Classroom Management in Times of Senioritis

Can you help me, Mrs. Martin? This wasn't covered in
any of my education courses.

I currently teach two sections of English 4 (12th grade). Although both sections generally do their work, things have shifted since they came back from Spring Break. For the past 3 weeks or so, students have become more and more apathetic. They do not want to do their work and express wishes to simply "get by" with whatever minimum requirements will keep them afloat enough so they pass the class. Along with this Senioritis, classroom management has become more of a challenge. These students have been used to my CT's style of classroom management for the past year and I understand that I cannot come in with sudden, dramatic changes halfway through second semester. I have steered away from changing anything too much. Classroom management does prove difficult then, when students see me taking more of a lead role, trying to assert myself, while they are winding down and feel that they are done with high school. Chit chatting, cell phones, homework completion, even in-class work has all of a sudden become more a challenge.

I am thankful to have a CT who is understanding and is not afraid to admit that we are facing a challenge that is difficult to overcome. We have talked to the students, kept them updated on grades, increased the student's level of accountability; we are trying to help them get back on task but also explaining that their next step in life (college for most of the students there) will not have someone pushing your or helping you at all times. In a way, we want to show them the importance of self-reliance and the consequences of not being responsible but we don't want to allow them to flounder and face grave consequences (like not graduating) if they do not take responsibility.

Classroom management was definitely difficult this week. As I plan for next week, I can only hope to continue trying and working with my classes and CT so that the next few weeks of our students' high school careers are enjoyable but also productive.

My Digital Reflection Project

I Fear Mediocrity 

Mediocre
-Adjective: Of only moderate quality; not very good

As I was surfing the web, I came across an interesting article titled Confessions of a Mediocre Teacher. It was written in 2009 and published in the community site for educators known as Faculty Shack. The site, although I have not had much time to explore fully, seems to be an area for educators to freely share tips, advice, memories, ideas, etc. through blog posts.

The reason for why the article struck me is because the author admitted to being a mediocre teacher. He went through the reasons for why he felt like a mediocre teacher:

 Ever since I started teaching, I had never had a "good year." You know one of those years that in early April or May, you start feeling good about your students. You covered most of what you set out to teach. Your discipline went well, generally, with only a few detentions, a couple of parent conferences and a few of screams across the room. The kids seemed to cooperate, but most of all, the students learned a few things. Three or four of them, during the spring, tell you of a thing or two they read in the paper, on the Internet or saw on t.v. that reminded them of that story they read in October, or that essay they wrote in November in your class. When students can remember stories they read months ago, essays they wrote in your class and connect them to real world events and want to talk about them with you, then you can bet some good teaching went on in your room.

Well, actually, I wouldn't know all this stuff because I never had one of those years. I don't mean to oversimplify anything, so let me explain a bit.

The author, who posts as Ernest, is very candid and honest in his reflection. He writes about the different kinds of teachers we can find in schools and how he knew that his students we not learning in his class. I admire the honesty in his writing and the thought-provoking questions that he has challenged me with as I read the article. I know that right now, I am looking forward to finding a steady teaching job. I have the drive and determination to try to become a great high school teacher. I want to put in the time necessary to work with my students, to look out for their needs, to be a successful teacher for them. However, there are times when I come home from a day of student teaching and decide to not grade the assignments I brought home, to wait off on planning for the next lesson, to look into finding resources later, etc. I sometimes come home after a difficult day and begin to doubt my career choice. Granted, I am only a student teacher. Everything that I am experiencing right now is a new experience, a new opportunity prepares me for the future. With the new experiences come stress, bad lesson plans, great lesson plans, trouble with students and incredible successes too. Reading Ernest's article reminds me of the need to remain active and engaging. I do not want to feel like a mediocre teacher who does only what she needs to do in order to get by. Instead, I really do want to focus on my students. I want my students to remember previous work, to look back to my class and think of significant assignements and good rewarding memories! So, whenever I feel myself falling into a rut (or contemplating of taking the "easy way out" and not planning for my lessons), I will remind myself of Erenest and his honest commentary on what it feels like to be a mediocre teacher.

