class moral took a huge dive after this weekend's meeting in Oxford. I'm going to try to speak as candidly and honestly as possible. The whole situation went down as Ben informed us that we would be student teaching this summer. At first, I think people groaned a little bit, but as the program was described, I think people began to realize how beneficial and how fun it would be. The new second years would be teaching summer school in Holly Springs with the first years student-teaching. Sounds like a lot of fun and it would give us an opportunity to try out some new teaching techniques. However, the real theatrics came as Ben announced that we'd have two classes over the fall and one class in the spring.

This change is unwelcomed by me and many other for several reasons. First, I had seperate extracurriculars planned for both the fall and the spring that required a large portion (if not all) of my Saturday. These activities include coaching and volunteering. Unforutnately, if we have classes down in Oxford, I will have to scratch these plans, (as I will have little time for these committments during the week).

Second, my classmates and I will have to spend more money on gas and food. Gas is a major hidden cost to this program (not to mention, wear and tear on our vehicles).

Third, Saturday classes kill our weekend. I for one cannot stand Saturday classes. I like the professors and find the material interesting and worthwhile but yet I still cannot stand what it does to my weekend. When we have to go to Oxford over the weekend, it leaves absolutely no down-time. I often get much less sleep and find myself a bit more disorganized after a weekend in Oxford.

I really don't want to come back for the Spring semester of 2007. It's a huge thorn in my side. After all, many of us aren't in this program for the classes that we take on the weekends. We're in it for the kids.

What bothers me the most is that this isn't the program I signed up for. Before I applied, I studied this program inside and out. I had the schedule memorized before I even sent in my materials. In short, I did my homework and thought I knew what I was getting myself into. I don't think it is fair (or very professional for that matter) for the leaders of the program to change things midway and just expect us to comply as if we have no stake in the matter. I would completely understand if this change was on the table before I applied to the program just so there are no surprises. If this change to the program goes into effect, I would be willing to bet that more than a few teacher corps teachers would pack their bags after the semester is over.

Procedure/Reward

2006-03-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

One of my procedures that has worked really well over the past few months is not really a procedure at all. It is my classroom rewards chart. It's a bit complicated in the beginning but students catch on quickly. Each class receives a numerical score based on their behavior on any given day. For example, on Friday, my third period received a score of 3. The scale extends from 1-5 with 5 being a perfect score and 1 being the lowest score. Classes with excellent classroom behavior will earn a 5 for that particular day. Classes with sub-standard classroom behavior will earn less than a 5 for that particular day. I keep track of scores on a classroom rewards chart that hangs above the blackboard (i.e. every student can see it). At the end of a two week (10 day) period, I add up the scores for each class. There is a total of 50 possible points. If a class earns between a 45-50, they will get 15 minutes of free time at the end of the period. If they earn between a 40-45, they will get 10 minutes of free time at the end of the period. If a class earns 30-40, they receive no free time, and if a class earns less than 30, they will be given homework on the weekend.

This reward system has worked tremendously well for my class because students police each other. When ever I bring up the rewards chart, other students will enforce my class rules for me. Furthermore, because all students can see the score of every class, different class periods compete with each other for the highest scores. Students really enjoy it.

Student Apathy is Making Me Apathetic!

2006-02-12T16:48:00.000-08:00

You know, I'm not really sure if anyone really reads this blog. In fact, Ms. Monroe's post on my last blog nearly blew my mind. Anyway, just in case anyone is really out there surfing around on the internet, perhaps as a prospective applicant to MTC, an alumni of the program, someone who is trying to keep tabs on me, friends, parents, fellow classmates, teachers, and those of you who have absoultely nothing to do and just so happened to stumble upon a random blog, this blog is for you. Step into my world of stress, frustration and semi-organized chaos.

This entry is about student apathy, a stage I had hoped to conquer by now. The sad reality is that student apathy may actually conquer me. On Friday, I gave a chapter test on waves; three of my five physical science classes bombed it. Class averages were in the high 60's and low 70's. Grading tests like these literally makes me want to throw up. What am I doing with my life? Spending 70 hours a week busting my butt making worksheets, creating fun and interesting lesson plans (well, I think they're fun), reading online resources, grading papers, and calling parents? Is this my life? Is this what all my hard work throughout my own high school and college education boils down to? Being overworked and underpaid and worst of all, underappreciated? Well, yes, I think I just hit the nail on the head. This is my life in a nutshell and what do I have to show for it? A bunch of 60's and 70's for class averages?

My students don't care about Physical Science. Well, most of them don't care. I have a few standouts that offer me a glimmer of hope each week, but the vast majority of them don't study, don't do their homework, and barely pay attention in class. I've done breath-taking demos...well, as breath-taking as Physcial Science gets; ran through class experiments; and shown enthusiasm for my subject matter and still I barely get students to stir in their seats. I spend about 3.5 days teaching and 1.5 days reviewing before I give a test and students still manage to fail it miserably. What am I doing wrong?

Case in point: A sound wave is a longitudinal, mechanical wave. I must have repeated that 15 times and included it on every worksheet and both chapter quizzes. I demonstrated it with a slinky and had students draw it on the board. Still 54.7% of students missed that question on the test. What more can I do except tatoo it on their foreheads so that every time they look in the mirror, they realize that a sound wave is a longitudinal, mechanical wave!?

It's sooooo frustrating!!!!! Why don't students realize that education is fundamentally essential to their future well-being?!!

What do I have to do? Bribe them??? Hmm...I'll pencil that in for tomorrow.

Another year in the Teacher Corps???

2006-01-29T07:59:00.000-08:00

As January comes to a close, and only four months of school lie ahead of me before summer, I think it is time for some truths. It's time to sit down and evaluate not only how well and/or poorly the past 6 months have gone, but also to evaluate the time that lies ahead. Of course, with any reflection, there must be a foundation. So here it goes.

I've learned so much about myself over the past 6 months. I've learned how much I'm willing to sacrafice for something in which I believe so strongly. I've learned that I am more of an easy going, relaxed person than I had ever been in the past. I've also learned that my breaking point has come and gone without me even realizing it. This academic year has been full of ups and downs for me just as it has been for most of my fellow teacher corps members. Some highlights: getting through to certain students whom I thought would never see graduation day; Joking around with my students about the little things in life and imparting some wisdom (well, at least the little that I think I may have) about how integrity, honesty and compassion are values that will get you further than selfishness, greed and "the here and now" attitude; and finally, acutally sharing my passion for science with some of my students (I still can't believe I'm a high school teacher.) While these highlights are truly great, and will provide lasting memories, I don't believe that they can overshadow the challenges.

I don't like being a disciplinarian. It's not me. In many cases, I find myself disciplining students for things that I did in high school. How hypocritical is that?! I don't like the fact that the counselors stick all the "troubled" kids in my class just because I'm a first year teacher. And I don't like giving students every minute of my day, before and after school when they don't want to be there anyway. It's frustrating.

