Lesson planning and Atwell chapter 8

So far planning the ten day unit has been very time consuming and stressful. I feel like it is hard to find a medium between trying to plan for interesting, fun activities and also making sure that the students are learning the material as well. I am a little nervous doing my unit so early.

Having students talk or write to each other on the books they are reading, recommendations and journal entries is a good way to get them interested in trying new things. When Atwell says "The ways my students write to each other are different from the ways tey write to me -not better, not worse, but different in the same ways their conversations differ from talk with a teacher," it seems to me that students should write this way. But do they all talk to each other in this way? In my experience so far at the high school, I would say that some of the students talk and elaborate more with their friends, and some are the complete opposite. Some of the students don't want their friends to know what they are writing about or reading. One student is reading the Canterbury Tales for fun, and he said he gets embarassed when his friends say things to him. I am not going to lie, The Canterbury Tales is not a fun, or interesting read, in my opinion, but I think it is great that this student reads stories like this. He talks to teachers about the book, and many of them have not read it.

On page 283, Atwell says "There isn't one set of questions for a teacher to ask students in their reading journals." I agree with this. Everyone interprets literature differently, but what do you do if a student just doesn't get it, or is completely wrong? http://www.suite101.com/content/improving-reading-comprehension-a60513
I think this is good information. I think building comprehension skills is really important, so that students don't get left behind during instruction. Supporting their answers with parts of the text really seems to help me. Once you come up with your answer, trying to support it will clarify whether or not your answer is correct.

Myers Article

I could not imagine being a teacher in this time period. Though I know I wouldn't know any different, I will pretend that I would. I feel bad for the students. Having to answer questions from the instructor without being able to ask questions back seems very unfair. Listening to the student's questions is one method of learning about what our students already know and what they want to know.
On page 64, they start to talk about discipline. One teacher says to a student "How can you learn anything with your knees and toes out of order?" I am not sure how movement has anything to do with learning. I understand teaching discipline, but this seems cruel.
On page 66 it says "These diverse districts which were often organized under specific ethnic communities, mandated that their own values be taught, therefore increasing the ethnic tensions among different groups and providing a continuing rationale for the drive to have schools socialize students into a "unified" national culture with a unified national language." I am not sure I understand this, but I think it is saying that one value is to be taught and because of that tension is growing among the other groups in the area. Why would they want to do this? Was there supposed to be a focus on one set of values for different areas, or the U.S. as a whole? Ithink that this idea is better, http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3499.

On page 113 it says "Darrah describes the failure of the team concept of one company where this team concept was announced and mandated, creating the impression that the company did not believe in worker involvement in planning. Afterward the company blamed the workers for the failure of the idea, claiming the workers lacked the necessary skills." I am not sure how this is empowering? I think I would be skepical too.

Student teaching

So far my observations are going really well. I love my cooperating teacher, she is very patient and she is allowing me to pretty much design my own lessons. I feel very fortunate to be teaching Jane Eyre in the spring since that is the novel I did my wiki on last semester! I am a little nervous about teaching this novel to 9th graders. I feel that it will be challenging for them and for me. I will also be teaching Romeo and Juliet in the spring, so I am excited to do that as well.
I have met a lot of the teachers at the high school, and all of them have been great! I sat in on one teacher's class (which was not my cooperating teacher's class) and watched. My cooperating teacher thought it would be a good idea to see some of the behavior disorder students. After sitting in her classroom for one period (50 minutes) I found I was very stressed out and frustrated. I immediately realized that I would probably have handled the situation differently, but then after thinking about it, I am no sure it would have mattered how I handled it, they would not listen to me anyhow.
I have listened to some of the other teacher's ideas and lesson plans, and I think that this high school is lucky to have so many good teachers. They all care and want to help the students.
I found this site interesting and helpful for small tips while student teaching. I think that it may change every so often, so the writing you see may differ a little from what I read tonight:
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Tips/Student_Teaching/

Atwell-chapter 4

In chapter 4 of Atwell's book there is a section on "keeping track" of students work. I feel that this is really important because after ten months of work, and the hundreds of kids I will encounter in that ten months, organization will be required. Not only do I have to be organized, but I need to make sure my students are staying organized as well. I like how she talks about the different color folders that are used for different parts of the class. I remember being in middle school and trying to use a couple folders for 7 classes. I was always unorganized! My teachers never offered to help get me organized, I guess that is mine and my parents responsibility before his/hers. I think the fact that this teacher cares enough to actually buy her students folders for them shows a real concern for organization. I really want to do this with my students! http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-management/resource/5803.html
This link has a lot of ideas on organizing the classroom!!

The next part of this chapter I was intrigued by was "establishing expectations." I completely agree when she says, "I need to teach my students what I expect -often again and again, through the fall, until they get inside their new roles and responsibilities." I think that even after modeling expectations, students should be reminded of expectations. I often wonder how I handled so many classes at one time, since I find it hard to manage 4 now. I can see how students will become overwhelmed and may need reminders of what is expected of them.

The last part I want to mention is on page 115. Nancie is talking about rules for workshop and she says: "Writing and reading can vary, and writers and readers can grow, when the teacher creates a reliable environment and pushes kids to use it." I think this is a great attitude toward teaching writing! Students will need direction and motivation in order to take full advantage of the classroom. This is an interesting article on how we, as teachers, can motivate our students. http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/motiv.htm

Atwell Chapter 1

I really liked the statement on page 4 when Atwell said, "I paved the way...through uncovering and questioning by assumptions, through observing my kids and myself in action and trying to make sense of my observations, through dumb mistakes, uncertain experiments, and, underneath it all, a desire to my best by students and a willingness to acknowledge that my definition of best will be -should be -ever changing." Starting the chapter by saying this made me feel like no matter how long I work as a teacher, or how many times I try to perfect my craft at teaching students how to write, I should always be making changes and learning from each and every experience.

Atwell talks a lot about opening up the options for students in order to give them a variety of choices as writers. I agree with doing this. I feel if they are writing about a topic they themselves choose, the words will have more meaning, and they will be part of who the person is. When we assign topics to writers, and they have no interest in the topic, we stifle their creativity and their willingness to put forth the most effort.

I really liked how Atwell displayed her rules as she changed her orthodoxies throughout the chapter. On page 17 she gives rules which were tweeked from the rules she previously used. Then again on page 18, she reconstructs these rules, and bases them off of the question, "Am I doing it right?" This is a question I feel I will have as a student teacher especially, but also throughout my career!! I also love the questions she puts on page 22. It is helpful to read what other experienced teachers are thinking when he/she begins the school year.