My Pinterest Adventures


I signed up for Pinterest at the beginning of the semester. To be honest, I was not very interested in the site and saw it mainly as another task to take care of and occasionally visit. After downloading the "Pin It" button to my browser, however, the convenience of pinning became too hard to resist.  I now use it almost every day to pin sites and pictures or to simply browse what the pinners I follow have updated their boards with.

The Wonderful World of Pinterest

 As it stands right now, my Pinterest is still growing. I have used it mainly for interesting sites, pictures and articles that I come across and think I would like to revisit at some point. My Pinterest board currently has four boards: Urban Legends/Folklore,  Miscellaneous, Books, and Teacher Stuff. I have a mixture of funny pins, serious articles, interesting pictures, etc. all on my profile.

One of the reasons I like the site is that it is simple to link up with my Facebook and Twitter accounts. I can share pins with people on both social networking sites easily and almost instantly. Although I am using Pinterest for my own interests and purposes, I can definitely see myself using it as a kind of bookmarking site for a future classroom. I would like to have boards dedicated to grammar, writing, reading, and perhaps interesting films or video clips. Since using Pinterest, I have seen how many resources are available to pin, how many humorous sites overlap with school topics, etc. Another convenient aspect of the site is that you can follow Pinners or follow a  Pinner's specific board. I currently follow the education boards of pinners who post materials and sites that are relevant to my subject matter. They show up in my feed and are easy to repin and share on other social networking sites. I find this to be an easy to way to expand and network, connecting with other educators through social media.

In fact, check out this infographic: Apparently, Pinterest is rapidly growing!

Reflection on April 30th's Twitter #ELLCHAT

I participated in my first #ELLCHAT on Twitter this week. I initially planned on just watching how people interact, how they comment on certain topics, and how conversation flows. As soon as I started to read, however, I jumped into the conversation. The major part of the chat focused on helping English Learners think critically and achieve Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS, as the Twitter participants called them). 

One of the pros of the #ELLCHAT is that it serves as an opportunity to interact with people I would usually have no contact with. The participants come from all over the United States and teach different areas and grades. They have different points of view and experiences but all come together for an hour or so to discuss certain topics simultaneously. In other words, it really is an opportunity to network and see what other educators are doing!


This chat was easy to keep up with and I took an active role. I asked about strategies to keep English Learners engaged, especially in the higher grades. I currently teach two English courses with Seniors, who are suffering from a severe case of Senioritis. Getting them to work can be difficult at times, and motivating English Learners sometimes takes an extra effort. Although the participants in the EL chat gave some good suggestions, I felt that many of the suggestions were a bit generalized or theoretical. I did like the links to outside sources and materials that they suggested. I also tried to provide links and materials to other participants when they asked questions or asked for suggestions.


As a student teacher, I found it fascinating to interact with experts on the field who have released books are are leads in their particular districts. I look forward to participating in my next chat and seeing who I meet and follow on Twitter. 

Quizlet for ELD Vocabulary


Oh, the beauty of flashcards.

I have been an avid flashcard maker and user for years now. I used flashcards to learn my multiplication tables, countless vocabulary words for language classes, review for my high school AP tests, practice for the English CSETS, memorize concepts for difficult math and science classes, the list is endless. 



Throughout the years, however, I found that flashcards are bulky and a hassle to carry around. I made the switch to digital flashcards about 1.5 years ago when I discovered Quizlet. It's amazingly easy to use and adds more bonuses to a study session: spelling activities, mini tests, and games. Although these features have not been fleshed out yet, they are very helpful when studying new concepts or vocabulary. 


I have decided to begin using Quizlet for my ELD 1 & 2 class. Part of the reason for why I decided to go with Quizlet is because the students have computers at home and would much rather prefer doing things electronically (hopefully this will get them to study!). Also, Quizlet has a feature in which you can hear the words and the definitions, which will help my students with pronunciation of the words. I just found out that Quizlet also has an app for smartphones, which means the students can even access it on their phones. I will continue blogging on the progress as my students begin to use it. For now, all I can say is that I look forward to seeing how it works out for them!


