Conor McDowell’s blog

Well, classroom management is one of my pretty weak points.  I'm not at all that consistant, and overwhelmed by one of my bigger classes.  I have problems sending kids out of the classroom (especially those that are really disrupting but it only being talking).  I also have not been all that good with following through on WAs so I'm in the process of making changes, and we'll see how it goes.  I was going good for the last two weeks (really well), but this past week, it fell apart (coincided when my timer fell apart).  We'll see how it goes as i'm slowly going to phase in some changes. I need to make more phone calls home.

After reading Dr. Payne's book, I am both amazed and somewhat skeptical.  Although I don't necessarily trust a book like this that attacks such a broad and individual topic, I really think that reading this book has furthered my understanding of my students.  

Its difficult for me to judge the summer training experience havign never gone though the experience that we are training for.  Do i feel prepared for the experience? no.  Is that the training's fault? probably not, but I can't really tell.  

It was obvious that each of the 4 interns really focused on different parts of the Mississippi experience just from viewing the presentations.  To go on record, I really enjoyed getting to know the 4 interns over the past couple months.  Although I had spent a couple years at the same college as them, I had never really met any of them (or even knew they existed) until Mississippi, and I'm glad that I did.

So... I watched myself teach... again.  It was an interesting experience.  I more or less made up the review lesson on the spot, which resulted in an uneasy feeling as I left the lesson.  Looking at it on camera was much better than I expected.  I hit everything I wanted to, my lesson was more or less coherent, and the kids were in it.  I couldn't ask for anything more.  

Granted, in the real classroom, a lesson like mine would never stand.  30 people would have eaten it apart, and if it weren't for my quasi-relationship w/ Janise, where I got her to get going, this lesson would have never taken off the ground.

I'm glad my last real summer school lesson went well, but that doesn't mean anything when looking at the real yaer.

So I finally got around to it.  That dreaded event, I had to do the one thing that I hate the most, watch myself on video.  That lesson of mine that was taped was finally watched by me.  And honestly, it was much better than I expected (granted, the sound on the tape was very much muffled so I couldn't really understand what I said). 

I was fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough whatever the case may be) to catch one of my better lessons.  I barely taught, the students started with an activity which did the teaching for me and then I handed out independent practice.  That being said, I pace (albeit slowly), I stick my tongue out in this funny way when I am thinking, and I still stumble over words more than I would like (especially the German that I used in the set, gosh that was poor).  Other than that my lesson had a set, it had a closure (2 problems I've been having) and I didn't really talk that much.  The students had the skill, so it was a piece of cake.  Not to be said I don't have ways to improve because I am in no way shape or form a good teacher, I just picked "the wrong" lesson to videotape.  We'll see how July goes.

So this week we were supposed to practice our questioning strategies and try some out.  In my 7th grade math class I had been cold-calling like a bandit, at times it seems like the only way to keep all 4 of them involved.  This week I had planned to use increases in DOK level questioning.  The idea behind this tactic is to give the students an easy question and then force them to use that knowledge and apply it to more straightforward questions.  I have tried this many times during the week, but unfortunately these students have been taught algorithms instead of mathematical concepts and thought.  Earlier this week I had these questions set up, I got to the point in the lesson where I could use the questions I had set up (stupidly I forgot to write these down, so the questions from earlier in the week were forgotten).  Every single time I had asked these questions they had messed up the first question and after leading them to the answer, had not been able to grasp the second question.  This was frustrating and often resulted in me panicking and screwing up my lesson.