I've learned that I am not cut out to be a teacher for the rest of my life. It's just not for me. Fortunately, I won't have to. I recently was accepted to medical school. The question now is whether or not I should defer matriculation into medical school for a year to finish out the Teacher Corps program. Ben said that it is fantastic that no one has left the program. I can't imagine someone quitting in the middle of the school year. I surely won't quit before the summer arrives. There's no way. However, I find that I really have to put some careful consideration into whether or not I'll be coming back next year. There are many pros and cons to staying the course and finishing up the program before I enter medical school, not the least of which is the fact that I made a committment. I have never been one to back out of a committment, but we're talking a year of my life. Is it worth the unhappiness that it creates? Teaching isn't all bad. I like many aspects of it such as those I mentioned above. I would love to be involved with aspects of education other than teaching and I think the lessons I'm learning now as a teacher will make me a much more informed citizen, not to mention a better physician.

In the coming blogs, I'm going to try to type my way to an answer. I'm going to put my thoughts out in front of the corps, and reevaluate my plan later in the spring. I'm at a real loss right now.

Death needs to take a day off...

2006-01-22T14:59:00.000-08:00

This year has been rough. No, I'm not talking about how I spend every waking moment trying to figure out how to increase my students' achievement...that'll be in the next blog. Aren't you excited? This year has been extremely rough on my students. Last week one of our students was killed in a car accident. That is the third confirmed (fourth unconfirmed...there was a rumor that one of last year's graduates committed suicide but I haven't confirmed that rumor yet.) death this year. First, the softball coach and a teacher (just down the hall from my room) passed away suddenly after an anyerism. He was in his early thirties with two young daughters. His death really hit home for me because he was so young. As naive as this may sound, young people aren't supposed to die unexpectedly. Old people die; people who have lived full, long and rich lives. Not this time.

Second, one of my very own students passed away unexpectedly. He played football with some friends after school and took a serious blow to his side. A few hours later at the football awards banquet, he collapsed and died. His spleen had ruptured. I witnessed his last hours as he sat in my class. He asked me a couple questions about the test he was going to take the next day. The conversation was routine and nothing out of the ordinary. As he left my class, I certainly wasn't thinking that I'd never see him alive again.

Life is so fragile. John, the football player who had died, certainly wasn't expecting to die suddenly with no opportunity to say goodbye to his family and friends. Nor did Humberto, the aforementioned victim of the car accident and neither did Coach Hunter, the teacher who died suddenly after an aneurysm. Each day must be lived to its fullest and there is no time for unhappiness. Spending time with loved ones should be my priority especially because one never knows when their time will come. With each death, I reevaluate the condition of my life. Am I where I want to be? Am I spending my time wisely? What if I died tomorrow? Would I be remembered as the finace or son who was always too busy? There are no simple answers to these questions. I spend much of my waking hours working on school work. Those who tell me that I shouldn't take work home with me are crazy. I'd never leave school. Even at night when my fiance has some down time, I am still struggling to plan lessons, to make learning fun and interesting, to grade papers, or to get my own homework done. I rarely find time to relax and spend time with those I love most. Furthermore, I find that because I am teaching and living in northern Mississippi, I am cut off from many of my fellow MTC peers who teach some 2-3 hours to the south of me. Spending time with them is rarely an option. So I find myself wrapped up in my work praying for some spare time to come my way. Unfortunately, the days aren't getting any longer.

So my prayer to God is to get me through this semester and through June (MTC classes) so that I can have at least a few weeks to call my own. Weeks when I can spend time with my finance and catch up with MTC friends. I pray that my students will live life to the fullest and if anything good can come from three deaths I hope that they learn to put life events into perspective. I hope that they can focus less on popularity, drugs, sex and alcohol and more on meaningful relationships and personal triumphs (such as good grades and althletic accomplishments). Most of all, I hope that they won't have to lose any more of their friends to unexpected and tragic circumstances.

2005-12-07T04:33:00.000-08:00

As I evaluate my first full semester in the Mississippi Teacher Corps, I instantly recognize the ups and downs. In general, I found the classes helpful with few exceptions. The most helpful class was my science methods course. Dr. Maddox was extremely generous with his time. At the start of every class, he would hand out full labs complete with directions for teachers, students and questions designed to further student thinking. This was beneficial because we didn't have to create our own labs, which as any science teacher can tell you, is a royal pain. However, the one problem that I had with this class was in the content. The textbook that we read stressed inquiry. Of course inquiry is important in science but I am having a tough time coming to terms with it in my school. I've tried some short inquiry labs with my students but almost all of them ended in chaos. The first two inquiry labs, ended with desks and lab tables a complete mess and very little learning. The next two inquiry labs went much smoother after I got strict on discipline but again, they ended with very little learning because they saw the entire period as a socializing event. I am not required to do many labs in my class and as a result of the first four inquiry labs I tried I have been doing fewer and fewer labs. In the back of my mind, I feel as though I may be leading my students astray without pushing for inquiry, but if I stick to more directive methods of teaching, I am assured that most of my students will get something out of the lesson.

While the amount of homework in my scinece class was a little overwhelming at times, I thought the assignments helped us get in touch with our inner scientist, which is a little bit more than I can say for the morning class...EDSE 600 right? Don't get me wrong, I learned some great information in this class, but I thought the 10 day lesson plan fiasco to be a bit stressful and meaningless. I spent hours upon hours typing up that 10 day lesson plan but I really couldn't use it at all. Personally, I find it difficult to teach from an STAI lesson plan, and so short of taking bits and pieces of it and incorporating it into my lessons, it was worthless to me. I think we proved that we know how to do a 10 day lesson plan (at least to some extent) over the summer when we completed our three day. Either way, I know it had a purpose, but that purpose was kind of lost in the stress of the project.

What I did find very useful in EDSE 600 was the lesson on getting to know your students. It involved us finding statistics on our student population. What I found out was a real eye-opener. A very small percentage of our students actually go on to a four year university, let alone graduate from it. Because of these statistics, I have been talking quite a bit about college in my classes. I feel that if I try to tie together high school and college so that it feels as though it's just the next step for my students down the path, more of them will attend. I know for a fact that one of my juniors is looking into four year universities because I have excited him with talk about playing for a major football team.

All in all, the classes were quite helpful, but of course with any class there are going to be things that some people find useful and others do not. By no means do I think this past semester was a wash. It really pushed me to consider the situations in which my students find themselves and it gave me ideas to use in my science classroom. That's all I was really hoping for!

Everything I wanted but nothing I expected-Looking back on the summer

2005-12-03T04:02:00.000-08:00

In reading over my blogs posted this summer, I am mortified. What was I thinking? I seemed so certain in my teaching abilities. "I'll be a great teacher." " I just need to visualize myself succeeding." " I never let anyone sleep in my class." Before I acutally started teaching full time, I had more confidence in myself. It seemed as though I had all the right answers. Now, when it comes to deciding what to do with my students who are failing, I am unsure. Are they failing because they have trouble paying attention? Are they failing because they are not doing their homework? Or is it all my fault? Am I the reason their failing? I have found that as I moved deeper and deeper into the year, I became more unsure of myself. As the stakes became higher and my students jumped in number from a summer school classroom to 5 periods packed with 30 students each, began to be more cautious.