Check out Quizlet and some of the features for teachers by visiting:  http://quizlet.com/teachers/

I Don't Know How to Use Power Point But I'll Figure It Out




I am currently teaching ELD 1 & 2. Since we just finished reading The Skirt by Gary Soto, I asked the students to create a cultural presentation to share. The assignment required the students to create a Power Point presentation using net books that show us their presentations.


 I expected the students to all know how to utilize Power Point, since it is such a common tool to use. I was wrong. I had about one or two students who were not familiar with the technology at all. I prepared myself to teach them the ins and outs of Power Point but found that they weren't interested in my tutorials. They only wanted to know the basic parts and decided to explore it on their own, using their classmates as resources. 


Upon thinking about it, I realized that these students are part of a generation that does not read manuals. They do not sit through tedious lectures and ignore long texts (they are the tl;dr generation). They preferred to simply jump in there and figure out the technology on their own. They are used to seeing their teachers use Power Point, so all they needed to do was explore the tool and figure out how to manipulate the design, add pictures, etc. I was surprised and pleased with the final results. We had presentations on Mother's Day, Independence Day in Eritrea (country in the horn of Africa), Valentine's Day, Quinceaneras, Birthdays, New Years, The Virgin of Guadalupe, etc. They showed me just how much different it is to be a digital resident instead of a digital visitor!

El Camino High School Classroom Visit: On iPads in the Classroom

As lover of books, pages, and binders (physical and tangible results of learning and reading) I must preface this blog post by stating that I am not enamored by the idea of iPads in a classroom. Initially, at the begninning of the semester, I disliked them. I thought they were great because they are portable, but they were not the first thing to jump out at me when thinking about bringing technology into the class. After learning more about technology in the class, I looked forward to seeing their use in a real, local classroom. We, CSUSM teaching credential studentes, arrived at El Camino High School with this purpose. Here are the details: 

The Class: Math

Student Activities: Review for the CAHSEE (the teacher had scanned in CAHSEE questions, hosted them on Moodle, and wanted kids to answer them as assessement).

On iPad Integration: The iPads were locked to trapezoid table desks. Students used the iPads but also had a piece of paper to work on their math concepts. Most of the students were working independently, though some worked in partners. The teacher circulated for part of the class then looked at student results on the computer towards the end of the period. 

My thoughts:

I wish we had gone to observe ECHS on a day when the iPads played a bigger role in instruction. We saw students using iPads as a review tool for the CAHSEE, which is great, but not very eye-opening. It felt like the iPads were being used as a personal computer that hosts Moodle and will upload quiz scores. I would have loved to see the innovative ways that iPads are brought into the classroom to help instruction. I would have liked to see how and why they are so important and so great that it is worth having them in a classroom. Reading articles about iPad integration is certainly interesting, but I can't help but to wonder at how practical some uses are in our area or in particular schools. I was really hoping to see iPads being used in a way that helped me see their validity in a class from ECHS. I was able to see some of their value, but not all (partly because of the observation day date).

I do have to say, however, that I was impressed by how well the students responded to the use of iPads in the class. They were  not goofing off; the students seemed used to having the in the classroom and using them for academic purposes. They still worked together, were social, and were in "school mode." I talked to a lot of students in two different math classes about their feelings and I received mixed reactions. Some of them said that they loved the iPads, others hated them, and some said that they didn't really feel they made a difference. One comment that struck me showed how well kids are able to gauge their teacher's use of the iPads. Most students were quick to say that teachers used it for testing and grading and only some said that their teachers used it because it made teaching easier. Although everything depends on the lesson, I liked seeing some of the positive reactions from the students. I would definitely love to go back and visit ECHS to see the iPads in more use and really get a feel for them in a classroom setting!

Reading Responses 13-15

Reading Response 13

RR13: IDENTIFY what co-teaching approaches were modeled this week.

The co-teaching approaches that were modeled this week include:

Supportive: Supportive co-teaching allows one teacher to take the lead in instruction while the other rotates among the students providing support.

