The Double Edged Sword

A word of caution to everyone...I was told, "If you run into any problems, ever, with your classroom control, and feel like you need some administrative support, please do not hesitate to call administration to get the support you need." I took that heart, and accepted that as an honest offer of support. I needed to call for backup and felt it was appropriate to ask for support a couple of times. Give me a break! Classroom management is the hardest part of a new teacher's getting the hang of this teaching conundrum! In any event, I was called into my administrator's office for a "counseling". She had out a piece of paper on which she had recorded the dates, exact times of day and other specifics for the occasions when I had asked her for support. I was told, "This is clear evidence that YOU are unable to control your classroom Ms. Kim." So the very system I thought, and had been told, was a resource turned out to be a method to monitor my lack of ability to cont5rol my class...What could I have done differently?

GAcollege411

Well, I am glad to be finished with 3 more blocks where I was required to have students working on another computer project instead of finishing their work for my class! I had to spend one class block, for each of my blocks, in the computer lab looking at college information. Is it not interesting that due to the fact that CATE classes are not "real" school, students always have pull out time during our sessions!?!

I do see the overall value for the kids to learn to retrieve information about college programs in GA on their own time...it is another way for me to enhance my Work Keys skill for accessing information.

Luckily the kids enjoy working on the computers! I was appalled however, when they found a web video of a student actually punching a female teacher in the jaw while other students in that class stood around and cheered. The teacher in the video clip did nothing but cry...It saddened me that they thought this was FUNNY! The students said, "YOU would fight back! Wouldn't you?" Unfortunately, Administration does tie teachers' hands in so many ways!

What could you do?

Key Train Rocks!

This week has taught me some of the politics of the school that will end up serving both the community and students graduating from Baldwin High School (BHS) in the most effective fashion possible. This all relates back to what I mentioned briefly in a previous not: BHS is a Key Train school. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity be a part of this project!

BHS has been selected to be a Key Train school for our community, which are Milledgeville and the surrounding Lake Counties. By becoming a Key Train School, BHS has worked with the local, primary employers to determine what skills are most needed in workers employed by these businesses. Businesses include Flint Electric, Oconee Regional Hospital, and other large employers. Three (3) Work Keys areas have been identified, and these are: Reading for Information, Locating Information, and Mathematics. We have a computer program that will allow kids to take a pretest and this pretest will place them at their current level of competence, and through testing which will be tracked throughout their high school careers, the test scores will show how the education at BHS has helped to progress their abilities in the “key” areas.

I am excited to see how advanced the computer program is. The kids take a pretest and from this they will take harder testing, using numerous computer-generated questions, to objectively verify how their skills are advancing! From the data generated, we can detect at an early stage, where lay the individual child’s weaknesses and focus additional or remedial education. What I think is so awesome is how individual needs can be addressed, how objective it is with complete automation and how we are developing the skills our community needs the most!

To begin, the actually had instructors go in the Key Train Labs and take the test; in this way we could experience what our students would be experiencing. I am pumped up on this because I completed pre-testing for all 3 of my blocks! We only progress from here…so if anyone has questions about Key Train coming to their school, now I have learned!

Behavior Like CHILDREN?

I could not help but see a common tread in all of the postings I was reading...students are behaving like children, and not like the little, responsible, motivated and self-discipled smaller adults we need them to be. That would be only so that they can realize and appreciate the fine resource provided to them by having "us" as their teachers!

It gets hard, but we must force ourselves to go back to those lessons we learned back in Developmental Psychology...these youngsters may be housed in bodies that are large, and adult-like, but their brains are still immature. The human brain continues to go through profound developmental changes in thinking, reasoning abilities, and sound judgment-making abilities until the age of 21, or 23 in some cases. We are teaching immature children, not adults, and we should remind ourselves of that fact frequently as a method of maintaining personal sanity!

I have a co-worker who phrases it less tactfully, "Essentially, their brains are not what they should be yet, so in essence they are still retarded; not yet fully developed in their mental processes." Think that when they start to get on your last nerve!

Awesome NTI Learning

I felt the need to comment on the fact that even though our NTI classes have been long, Dr. B and Jessie have made them so interesting and informative! I feel that we have all been exposed to some clever new techniques, and I can honestly say that the learning in NTI has truly been a pleasure…mo rote memorization with subsequent regurgitation for a test. That was THE way most of us where educated, but this is so much more compelling!

There they go AGAIN, teaching by example…it really has worked with us, but this is an exceptional NTI class :) :)

It's Friday AND it's COOLER

I am glad this week is over. Like most weeks as an instructor there have been some really great moments along with some that would best be not repeated! My students are thrilled when I let them know that I will be in class, or driving, for my entire Saturday...This is good news, as another Saturday down means that October is that much closer! This thought makes me LOVE web CT and the flexibility it offers us!

Key Train

As if we don't have enough to do, just trying to get the hang of teaching! We are one of the schools involved in the Work Ready Communities project, and will will need to demonstrate how in CATE we are incorporating the core academic areas into our teaching! I shouldn't open my mouth too much about it...I just need to go back to my school inbox and teach myself from the numerous memos...thrill. I wanted to teach at Baldwin High as the principal seemed very progressive, so this is what I like, right?

Is this the right "fit"?

I have been thinking long and hard about this teaching venture, beyond my first year's contract...it has been difficult for me to, "be mean and do not even smile until December" as I have been advised by numerous of my fellow instructors. That is not my personality, and I am naturally more of a warm person then I am able to be as an instructor. This requires more serious consideration and some input from my classmates...I am not a quitter, so I will fulfill my contract, but beyond that, I remain uncertain. When Jessie came to observe me, I told her I was starting to like my work, but then some other behavioral events made my 4th block that day bad...I just do not know. Kim