In a way, this is a good thing. I now realize the importance of my job and I do not take it lightly. I would no longer call myself a successful teacher. In fact, until all my students are passing, I will not feel like a success. There is always something to strive for. My summer blogs contained a hint of arrogance, like I had it all figured out. Well, let me be the first to say that I still don't have it all figured out.

I think the Mississippi Teacher Corps does a good job of building confidence before throwing you into the fire, so to speak. I felt confident and ready for that first day of school, so why don't I feel confident and ready for the 90th day of school? I am a perfectionist at heart. I can't stand to fail. So when 20% of my students are failing my class, I feel as if I'm failing as well. I think this is one of the main differences between the past summer and the present. During the summer, I didn't have to worry about students failing my tests because it was summer school and everybody ends up passing in the end. Right now, however, I can spend hours with a student in a one-on-one setting until I'm absolutely sure he understands the material and then 3 days later he'll fail the test because he won't even answer half of the questions.

In my July blogs, I remember commenting on the Reluctant Disciplinarian. "The best tool for me is going to be good old fashioned experience, not some book." Well, now that I have experience I find myself incorporating ideas from the book. I guess I spoke too soon.

One thing that was right on target was that I do love teaching. In many of my blogs, I sounded a lot more upbeat than my current blogs. Most of the recent blogs stem from sheer exhaustion. However, that has not changed. I didn't join the teacher corps because I love teaching. The truth is, I hadn't had very much experience teaching before coming to Mississippi. However, the teacher corps showed me how great teaching can be and that hasn't changed. I live for the "ah ha" moments that students occasionally share with me. I love when a student comes to my class and can't wait to share what he or she did over the weekend because it had to do with Physical Science. Teaching is my life and there are so many ups and downs but the ups make all the downs worth every second. Just the other day, one of my students confided in me that he was having serious problems at home. He can't seem to stay awake in class, but when he does, I can tell he's been crying. I am so proud that I can serve as a confidant for this student. What makes me so special? Why me and not another teacher? I don't really know but he feels that he can trust me.

Teaching is an amazing profession, and while I may have been a little arrogant this summer, I feel that the summer training I received has really given me the eyes to see all the good in my students and for that I am grateful.

2 more weeks!

2005-12-03T03:52:00.000-08:00

Ug...I'm exhausted and definitely ready for a break! You know, when I first moved down here and discovered that we had to start school at the beginning of August I thought it was absolutely insane. Where I am from, school starts over a whole month later around Labor Day. Now, I am nothing short of grateful that I have a little over two weeks of rest coming my way. Unfortunately, my students want it even more than I do and some of them have taken an early holiday. Today was particularly frustrating. During my Environmental Science class, my students were taking a chapter test. In the short 48 minutes of class time, six cell phones went off, 5 of them with Christmas carol ring tones and the other with the latest Black Eyed Peas song. Our school's policy on cell-phone is firm. Teachers cannot hear them or see them. If we do, we must take them up and run them to the office (which is probably the furthest point from my room and not even in the same building). The student's parents must come to the school and pick the phone up. I agree that cell phones are a problem in schools but this rule creates leads to an influx of whiney students who all of a sudden begin to need their phone for safety reasons. Plus teachers are supposed to find the time to run phones all the way to the office between classes...yeah right.

In my third period, I had two students get in a verbal (thank God!) fight about when Santa Clause comes to the new Southaven mall and who Santa Clause really is. Apparently it's some "crunk, drunk, punk who's the bre of a dude named Jale “who "knows" the cousin of one of my students. He's been in and out of prison twice and also just so happens to be the boo of one of my other students. Half of the time I have no idea what my students are saying. It's like a foreign language coming out of their mouths. And to think that two students were getting ready to fight over this? Oh, to be in high school again. Oh wait, I am.

Two more weeks. Right now I'm struggling with absences and catching students up. It seems like just as I catch them up on their tests, they decide to miss a week of school. I'm also trying to prepare students for finals. My school has this policy which allows students to exempt out of exams if they have a B or higher in their class and only two absences for the entire semester. I’m sad to report, between failing grades and many absences, I think only a handful of my students will be able to exempt.

It never ends. The paper work, the lesson planning, the managing of the classroom, the absolutely pointless faculty meetings and my epic battle with the copy machine. I’m exhausted and looking forward to sleeping away my holiday break.

On the bright side, I think I have finally found a way to increase student achievement in my classroom. Previously I was spending about two weeks on a chapter before I gave my students a test on the material. Sure, I gave a few quizzes here and there to keep them on their toes but it didn’t seem to work. So I decided that I would do away with chapter tests all together. Instead, I split the chapter in half and give a 50 pt quiz every Friday. By giving a quiz, students find that the amount of material is much more manageable. I have had more A’s on these past three quizzes than I had on all the chapter tests from the entire semester. Isn’t that awesome? I’m so proud of my students.

How’s that for ending on a good note? Gotta go!
Happy Holidays!

Success Story

2005-11-05T04:15:00.000-08:00

Now that I have about three months under my belt, I actually feel that I do have some successed to share. In all honesty, those first couple of MTC classes this year were pretty depressing because I felt as though I didn't have time to be successful and therefore I didn't have a success story to share. I've come a long way since then...I think. At least now I don't feel as though I need to have an entire class on the edge of their seats begging me to divulge more information on Dalton's atomic theory in order to be successful. I look for the little things and hope for the big things, and every once and awhile my hopes become reality and I feel that I have truly made leaps and bounds with a student or even dare I say, a group of students. But really, I consider myself successful if I can simply keep my students focused on a lesson for at least 30 minutes. If I focus on the small successes, I find that it's easier to keep my sanity.

However, because this blog is supposed to be on successes and it's coming at the end of the class, maybe I should write something a bit more substantial, and for that, I have the perfect success. Throughout the first few weeks of school students were failing my class miserably. I think the average on the first chapter test was in the sixties. The second chapter test wasn't much better. I have some students in my classes that work very hard. They do their homework and pay attention in class. Some of them even take notes without being told to write something down. Of course, these students did quite well on both tests. None of these students seem particularly intelligent, they just work hard. Then there are the students who work a little bit here and there and scrape by with C's and D's. This is the student population that pulls me out of bed in the morning. I have some hope for these kids because at least they put forth some type of effort. They possess a small spark of desire to get something out of my class and it is my job to turn that spark into a wild fire. I decided that many of these students would benefit more from individualized instruction.