Parallel: Parallel co-teaching consists of two ormore people working with different groups of students in different sections of the classroom.

Complementary: Co-teachers do something to enhance the instruction provided by the other co-teacher(s). This includes paraphrasing, note-taking, small group work, etc.

Team: Team co-teaching is when two or more people do what the traditional teacher does (plan, teach, assess, and assume responsibility for all of the students in the classroom). Teachers simultaneously deliver lessons and alternate between taking the lead adn being the supporter.

Reading Response 14

RR14: DESCRIBE the co-teaching approaches you will use in you ITU (Task 5).

The co-teaching approaches that we will use in our ITU is mostly complementary and parallel co-teaching. Connections to the other classes participating in the ITU will be explicit, since all four teachers will plan for teaching and assessing together. Team co-teaching will also be prevalent in the way of co-grading; all four teachers will be assessors in the final project and Mr. Gordon and Ms. Calderon will be grading another project together.

 Reading Response 15
RR15: DESCRIBE in your lesson plans who, what when, how and why in regards to the co-teaching approaches (Task 7)

All four teachers will parallel co-teach the first week in our unit. We will use the first week as an introduction to the ITU and give our students all of the same information in our respective classes. The rest of the unit will consist of the students working on different assignments that will come together in the service learning and final assessment.

Please visit greencarlsbad.blogspot.com for more information.

Reading Response 11-12

Reading Response 11

Skipped, as requested by Professor.

Reading Response 12

RR12: IDENTIFY what you can use from the model assignments and then complete Tasks 1-17. PROVIDE an electronic draft of your ITU to both cohorts. Suggestions on how to share, provide a link on your blog or send your blog url to your classmates. Also use the rubric below to guide your ITU development.

After reviewing the model assignments on Cougar Courses, I could use the organizational tools they showcase. All of the ITU's are well-thought out and divided into the appropriate tasks. They are brief and to the point, but are informational and give enough detail for the reader. I especially like how the Homelessness ITU for Orange Glen integrates social justice into the plan. I feel that my group wants to create a meaningful ITU for our students as well, so we will be looking at that aspect of the ITU's when we continue our own.

Our ITU: greencarlsbad.blogspot.com

Reading Responses 7-10

RR7: Identify the key elements and process for Service Learning.

Process:

-Preparation

Preparation includes both teacher and students researching the needs of the area. This includes internet research, interviews, book research, and field trips. The main purpose of this stage is to find out as much as possible about a need and its importance, then establishing a plan of action. This plan requires students to remain inquisitive and active during the process.

-Action:

The action stage encourages students to continue researching and adapting. It also lets students identify as community members and stakeholders, which helps them see the importance of the role they can play in their society. Students are therefore thriving as part of a group through collaboration while at the same time, exercising their skills and talents.

-Reflection

The reflection stage encourages personal growth and awareness by encouraging students to seriously ponder the experience of service learning. Students will critically think about their work and consider any changes in beliefs, attitudes, or knowledge. Teachers and other adults will help students think deeply about their experiences throughout the service learning.

-Demonstration

Students will show what they have learned and accomplished in the demonstration stage of service learning. This is achieved through public presentations that will allow students to teach others as well as review on their own about service learning.

-Key Elements:

In order for service learning to be successful, there are certain key elements that must be met. These include: Integrated Learning, Genuine Needs, Collaborative Efforts, Reciprocity, and Civic Responsibility. These elements all emphasize that service learning must be an authentic and valuable experience for students in order for it to be a rewarding experience.

RR8: LIST ideas and resources you can use for your Service Learning and ITU (Task 11).

RR8: LIST ideas and resources you can use for your Service Learning and ITU (Task 11).

-Since our unit focuses on the importance of a green, environmentally friendly Carlsbad, some of the service learning ideas we have shared are:

           

-Field Trips to Lagoons: Students choose one of the three lagoons in the Carlsbad area, learn & research about the issues in that specific lagoon, then visit and complete hours of service there (helping clean, helping preservation efforts, visiting/speaking with experts, etc.).

