My Challenge

A challenge I am having concerns the sixteen computers I have in my classroom. Because of space, I have the computers lined up around the walls of my classroom. It is difficult to watch all sixteen computers at one time. Most of my students are very trustworthy, but I also have students who can’t be trusted out of my sight. Just this past week, I received a student referral from one of our administrators letting me know a student using one of my classroom computers bypassed the school security system on the internet. The student used a program that has the ability to bypass the security system on our network. When I received this referral, I was disturbed for two reasons. First, I was not informed by our administration at the time of the incident. Secondly, the student involved is an above average student and was surprised she had done this. I questioned the student about her actions. The student told me she did this action because of an assignment I had given to her group which was a group power point. I inquired as to how my group assignment affected her decision to break a school rule. She replied that she was attempting to get a better grade on the group project by adding a video clip to one of the slides. She tried several different ways to download a video but each time the Cobb County warning appeared on the computer. After several attempts to get the video without success, she decided to use the bypass software to get the video.

I was not at school that day. I believe the student would have had second thoughts on doing this action if I had been there. The substitute teacher was not aware of the student’s action at the time. I feel I may have let my students down by not giving more explicit instructions on the use of classroom computers. I am now correcting that oversight. Students are now not allowed to use any personal devices on my classroom computers and computers rules will be posted for all students to see around the classroom.

Pleasantly Suprised

Event in Teaching
Second Week Blogg

This week all three of my classes had a power point and essay project that was due. The projects were assigned as group projects. This is the first time I had group projects of this size and wasn't certain of how well the groups would work together. At the beginning, I gave each group a rubric and a written guideline for their project. The groups were given a two week period to have their project ready for presentation in class.

On Friday of this past week, each group presented their project. To my astonishment, each group did an outstanding presentation. Each student in their group presented their own part of the power point. I was surprised on how well the groups worked together without the bickering. It was obvious that each team leader, the captains, took charge and handed out assignments to each person in their group. Obviously, each group worked well together because of the way the project was presented in class based on the rubric and written guidelines.

I was really amazed on how well my students all worked together in harmony to accomplish some remarkable work.

First weeks blog assignment

1st Blog Assignment

Has worked well

During the first four weeks of school, I divide my three different classes into precincts. In each precinct, I assign different ranks to each student. The ranks are captain, lieutenant, sergeant, corporal, and officer. I have four precincts in two of my classes and two precincts in one class. By giving each student a chance to become the leader of their assigned precinct, students stay on task and put extra effort into their assignments. The students regard the rank structure as a goal setting accomplishment. The majority of the students respond in a positive manner. Therefore, I have fewer disruptions during both lectures and hands on assignments. The precinct concept is an excellent way for students to work together with structure and teamwork.


Hasn't worked well

I use a blog to give information for my three different levels of law enforcement. The levels are Intro, Concepts of Public Safety, and Constitutional and Criminal Law. The blog informs the student what is going to be taught, and what they will be doing during a certain week for each level. On the blog, I place ten vocabulary words after each level's information. According to some of the students, it was difficult to determine which vocabulary words went with the correct level because the vocabulary words were listed in a jumbled manner. This caused confusion for some students. I am currently looking at different ways to correct the problem.