My solution, after school tutoring. On Wednesdays I hold a tutoring session after school for one hour. This is an opportunity for students to get some one-on-one instruction with yours truly. So I spread the word across my classes and even called some parents. Guess how many students showed up for the first session. One! I'm sure you're thinking, "Well, that's someone that you're helping. It's better than no body." Well, when he came in and saw there was no one there, he bolted out of the room saying that he forgot he was on the football team and he had practice.

So, the next week, I called even more parents and told them to send their children to after school tutoring. I put up signs on my white board advertising the event. I did everything short of getting on my knees and begging my students to come to tutoring. The second week, I had about 3 people show up. When only 3 people came I have to admit, I was disappointed. However, I knew that if I ever wanted students to show up at my tutorial, I had to make it fun. So we spent the fist 30 minutes reviewing lessons and doing practice worksheets. I could tell that the students were understanding the subject matter which definitely is the goal of tutoring. Unfortunately, they were also looking pretty bored. So I spent the last 30 minutes playing a game in which they could earn tickets (part of a classroom reward system). They thought the game was so much fun that it may have been worth it to come to tutorial after all.

Word spread quickly and over the next couple of weeks, the number of students in my tutorial soared to about 20 each week. It became the "cool place to be on Wednesday afternoons." As if that isn't a success in and of itself, many of my students who religiously come to my tutorial have had their grades increase from low F's to A's. It is these moments that makes teaching so much fun.

Crazy times

2005-10-29T04:55:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

Because you're all like family to me I want to share some great news with you! Last weekend, I proposed to my girlfriend of six years (She said YES!) and now I'm engaged! How crazy is that?! So we're planning on having a rather long engagement of at least a year and a half to two years, but rest assured, no matter where you all are, whether it be Mississippi, California, or Tokyo, you'll all be invited!

Anyway, I guess I have to say something about teaching huh? As much as I try to define my life at this point with things that do not involve teaching, I find that it's just impossible. This week has been particularly trying for me (and I suspect many of you who waited until the last possible minute to do the 10 day lesson plan). I bet Kate and I logged at least 70 hours this week at our school. On Thursday night, I found myself falling asleep at my desk around 10:30 pm!

I'd be a complete liar if I said that I expected this. I guess when I applied to the program I thought that I would have more fun than stress; however, I find that I can't stop worrying about my students. I'm exhausting myself finding different ways to teach the same thing over and over again and they still don't understand. Now, many of the poor grades in my class are a result of apathy but I see some kids who are really studying, showing up to my tutorial program, and even coming in before school and they are still struggling. I'm running out of ways to teach things. So that's a little frustrating.

Do you want to know what is even more frustrating? Students who eat things they are not supposed to eat. David Odem had a really great story about one of his students eating...I think it was a pencil or something. When he told me his students were eating their writing utensils, I couldn't believe it but much to my dismay, I have a student who is slowly consuming his entire textbook. I think he's made it through pages 1-23 already and that first page was made out of a thin cardboard-like material. I've called his parents who thought it was more funny than serious and I've told other students to watch out for him and stop him if they witness this act. What's worse is that his appetite for the book seems to be increasing. He's now consuming pages at an alarming rate of 2-3 per class. I find myself speeding up my lessons just so that he'll have some pages to read before he consumes them all. And you'd think that I'd dish out some consequences to him because he is destroying school property but it's just so funny that when ever I see him nibbling on one of his pages, I can't help but laugh. He's like a little pack-rat or something. Anyway. ..that's what I'm dealing with.

Well, it's time to go to class or else I'll be late. See you all in about an hour!

Inductive vs. Deductive Teaching Strategies

2005-09-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

Over the past two weeks I have been analyzing my teaching methods to determine which lessons could be taught with inductive teaching methods rather than deductive. In Physical Science, it seems as though an inductive approach will yield the most learning, however, this is not always the case. For example, my third period class is comprised of about 6 major trouble makers, 15 freshman, 2 seniors, and about 5 chronic sleepers. I know for a fact that my students in the third period would not be able to handle very many inductive tasks. Inductive teaching often involves more guided exploration than teaching, and I'm afraid if I let my third period explore anything, the result will resemble chaos more than learning.

That being said, I do prefer inductive methods to deductive approaches. I recently turned an old deductive-based lesson into an inductive lesson. I was trying to teach my students about bond angles and molecular interactions (like hydrogen bonding in water). I learned these topics through a combination of lectures and funny looking drawings on the chalk board, but instead of subjecting my students to the pain of another chemistry lecture, I gave them some molecular models (from the 60's!) and a worksheet. I instructed them to draw several different molecules despite the fact that most of them had never seen these molecules before. With minimal instruction, almost each of my students was able to write down the correct structural formula for each molecule. I was so impressed with them...and myself...that I have decided to slowly, but surely, incorporate more and more inductive lessons into my classroom.

One of the added benefits is that the students had fun constructing their compounds and they were learning at the same time. Sometimes I think that they forget the fact that they are actually learning something when they are engaged in a lesson. They see it less as a task and more as having fun. I have to be honest, I didn't let each of my classes construct their own molecules and compounds with the models. I let 3 out of my 5 classes do this while the others (namely 3rd and 7th periods) learned with colorful drawings on the chalkboard. I know that the periods in which I employed my inductive teaching method, faired much better. It seemed like they had a better grasp on the material and had more fun doing it. The only problem is that I know I cannot trust my 3rd and 7th periods. I almost feel as though I'm cheating my 3rd and 7th periods but what else can I do?

To sum up, I think that inductive teaching strategies are fantastic. I would love to employ them throughout all of my classes, however this is not possible. One can only use inductive approaches when he is sure that the students will benefit. Classes that are too immature, too talkative or, lets face it, just too obnoxious will not benefit from inductive strategies as much. I wish I could find some happy medium for these types of classes; a nice mix between inductive approaches and deductive approaches. I'm still working on it though. When I discover it, I'll let you all know.

Why are my kids so unmotivated?!

2005-09-28T17:51:00.000-07:00

So today I gave my very first CMS test. For those who are lucky enough not to have CMS (I think it stands for curriculum management system...or I could have just made that up) tests, they are just tests which are created by the district and scored by the district. I thought my students would ace the test with no problems, but I'm not entirely convinced that was the case. When asked how the test was, about one fourth of my students said it was easy but another one fourth said it was hard. The other one half apparently couldn't make up their minds so they didn't choose one side over the other. I'm concerned about my students. I have very high expectations of them and the class unanimously stated that the CMS tests were much easier than my tests. However, many of my students are failing. If I had to give a rough estimate, I'd say about 40% of them are earning F's at the moment. Now many of those students are earning F's because they consistently fail to attempt, let alone complete, their homework. They do not study a lick and they expect to come into my class and ace the test. I mean, come on. What is with these kids? When I was younger...well, I suppose I really didn't have to deal with apathy. My parents knocked any and all apathy right out of me by the time I arrived at high school, but my students don't seem to care about their education at all. They are so concerned about the here and now, the short term rewards like what they will do Friday night after the football game, who's house party(where are the parents?!) will they attend this weekend, how can they get their hands on a fake id? Education is the last thing on their minds. How do I change that?!