-General info on Carlsbad Lagoons: http://www.carlsbadca.gov/about/visitorinfo/Pages/Lagoons.aspx

-Beach Clean-Up: There are many beach cleanup opportunities in the Carlsbad area. Students can join an organization’s beach clean up or create their own group and organize it themselves.

This can be expanded by having students include an element of education in their beach clean-up, such as creating flyers that educate beach-goers on the importance of keeping the beach safe while they are present at the beach. 

-Giving students various options on how to approach the service learning component may also help students think of an experience that will be valuable for them.

-Reflection: We want the students in our classes to finish off their service learning by creating videos (writing, filming, editing, etc.) that they will publicly present. It may be presented to other classes or some videos may be presented on the school’s TV news.

RR9: Begin your ethnographic research on your school site to complete your ethnography for EDSS 530 and to complete Task 3 for the ITU.

RR10: Revise your team's Task 2: ITU Cover Sheet. Make sure you use the ITU assignment template and ppt to guide your work.

-Please visit the “ITU Link” tab to view RR 9 & 10. 

Reading Response 6

RR6: CREATE a Personal Learning Network (PLN)

Gmail : k.calderon1989@gmail.com

Blog: calderonspace.blogspot.com

Twitter: @kcalderon89

Also a part of Grouply, Edmodo, Diigo, and following CSUSMedu.

Reading Response 5

RR5: As a school team, IDENTIFY a theme for your ITU and SHARE ideas and a draft for a Cover Sheet with you ITU team.

Theme: Carlsbad Lagoon Preservation

Ideas for Cover Sheet: Emphasis on the local nature of the theme. One of our group members is experienced in art, so we will all discuss ideas next time we meet.

Reading Response 4

RR4: IDENTIFY what tasks you would be well skilled at leading and contributing to for the ITU assignment.

•         Task 4: Unit Rationale - Enduring Understandings, Essential Questions

•         Task 5: Unit Overview of Activities

•         Task 6: Unit Objectives, Standards & Assessments

•         Task 7: Unit Calendar

•         Task 9. Art Component

•         Task 10: Social Justice & Equity

•         Tasks 13-17: Unit Differentiation – Strategies for each of the 5 Students (described in Task 12)

Reading Response 3

RR 3: MAKE a list or highlight models & resources to share with your ITU team. Bring hard copy to next class meeting.

I highlighted the Roberts PDF file.

Reading Response 2

RR2: COMPLETE Activities 7.1 & 7.2, pgs. 172-173

Activity 7.1

1. The sources we consulted before selecting an appropriate theme included: course handouts and readings, textbook references, California standards, and internet resources such as Google and local news websites.

2. Create a word Web

3. We discussed our subject areas and tried to find topics that can successfully link them. We also considered topics that will prove relevant to the students at Carlsbad High School. We tried to take into consideration the location of the school and some of the issues that actually affect the students' lifestyles. Our main focus was to choose a topic that will allow for discussion and hands-on learning as much as possible.

Activity 7.2

Topic: Carlsbad Lagoon Preservation

Essential Questions (In Progress)

- What role do the Carlsbad Lagoons play in my life?

- How much responsibility does a community have for preserving its natural resources/landscape?

- How does being an educated citizen affect my role in preservation?

Reading Response 1

RR1: IDENTIFY research-based instructional strategies you can use in your ITU.

After reading through the various "Focus On" research-based teaching practices, I found that all of the articles emphasized similar strategies. Some of the most important strategies include the issue of relevancy. Students need to understand how the material that they are learning is relevant to their life outside of school. The articles mentioned helping students see “the big picture” of the work they do in school. Strategies that help deal with the issue of relevancy include actively connecting their work to their communities and families, showcasing student work, considering issues of safety, and a valuing of the culture they are a part of outside of school (language, customs, social norms). Helping students bridge the divide between school and their lives outside of school will help their achievement levels. Since an ITU values cooperation and collaboration, we will hopefully be able to create a unit that will prove to bridge that gap as best as possible.

First Post

Welcome to my blog!

credit: http://www.webintab.com/welcome-to-webintab-our-first-post