Myself as a Teacher

"The most important thing I've learned about myself as a teacher in the past term/year is . . . " that I truly love teaching. I love sharing the knowledge that I have with others. I love introducing students to the health care field and showing them all the awesome opportunities there are in health care. I love teaching my content, I love the equipment I get to use to teach the students, and I love seeing them get experience practicing skills that are relevant to the health care field. I believe that I have always had good management and organizational skills. I have learned that my skills translate well into the classroom. I have also learned that I can handle the teenager. I have to admit that in my first year of teaching I was fearful that I would get up in front of them and be bowled over by them. Now that I am in my second year of teaching I have learned that I can handle teenagers and I am learning to appreciate them for who they are and the stage of life they are in. I can command their respect and manage their behaviors. I am still learning to "go with the flow" in the chaotic environment of high school. I believe that the more flexible you are the less frustrated you will become and in the end that will make you a happier teacher.

School adminostrators

"The most important thing I've learned about working with my school administrators in the past term/year is . . . "

Don't be afraid of them, keep them in the communication loop, and see them as an important part of your support network. We have 6 administrators at our high school and I see them all working very hard all of the time. I have respect for them and have always received helpful feedback from them. It can always be a little unnerving when you are called to their office and don't know why. Case in point was just this last week. I had a rough Monday. I gave a unit test to my 2nd year students and needless to say 15 students failed the test miserably. It was actually the first time I have had that many students fail a unit test of mine. I was very upset due to the fact that I told them this test would be harder due to the content (the endocrine system) and to be prepared for it. I reviewed the actual test questions with them, they had several opportunities in game format and worksheet format to match up hormones with glands. Well I tried to point out students who did well (I did not give out actual scores) and compare their study habits, study methods with those who did not do well. It quickly backfired on me and I realized (a little too late) that it was not the best way to handle the situation. The next day I was called to an assistant principal's office and told that a student complained about me stating that I embarrassed her in front of the class. I admitted immediately to him, without hesitation, that I did not handle the situation well. I described what had happened and told him my intentions but that it backfired on me. I asked him how best to rectify the situation and we discussed options. The conversation ended with him thanking me for being honest and not getting defensive right away. I was pleasant surprised for him to say that. I think they have to deal with so much negativity and defensiveness on both the part of the student and teacher that they appreciate it when individuals are honest, open, and willing to truly make corrections. They are not out there to blast us when we do the slightest thing wrong and they are not looking to accuse of being substandard. They truly understand how difficult it is dealing with students day in and day out and realize we all have good and bad days. I'm glad that I feel I have have very supportive administration.

What I have learned from my students this year...

This is my second year teaching. Last year, even though I wasn't overwhelmed by the teenage creature, having had no experience with them lead me to be shocked and at times extremely frustrated when dealing with them. This year that frustration and shock is way down. I have learned from them that they are actually not as different as we were ourselves. They have grownup bodies to deal with that they know little about. They have emotions that are strong and overwhelm them. They don't have the wisdom or control over their impulses that we have learned as adults because they are teenagers. We didn't have wisdom and control when we were teenagers. They have likes (music, friends, social activities) that we also had. Of course their technology is far advanced from ours but that is not their fault. They have fears and concerns similar too ours. I believe their concerns and fears are even more complicated with the present state of the economy, failure of the family structure, and pressures of school with regards to all the standardized testing going on. All this being said, I have learned that it is important to see these students as individuals. Give them the benefit of the doubt and try to see things through there eyes. I believe that if you can do that you will be less shocked by them and hopefully communicate with them a little better. Don't get me wrong that I don't still get frustrated by them once in awhile. We should always want better for our youth and be role models to them. That is the charge we have as adults. We should show them the correct ways to behave and react to problems. I have high standards for how I want them to behave and what I expect of them. Lowering those standards because I "feel sorry for them" does them no good. However, if you try to see the world through their eyes I believe you can reach them better and you are able to show them grace. Who doesn't need some grace once in awhile.

Survey

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Designing an Elluminate Class

I think the content and your objectives determine how you want to design the Elluminate class. If you were going to do straight lecture with question and answer you could easily use Elluminate to deliver the PowerPoint and then allow students to chime in. You could have a reasonably large class. The more group work you want to do the smaller the overall class size should be. The training and time need to get use to the program is essential. I think plenty of time has been allowed in our class to get use to it. The pace has been good for me. However, our class is fairly large. The more people in the class the wider the range of abilities are in using this technology. More time may be needed to get everybody up to speed and comfortable with the technology. If you have a lot of content to deliver you may not have the time for that so you need to limit the size of the class. Also, I think instruction in etiquette is needed. How we interact on Elluminate is different than when we are in person in a classroom. Since we don't see faces and may not recognize voices it is more important to announce who is speaking. It is important to know about using the on and off mic button. I think most people have figured it out by trial and error. Also, facial expression is lost even when you hear the voice and misunderstandings or misinterpretations can occur more easily. Feelings can get hurt more easily, tension can build more easily, etc. I think this needs to be thought out and addressed in the beginning to help everyone realize and understand these things. I don't think you should assume everyone knows how to interact in this type of environment. Also, in small group all the members may feel comfortable jumping in but other groups may not. You may have a very silent group who are just waiting for someone else to start. You have a lot of silence wondering who is actually there and participating. I think that group leaders need to be assigned by the instructor before groups are assigned so that the conversation will keep going. Overall, I am enjoying using Elluminate for our class though I am still fearful of how group work will turn out.

Interview assignment

Anytime an assignment makes us seek out new information there will be a positive benefit. I have not done my interview yet because I am still trying to decide what benefit I want from this assignment. I was initially leaning towards doing an interview with a technical school administrator because I felt a need to start building better bridges for my students to the community and get better opportunities for them to experience health care. However, after reading the posts this week I see a lot of benefit in interviewing the school counselor. I have not had much interaction with my counselors at all. At our school all teachers are expected to participate in a twice a year event called arena planning where students have the maps to be completed for their four years and go to each department to get counseled on what classes to take. Students have come to the career tech department and ask questions to determine what the classes are like. We ask get to ask the students questions to help determine what their likes are and what their goals are. I would like to know though, what the counselors know of my program and how they help students decide to take my classes. I have had good experiences so far with students wanting to be in my class overall. Next year, however, we are going to a modified block schedule and it has been stressed that all classes will be scheduled to capacity because new teachers will not be hired, hopefully no one is laid off, and normal attrition of teachers will not be filled. This could impact my class in that I will have more students who are not interested in health care. I do feel that now is an important time to may the connections I need to make with the counselors and find out their perspectives on my program.

Rick Lavoie Videos

These videos have been very helpful and informative for me. Rick has a way of presenting information in a very tangible format. His examples, stories, and perspective helped me actually "see" what it must be like to be a special needs student. Things were brought to my attention that I would never have thought of or considered. The perspective of the adolescent was especially helpful for me and also the "poker chip" system. We all want to have a positive balance and as a teacher I would never purposefully want to take away from a students "balance". Through watching these videos I have been made more aware of what actions I can do to add to that balance and also actions that would take away. We can never discuss the needs and perspectives of our students too much. We will always be better teachers if we can place our selves occasionally in our student's shoes. I think we will be less frustrated and less likely to get burned out.