I try to make it relevant to the students but orbital theory can only be stretched so far. Let's face it, these kids will NEVER see it again especially those who do not go on to college. I guess I'm just trying to create some science literacy for the future but if they can't remember what we did in class 2 days ago, how are they going to remember applications of orbital theory 25 years from now?

I guess the fact that I'm so bummed with the motivation, or lack thereof, of my students is a good thing. I feel as though I am slowly clawing my way out of the survival stage and into the um...well, the next stage what ever that may be. I desperately want my students to care about the subject matter so that they will want to improve their grades. Hopefully in another 2 months from now I will have more ideas and at least some more of my students will find science interesting.

On the bright side, I had 2 students tell me that my geekish energy for science not only makes them laugh but also makes them feel more connected to the lesson. While I think that was a compliment, I am just so incredibly happy that I have SOME students that I'm affecting. I think the fact that I'm younger has a lot to do with that. My students seem to connect better to younger teachers. They are the teachers that the kids are always talking about. Mr. Harris (Joel from MTC), Mr. Lance (some other younger teacher) and Mr. Lochen. We get all the publicity from the students. It's great! Students, in some ways, seem to be more receptive to us.

Anyway...I'm rambling. It's bedtime.

Evaluation of Classroom Management Plan

2005-09-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

My classroom management plan was fairly typical; nothing out of the ordinary. For my consequences, which unfortunatly come to mind well before rewards, are a name on the board as a warning, followed by a checkmark if the negative behavior does not cease. The checks, of course, represent essays of 250 words for each checkmark. If they do not turn the essay in the following day, I send the student to the principal's office. Now before all of this starts to make sense, I need to give you the other pieces to the puzzle that I call my classroom management plan. I have a class reward system which works wonders! It follows a rubric and if the class is really good, they will earn the maximum number of points per class: 5. If they are having a slightly bad day (i.e. one name on the board) they get a 4 ect. In a 10 day period, if they have 45-50 points, they get a big reward; if they have a 40-45, they get a small reward; if they have 35-40, they get nothing and below a 35 is extra homework over the weekends. So it works as a reward system and a consequence system. It was the best thing I've come up with as a teacher...sad isn't it?

Well, what's the problem? Well, the problem is that I have eased up WAY too early. I basically got sick of stopping class and writing names on the board only to have the students try to argue their way out of it during class (despite the fact that I don't even acknowledge these arguments). Because I don't write names on the board, students talk and I assign them a completely subjective number based on how the class went. This worked for a while but now, I feel as though there is just too much talking. Students can't connect their individual poor behavior (i.e. names on the board) with a classwide consequence (i.e. less points for a day). That has become a problem. I am working on changing that but I haven't had much success as of late.

To further complicate things, I have an individual award system which includes giving the kids tickets and drawing those tickets from a box on Fridays for prizes etc. Sounds pretty simple right? Well, I get so bogged down with all my paper work (IT"S MY LIFE!!!) that I don't have time to go out and collect/decorate shoe boxes! So a month into the year, the students know about this reward system but have never seen it in action. It's so frustrating because I know I'm failing with my classroom management plan but there is no time to fix it! I'm jus tbeing completely inundated with more paper work for special ed kids, or gifted and talented kids, or ESL students...the list goes on. I barely have time for lessons. And now with 10 more students due to the displacement of Lousiana students to Southaven High, I have even more paper work because I have to catch them up on 3 chapters of material.

All in all, I think I had great intentions for my classroom management plan. I think it could have worked very well, but I really need to be more consistent. The only problem is time. I feel like I'm drowning.

NO SCHOOL!

2005-08-31T18:26:00.000-07:00

As I take about 5 spare minutes to reflect on how the past four weeks of school has gone, all that I can think about is how I really don't have 5 spare minutes to reflect. In fact, I need to write the chapter test that my classes will take on Friday. One of these nights I also plan on getting some sleep. While I am feeling overwhelmed with the duties and responsibilities of being a teacher, I did have one very positive event occur just yesterday. That event: School was cancelled!

Ok, so this is my testimony to the existance of God. Hear me out. While I shouldn't have reduced my prayers to desperate pleas for more time to organize my lesson plans, etc. I will admit that I found myself praying for a day off on Monday night. Now, up here in DeSoto county (that's just south of Memphis for the geographically impaired...and yes, I am one of them) we shouldn't have had to worry about tropical storm Katrina. So you see, my prayer was merely a prayer. I didn't have much hope that school would be cancelled. When I woke up on Tuesday at 4:00 a.m. to begin refining lesson plans and grade some papers, I noticed that the rest of the city was unusually dark. It turns out that the power went out throughout much of Southaven and therefore, school was cancelled! So I did what any God-fearing Christian would do and dropped to my knees to give thanks!

For all of those who did not get a day off, try praying! It works. And what a restful day it was. I drove down to Oxford and talked to Ben for a while and Ms. Monroe, I dropped by your office but you weren't there. I tried!

Well, it's late and I really should be writing up that Chapter test. I don't think I've ever been so busy in my life but at the same time, I really enjoy the challenge of teaching. It pushes my creativity levels and every day is something new. I hope all of you in the Delta are also finding some solace in the fact that you're doing something truly amazing. Go get `em tigers!

Summer Lovin!

2005-07-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this summer is almost over. It seems like just yesterday when I was moving in on a rainy Memorial Day weekend. As I look back upon the last two months, I see highs and I see lows. I have a feeling deep in the corner of my heart that this may be the best thing I've done yet. Sounds cheesy, I know. I am so excited to get in my classroom in front of my students and show them how amazing and wondrous the world of science is. Yeah, you English majors laugh and you Philosophy majors are probably still trying to decide if science exists or not, but my canvas is a classroom full of young minds, and I am entrusted with the power to shape them into masterpieces. It's an exciting, yet intimidating, reality.

Before I joined the MTC, I thought I had a profound respect for teachers. My mother is a teacher, and not just any teacher, but a first grade teacher. I still think that a first grade teacher is the most important teacher throughout a child's education. My mom is my hero for taking on such a completely amazing role. However, while I had that profound respect for teachers, I don't think it really meant that much because I never took the time to realize how challenging it is to shape young minds. This summer, I experienced, first hand, the difficulties of teaching, and now, my respect for teachers has grown to a whole new level. What an awesome responsibility.

While teaching in summer school seemed rushed and disorganized, I learned that high expectations really can motivate a student. I also learned that classroom management needs to begin on the first day or anarchy will result. While teaching in front of my peers taught me how important each component of the lesson really is, I also learned how frustrating being a teacher can be because nothing seemed sure or consistent. Because of this experience, I will work relentlessly to create a consistent classroom with consistent discipline and consistent procedures. In Ms. Monroe's class, I learned...well...everything that I know about teaching.

