2 Characteristics of the Novice Teacher

For this first blog about the characteristics of the novice teacher that I agree with most. 

1. We believe that the novice teacher should be an effect communicator.

   - This characteristic is one of the most important characteristic to me. A teacher might know all about a subject and it's topics but if they cannot communicate this knowledge to their students it won't matter and the students will have a hard time learning. I have had many teachers that are like this, they know so much information about the material we were learning but they cannot communicate it to me. I am not sure if it was due to them thinking it was simple and they could not explain it on a level I understood or if they just have bad communication skills.
    The article I read was about the difference in skills between the students and the teacher. The article opened my eyes to other ways then just delivering the content area subjects to the student, the article discussed a lot about the lack of communication with computers. It went on to tell about the different skills levels different people have on the computer and how some students might know more then the teacher actually knows about the computer. The article also involves the opinion that all teachers should be able to access and use the computer for a variety of useful ways.


2. We believe that the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of content. 
    - In my new PDS I am seeing how important this is in the high level classes. My mentor teacher at the high school possesses this characteristic and is so helpful in the classroom. Most of the students that I see at the high school have more trouble with basic math skills then learning new information like trigonometry function identities. Students know these identities but then can not complete questions that involve using these functions because they can't use things like the distributive property or FOIL.
    The article I read on this topic was about a middle school teacher talking about geometry. The article talks about the teacher asking the students to complete a problem that had the students find the area of a given shape. The teacher was glad to see that most of the students had the correct answer, when she went to the board and explained and showed each step she used to complete the problem one student had the correct answer but did their differently. The teacher could not figure out what the student had done. Since she couldn't explain it she didn't want the students to use the way they had, not because it was wrong but because they didn't understand why. Having in-depth knowledge of your content is important, from the story above, having this is mathematics is very important because the situation above is not the only situation in math that this happens. 
    

US Courts (Educ 400 Group Lesson)

(Originally Written on April 28, 2011)
The District Courts can give a ruling to a case.
The Court of Appeals has nationwide legislation, deals with cases of specialties, an example would be medical cases.
The Supreme Court is the most powerful of the other court systems.

A case starts out in District Court, if a party is unsatisfied with their results they write to the Court of Appeals. Then again if they feel their case was not judged correctly they will then take their case to the Supreme Court but first filling paperwork to do so.

Reflect on Blogging

 (Originally Written on April 6, 2011)
    Overall my blogging has been about the experiences and situations I talked about in my first blog but I don't think blogging is a fun and interesting as I thought it was. I feel that blogging would be more useful if we did it each time we went to our PDS, and also if we were paired with someone in the same content area and/or PDS and also that our mentor teachers subscribe to our blog. Not that I don't enjoy reading my partners blogs or comments but I feel that it would be easier to talk, respond, and relate to someone in the same specialization or PDS.
   Talking with my blog partner is important to me, the comments left are nice to know someone read it and can relate to what I am doing in my PDS. Communicating with my seminar facilitator is extremely important so I know what I need to do and I can learn new and interesting things from them. And communicating with the faculty is also very important, especially my mentor teacher. Communicating with the faculty lets me know school policies and rules, upcoming events, and their expectations of me. Communicating and getting to know the faculty at your PDS also makes you feel more comfortable, welcome, and belonging there.
   Overall, did you feel that the blogging helped you in becoming a teacher? Anything you would change about blogging?

Learning Goals

( Originally Written on March 4, 2011)

A learning goal of mine that I feel I am making progress toward is classroom control. My mentor teacher is wonderful and lets me do whatever I need to want to do. Since being in her classroom I have taught multiple lessons and helped her work through the classroom, in doing so I have learned more about the students and how to keep them on task and under control.

The time that the class gets pretty wild is after she teaches the lesson and the students are set loose to complete their homework. The students are allowed to work in groups and most of the time they are socializing more than working on their assignment. Since I am walking around answering question I can hear what the students are discussing and if it has nothing to do with the lesson I will ask them what question they are working on and to complete the next problem with me. This way I don’t just tell them to get back on task but I make them do a problem. Even if it’s only one problem, it’s on problem more then they planned on doing.

The tasks I have wanted to accomplish since the beginning of year have remained the same but I want to teach more lessoning to the class. Now that I feel more comfortable and know that I have the support of my mentor teacher I want to put myself out there and see what I need to improve on.

My process on my plan is going good. I am on track and not behind.

Digital Stories (due: 2/4/11)

(Oringinally Written on Feb. 1, 2011)   

     An experience in my PDS that I am considering to include in my digital story is how some students are more comfortable asking me questions rather then their teacher. Another experience that I might include is how students act when a sub is running the classrooms. 

     An interesting story has exciting experiences in it and also has humorous parts. Interesting stories about my PDS might be about me getting lost the first day or the experiences I have had dealing with a sub. Another experience could be some things that the students did.

     I feel that using different digital multimedia will make the story more interesting and easier to pay attention to. If you are looking at a plain PowerPoint or piece of paper you're more likely to lose focus but if it is brightly colored or has a design on it the better the chances of you looking at it.

Blog 2, Due Nov 19th

      What experience I've had so far in my PDS is that each student needs to guided in different ways, some need you to be very detailed in describing what is going on and others just want to make sure that they are on the right track, wanting to finish themselves. I've only build relationships with a few students, my usual day is helping the entire class with any questions they have. It seems that the same students ask questions so I know what techniques works best with those students. Most of the students at my PDS are engaged in class, they answer questions and pose ones that they have. I was surprised by this, in the classrooms I volunteer in the students just sat and listen to the lecture, I like that these students are involved in the lecture. I've also build a good relationship with my host teacher, she is really helpful and a great teacher.

Have you had the same experience at your PDS? (The students need different levels of help and support?)

Blogging Possibilities

(Originally Written Oct. 8, 2010)
This blog will support my experiences because they will be able the experiences I have in my PDS. I imagine writing about funny things that have happened at the school, and situations I was in and didn't know how to respond to. I can also see me writing questions on here that I don't know the answers to or need help dealing with about the school or students. There will also probably be days that nothing exciting or interesting happens so it will just be about the activities that the students completed. I will also blog about events that are out of the ordinary.