I now realize that teaching is probably one of the most challenging services one can provide. While this may be the case, I know that teaching in Mississippi will prepare me better than any other job for future endeavors. What mountain won't I be able to climb after this trip?

God Bless and best wishes for a fantastic and rewarding year guys!

Matt

Ramblings

2005-07-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

For all of you who think that Southaven will be a piece of cake, I have some news for you. I went to visit my classroom on Wednesday of last week, and much to my dismay, I discovered that my chalkboard was a thin piece of film slapped on the wall. I kid you not. If I knew how to post a picture on this blog, I'd show you. There are large pockets of air (about the size of the palm of my hand) scattered all over the film. There are also several areas right in the middle of the film that are torn away revealing what looks like corkboard. When I tried to write on it, the chalk just broke and it left no mark.

As I walked further in the room, I discovered the corporal punishment paddle sitting on my desk. Not only is it an instrument of physical abuse but it had some obsene drawing on it too. I could not believe it. Anyway...my classroom is a real dive. I didn't really expect much but at least you guys who are in the Delta have real chalk boards. One of the things that I love about this program is that it forces you to become creative. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to write on this year but I'll think of something.

And what's with schools having separate buildings for different subject areas? The science classes are held in a completely different building than the main high school. Is that normal for the south? In the north, you'd never hear of such a thing. I kind of like it. While it may be isolating, I think it will also be a bit more peaceful.

I don't know about you guys but when we did that question and answer session on Friday, I started to get pretty nervous. I highly doubt that I'll be able to get much sleep the night before school starts. In fact, I can't wait until about the beginning of October when everything begins falling into place. My students and I will be in our routines and I'll actually know my way around the school. Gosh, at this point it seems as though it will never feel that way but all things come with time.

So anyway, this blog may seem really disjointed and incoherent. For that I apologize. I really can write. I promise. We'll see what I churn out next.

Hasta!

Inconsistencies

2005-07-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

As you all know, the MTC reunion was held this past weekend. I'm happy to say that the event exceeded my expectations. Despite the fact that the alumni ultimate Frisbee game consisted of more alumni than first years, the dinner to follow was more than enough to make up for it. Personally, I thought Governor Winter's speech was moving and inspiring. I can’t wait to try to effect that kind of change in my future students.

Speaking of moving, I was talking to a few of the alumni last night and they reminded me just how expensive it is to move across the country to Mississippi. They told me how lucky I was that most of my moving expenses were paid for by the state because I am teaching in a critical shortage area.

I'm teaching in DeSoto County, which, in my opinion, is the furthest thing from a critical shortage area. The state doesn’t recognize it as such either. Does this mean I won't be reimbursed for moving expenses? To be honest, I'm not really sure, but many of you will find yourself in a similar situation. The Jackson corps members and the DeSoto corps members are not teaching in "critical shortage areas" and therefore, according to the state "reimbursement for moving expenses" form, you will not get your money back. I spent the day calling moving companies from Wisconsin just to see how much it would be to rent a small trailer to carry my meager possessions across the country and the cheapest quote was $401.72. That's not including gas, a hotel stay, or meals (all covered under the reimbursement plan). When all is said and done, I will end up paying close to $600 just to move to Mississippi and teach in DeSoto County schools. Quite frankly, that’s a lot of money, a lot of money that I don’t have lying around.

I can understand that moving across the country is expensive, but what I do not understand is that this was one of the selling points of the Mississippi Teacher Corps program. If you look under the comparisons link on the main website, moving reimbursement is one of the components that sets MTC apart from TFA or NYCF. Yet it does not say, "only for those in critical shortage areas." It simply says that one of the benefits of the MTC is that your moving expenses will be reimbursed. Furthermore, it says under the program link on the homepage and I quote, "After the initial summer training you will be a certified teacher and placed in a critical-needs school." According to the state of Mississippi, that is certainly not the case for eight of our corps members.

The problem that I have with this program is that there are huge inconsistencies. I know this word has been thrown around quite a bit throughout the past three weeks and for good reason. I had no control over where I would be placed. When Dr. Mullins called me and told me I’d be teaching in DeSoto County, I assumed that this was a critical needs area because the website states that corps members will be placed in a critical needs area. That's inconsistency number one. Because I'm not in a critical needs area, the whole program is misleading. MTC places most of its teachers in the Mississippi Delta. Therefore the instruction is tailored to the problems that teachers in the Delta will face (i.e. the instruction I am receiving may be somewhat relevant but not specifically tailored to my future experience in DeSoto County.) Am I at a disadvantage now? That is inconsistency number two. Because I'm not placed in a critical needs area, I will have to pay for all moving reimbursements out of my own pocket. The program, once again, mislead me into thinking that my expenses would be covered. This is inconsistency number three.

Believe me, I could go on and on. We're all aware of the inconsistencies surrounding our peer teaching experiences and our student teaching evaluations from a few weeks ago. I regret that I have to put this on the web for everyone to read, especially after we held a reunion which undoubtedly made many of us feel good about what we're trying to do. I only hope that someone in a position of power in this program, whether that be Ben or Germain or even Dr. Mullins will read this and attempt to smooth out these inconsistencies. I know that everyone is working hard to make this the best alternative certification program in the country but at this rate, I feel as though we have a long way to go.

God Bless.

Peer Teaching Self-Reflection

2005-07-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

Let me emphasize that watching a video of myself teaching is not my cup of tea. It's crazy seeing myself as a teacher. That said, I think it is quite helpful to some degree because it allows me to see some of my nervous habits and just how much I move around the classroom.

I don't really want to break the whole rubric down by each individual criterion so let me just say that I think, to the best of my knowledge, I performed really well in regard to the rubric. I covered each objective, offered both independent and guided practice, walked around all students, used a variety of different teaching methods and questioning methods, and was dressed professionally among others. Despite the fact that I feel as though I mastered the rubric, mostly because I find myself teaching to the rubric, I do not feel as though the lesson was a success. Now I don't want to sell myself short, I think that most students would have been able to accomplish each objective but as for those students who may present a bit more of a challenge for a teacher, I think they may have left my room confused. I would have liked to spend at least 2 days on the lesson (which covered organizing data through various methods including pie charts, bar graphs, line graphs, and tables).

What I learned from this lesson and the past few days of teaching is that even if you master a rubric which is used to evaluate the effectiveness of a teacher, you still may not be the most effective teacher. I really take it to heart when people tell me that in order to be a great teacher, one must be a life long learner. I know I have so much more to learn about teaching before I can truly be an effective instructor. I really wish that the summer session would put more emphasis on content delivery than other issues like classroom management. We need to know about content delivery BEFORE we start teaching in the fall, yet the class is during the fall semester. I feel as though I may need some help conveying the information that I know to 9th graders. According to the Wong and Wong book, one of the biggest oversights of first year teachers is that they tend to lecture too much because a collegiate teaching style is the most familiar teaching style to them. I feel as though I have this problem to a certain extent and I’m excited about finding other ways to convey my knowledge.

That’s all for now!

Summer Reflections

2005-07-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

Now that the first round of student teaching is finished, I can take some time to offer a reflection on how the summer has gone thus far. All in all, I am quite pleased with how my student teaching went. My class was typical of a 7th and 8th grade science class. Each student was sufficiently rambunctious to offer me some insight on what the fall might be like. I had my good students and I had my trouble makers. I am thankful for the good students because their eagerness to learn made me feel as though I knew what I was doing...at least in some capacity. Although I don't like to admit it to them, I am also thankful for my trouble makers for giving me the opportunity to work on my classroom management skills.

Here is a list of some of the things upon which I'd like to improve before taking over my class in the fall:

1.) Content delivery: I feel as though I need to increase my "wow factor." I need to stir up a curiousity with the likes of no other in each of my students. I want them to gain a passion for science. As is, I don't think I'm doing that. I feel like the boring teacher; one who is collegiate and can't connect with 7th and 8th graders.

2.) Classroom management: I want to have complete control over my class. They deserve an undisrupted learning enviornment. I don't want to be that teacher who doesn't smile either. I refuse to be a dictator. At the same time, I know I can't be their friend. How do I reconcile those two?

3.) Presence: I don't know if this is something that can be developed. It may just be in one's genes. Natural teachers have a presence about them. When they walk into a room, students know that it is time to learn and not time to chat with neighbors. However, like I said before, I don't want the presence of a dictator. I want the students to respect me but not fear me.

That's it. Those three things are at the top of my agenda.

The class, EDSE 500, went well too. I feel as though I am so much more prepared to face my class in the fall with the "tools" that Ms. Monroe has provided. Thanks Ms. Monroe! You rock!

Well, that's all for the first part of the summer. I went home over the break and had a fantastic conversation about consequences, rewards, and class discussions with my girlfriend. I'm telling you, this girl has some great insight! I now feel like I have some very strong insight into how I will be an effective classroom manager. I will be blogging some of these ideas out in the coming days so stay tuned!

God's Peace!

Questioning Technique

2005-07-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, this blog isn't going to be as detailed as the others. There just isn't much to say about questioning techniques and I'm sure those of you back home who check out my blog are going to find this one less than amusing. The hard part of being a teacher is trying to involve everyone in the class, no matter how reluctant a student is, and believe me, I've had some pretty reluctant students. There are several questioning techniques that one can use to achieve this end. I decided to make note cards with each student's name and randomly pick a name out of the deck. I would even let my students shuffle the cards (for some reason they got quite a kick out of that!) just so they could be absolutely sure that the technique was not rigged.

I think the whole random selection thing went well for some students but not so well for others. Those who participate on a regular basis got a kick out of this technique. They were on the edge of their seats seemingly begging that their card would be chosen next. Those who didn't regularly participate had qualms about the technique. In fact, even when I called on them, they still didn't respond unless I pushed the issue (which inevitably I do). So essentially the whole class wasn't much different.

What was different was that people didn't raise their hands! I love the sight of hands raised. For some teachers, the perfect classroom is one of complete silence. For others it's the sound of productive chatter. For me it's the sight of 20 kids with their hands in the air, bouncing in their seats and begging to be called upon. I love that! That's my idea of a perfect classroom atmosphere.

All in all, I don't think I would use this technique in the future because I didn't really notice much of a difference between the status quo and the new technique. Maybe I'll get around to trying another questioning technique in the fall.

Ok, that's all for now.

God Bless

Video Self Reflection

2005-06-29T18:37:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I was completely horrified when I was watching the video of me teaching. For those of you back in Madison and West Bend, I have been student teaching 7th and 8th grade science at Oxford Middle School. As part of our formal evaluation I was to create a video tape of a lesson that I taught. So I taped my lesson on physical and chemical changes about 2 weeks ago, and you wouldn't believe how weird it is watching yourself on tape. We spend our whole lives watching everyone but ourselves, so when we do have the chance to actually watch ourselves it’s very telling.

The following is my self reflection on my teaching from a student's perspective.

Man this guy is boring! He be spending most of the 30 minute lesson pacing back and forth and lecturing to us as if we were college freshman. And who does he think he is coming in here all dressed to the nines thinking he's something special. That preppy little white boy ain't telling me nuthin I don't know already.

Whoa, smokin!! Sandy is looking mighty fine today. Mmm, mmm! I think I'll corner her after school and try to walk that chick home to her mother. Maybe I can get some fresh baked cookies out of the deal. Oh and could I ever use fresh baked cookies. These snacks they keep throwing at us, man, they like cardboard or something. There whak man. This school sucks.

Oh, here comes Mr. Lochen again. Oh no, don't you call on me whitey. I don't know nuthin. What is the definition of matter? Geeze dawg, how am I supposed to know that? I ain't no white preppy boy for Wis-cawn-son. Matter! I'll give you matter. "Um, I don't know." There, that should shut him up. Man, why he still standing there. Naw dawg, move on to someone else. I don't care if light is matter or not. "No, light’s not matter." Dang dude, keep steppin. "Nope, gravity ain’t matter either." "Yes, air’s matter." What's the difference between air and light or air and gravity? This guy's dumb as dirt. "Duh, you can weigh air and you can't weigh light. And air takes up space, light doesn't.” Good answer, yeah that’s right…“Fool." "No, I didn't say nuthin." Mr. Lochen...what a jerk. "Yes I know what matter is, I just told you...matter has weight and takes up space." Hey, I do know what matter is after all. That'll show him. Now I can just snooze and won't have to answer to Mr. Lochen again. "Man, I ain't sleeping. I am paying attention! I can still hear you." Put my head up? Man, what a fool!

Man, I wonder if he's going to blow something up today. That’s what chemistry is. Just blowin things up. I want him to blow something up. "You gonna blow stuff up today Mr. Lochen?" "Aww man, you ain't no fun." "No, I didn't say anything sir." Demonstrations? Later? Hey that's better than sitting here doing nuthin.

-----------------------------------------

If all my students were like this, I'd be happy. Many of my critiques are embedded within this student's mental and verbal conversations. For example, I thought I was quite boring on my video. My set wasn't as interesting as it could have been and I felt like I was too collegiate with my teaching. Furthermore, I paced back and forth when I really should have been standing still or circling the students.

My strengths include addressing almost every person in the class at least once, sometimes more than once. There is no sleeping in my classroom. I expect each student to remain attentive and alert. They don't have to be interested, although it would be nice, but I do expect them to be paying attention. Another strength, one of which I am particularly proud, is my ability to lead students to their own answers. "I don't know." is not an acceptable answer in my classroom. If students don't know, students must guess. If they refuse to guess, I break down my question into smaller and simpler questions that are intended to lead the student to the answer to the original question. I see this as my biggest strength. It forces the student to be engaged in the material and it also lets them know that if they don't pay attention, they will spend more time answering my questions.

All in all, I have a lot to learn and I'm looking forward to improving my skills. However, I think I am well on my way to becoming a successful teacher. I just need to visualize myself succeeding.

Due to my extreme case of procrastination, you can expect 2 more assigned blogs to come in the next day or two. Four blogs in four days. That's my goal. So keep checking in!

God Bless!

Reluctant Disciplinarian

2005-06-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

In reading the Reluctant Disciplinarian, I realized that I've gotten myself in a whole heap of trouble. I'm taken back to my work as a Big Brother as part of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. Initially it was total and utter chaos, and throughout the entire year that I visited my "little's" school, those kids were off the wall, just the kind of behavioral issues that are detailed in the Reluctant Disciplinarian. Great.

I wouldn't say that reading the book wasn't beneficial. It gave me a good laugh every now and then, but I don't really see the point. Please call me on this if I'm wrong, but I don't think we can really learn that much from reading a book about what to do and what not to do. In my opinion (which, may I remind you, comes from a teacher who's really never seriously taught anything before) we won't be able to learn much from a book. Honestly, who is going to stop and think, "What would Rubenstein do in this situation?" as a stapler is flying through the air toward your head? Yes, you may be thinking that I'm exaggerating but I recently spoke with a 2nd year teacher who had this very experience. Believe it or not, this stuff happens, albeit rarely, but I can tell you for certain that Mr. Gary Rubenstein is going to be the last thing on my mind as I'm dodging that stapler.

Instead, I think the best tool for me personally will be good ol` fashioned experience. I am willing to bet that I will have to learn from my own mistakes before I begin to feel comfortable with my classroom management plan. And what’s this garbage about not smiling? Is he serious? I mean when did teaching mean giving up all humanity? People smile; it’s natural. Students are going to begin to question my sanity if I never smile. I could never uphold that form of classroom management. I crack up during student teaching all the time! For example, today, one of my students whipped out a full size bottle of Fabreze in the middle of a discussion on longitudinal waves and started spraying it all around his desk. When I approached him and asked him what in the world he was doing, he said, “Man it stank like a mother up in her (yes, that is her, not here.) and I got’s to have it smelling like flowers so that I can learn appropriately.” If that isn’t funny, I don’t know what is. The characters I have in my classroom are hilarious. Does that mean that I haven’t grown passed the maturity of an eighth grader? I mean, who carries a full size bottle of Fabreze to class with them every day? CrAzY!

I did like Rubenstein’s 5 rules though. You all know what they are and because it’s so late, I’ll save you, and myself, the agony of going over them for the umpteenth millionth time. Well, that’s all for now.

Peace out and happy teaching!
God Bless!

Teaching Mr. Lochen

2005-06-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

It's finally happened. Teaching is becoming easier and easier. My first teaching experience of my entire life occurred last week. I taught a two day lesson on the anatomy and physiology of the human body. To focus my lesson, I concentrated on the levels of organization and function of an organism and the major organ systems. The lesson went very well. I presented the material in a power point format, which, I must admit, I did have reservations about. Several people have told me that a power point presentation is too formal, almost collegiate. It's not a form of teaching generally used on 7th and 8th grade students. Despite this advice from more experienced teachers, I decided that I was going to go ahead with it anyway. I knew I wanted to show pictures of the organ systems and I wouldn't be able to show detailed images of the body on an overhead. In addition, I had to present a wealth of information, a task not well suited for a dry erase board. In order to keep the kids awake throughout the entire presentation, I created a study guide with which they could follow along. This proved to be a very effective method to keep their attention.

After about an hour and fifteen minutes, I instructed my students to make a poster of a randomly assigned organ system. The posters, in general, turned out quite well. I enjoy this method of teaching because it forces the students to go over their notes or refer to their textbooks to gain insight into each organ system. It also addresses the talents of a few artists in the class, and gave them the opportunity to show off their work. Overall, I think the student's were very proud of their results.

I barely finished the lesson on the second day and for the first time in my teaching career (mind you, I was only 48 hours into my career) I was concerned about the time. I began teaching thinking there was no way I was going to be able to fill the entire two hour period and emerged from the experience fearing that I hadn't taught them enough due to time constraints.

Today was my third teaching experience. I taught the students about the planets, comets, asteroids, meteors and meteorites. It was a great lesson. Do you know the difference between a meteor and a meteorite? I used a power point presentation again which the students appreciated. One of my strengths is my ability to control the classroom. I pride myself upon being able to quiet a roudy class and keep their attention. (More on my classroom management techniques in another blog.) Today, however, a student decided to test me. Before each class, I instruct the students to raise their hands before they speak, and I am very consistent throughout the class. Today, a student tried to question this authority and continued talking despite my stern warnings. Without going into too many details, I separated him from the group and discussed the issue with him after class. I think it was the first time that one of the student teachers showed that we mean business. Now the last thing I want is to be a dictator in the classroom, but I really feel that students learn best with rules and structure. Anyway...

So all in all, teaching is going well. I'm learning a lot of new techniques and gaining confidence. I'm concerned about how different it will be teaching high schoolers but I'm up for the challenge. Even though some students choose not to respect my rules, I love teaching. Though I fret about it before hand, all my worries disolve as I get up in front of the class. I feel comfortable in my role as teacher and facilitator. I would like to try different technique besides powerpoint and on Friday I'll have the chance to do just that as I teach students about the difference between kinetic and potential energy. I'm totally stoked.

God Bless!

First Impressions

2005-06-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

I've never had a blog before. In fact, I didn't even know what a blog was before joining the Mississippi Teacher Corps. You see, I'm one of those technologically late bloomers. I like to think I'm on top of the latest advances but every time I get comfortable, I find out that I'm "not with it" or "behind the times." Case in point; cell phones. I just bought my first one about 2 weeks ago. The thing scares me to death every time it rings. Anyway, let me get to the point.

This blog is actually an assignment for EDSE 500, but I will also use it as a venue for venting my frustrations and sharing my joys. So, without further adieu, let's get started.

I have never been so busy in my entire life! This first week as a MTC member has been thoroughly exhausting. It seems as though every hour of the day from 5:30 in the morning to 11:30 at night is filled with some aspect of the program. Whether it's studying for the Praxis II exam coming up on Saturday, preparing a 2 hour lesson plan for my student teaching position, or frantically trying to keep up with the reading for EDSE 500, it seems as though there is never a spare moment to catch my breath.

At the same time, I'm excited by the prospect of teaching. I already have a list of rules for my future classroom, a list of ideas for activities and labs, several different teaching philosophies (if that's possible) and ideas for different lesson plans. I feel like I've been brainwashed. I eat, sleep and breathe teaching!

The program itself has an interesting set up. I feel like I'm in Mississippi's version of MTV's Real World. In fact, I'd call it the MTC’s Real World. 30 people have been thrown together in claustrophobic dormitories (not quite as posh as MTV's Real World abodes, but it works) and events will be played out on this blog. So stay tuned!

God Bless!