Today, I was grading papers from the day before, when I came across an interesting problem. I used a common technique to teach my students some new information: accessing prior knowledge. Unfortunately, this completely backfired. I was trying to help them to learn about Copernicus, and somehow accidentally taught them he proved the earth was round. Not only that, but one student seemed to think that he "proved the earth is flat!" I don't even know.
I learned that I need to be careful when accessing prior knowledge. Apparently it can accidentally confuse your students. I guess everyone focused on the earth being round instead of the earth orbiting the sun. After today, though, I have to say I really felt like I failed some students...especially if they are under the misconception that the earth is flat. Ironically, in teaching about the middle ages, I may have accidentally set some students back to that era of mentality.
Oops.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
March 15, 2013
March 14, 2013
Elation!
Last night was pretty much my last class. It wasn't all that interesting, except my sister couldn't find a babysitter so my nephew was along for the night. The most exciting part of the evening, however, was coming home to song after song of awesome rock music.
Now, the problem when I listen to the radio and it's playing awesome rock music, is that I have a tendency to drive a little over the limit...and like a maniac...all over the road...as I rock out. I don't club and I don't really dance, but for some reason the combination of a vehicle capable of high speeds and awesome rock makes me insane. But in this case, I think it was worth it!
After tonight, I have exactly six classes and one exit interview left on campus and student teaching. In two weeks, I will be Catholic.
This journey is almost coming to an end....and so is Lent and our Lent Blog. It's like a great big culmination!
Now, the problem when I listen to the radio and it's playing awesome rock music, is that I have a tendency to drive a little over the limit...and like a maniac...all over the road...as I rock out. I don't club and I don't really dance, but for some reason the combination of a vehicle capable of high speeds and awesome rock makes me insane. But in this case, I think it was worth it!
After tonight, I have exactly six classes and one exit interview left on campus and student teaching. In two weeks, I will be Catholic.
This journey is almost coming to an end....and so is Lent and our Lent Blog. It's like a great big culmination!
March 10, 2013
On the Verge of Victory
I spent today working on the rest of the assignments I need to do for my last two classes, which end this week. I am so close to being done with my Master's that I can taste it. Really, all I will have to do thereafter is finish my certification, which translates to completing all of the requirements for student teaching. I was concerned about this at first, but now that I'm familiar with the school and the classroom I'm in, I am really looking forward to this. Although this is the longest time of the year. The only break left is Spring Break for most schools, and possibly a day here and there for parent-teacher conferences. Not only that, but I'm pretty much picking up the teaching job from now until the end of the year. Woooo!
Even though I will have one more paper to write, I'm actually a lot more relaxed than I have been throughout this entire experience. One more paper almost seems like nothing in comparison to everything else I've had to do. Now I just need to worry about finding a job!
Even though I will have one more paper to write, I'm actually a lot more relaxed than I have been throughout this entire experience. One more paper almost seems like nothing in comparison to everything else I've had to do. Now I just need to worry about finding a job!
February 28, 2013
Drifting
I have spent so much time doing school work that I feel like I have absolutely no creativity left in me. About a week ago, I was brimming with ideas. Those ideas have been killed by relentless onslaught of assignment after assignment.
I'm sorry, but I fail to see how it's "best practice" to teach teachers that the only way to learn is by giving unreasonable amounts of homework weekly, expecting students to finish it, and then have them sit through lectures as well. My school has absolutely killed my desire to continue learning in this field and almost to continue wanting to teach altogether. The irony here is that if I do get a job teaching, I have to do continuing education classes in order to maintain my certification. They literally have me coming and going.
This week alone, I just finished ten reflections, the fourth major paper in four weeks, and a multitude of other assignments which are mostly minor but when put together with being in the classroom daily and the things I have to do for church, I am left with only brief periods of time to devote to this blog before bed. This cycle is destroying my creativity and my desire to wake up in the mornings. My organiziation has failed, my health has deteriorated with illness, and there's no promise of a job in my future.
I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water and listlessly drifting without any real plan.
On a less depressing note, have some kitties:
I'm sorry, but I fail to see how it's "best practice" to teach teachers that the only way to learn is by giving unreasonable amounts of homework weekly, expecting students to finish it, and then have them sit through lectures as well. My school has absolutely killed my desire to continue learning in this field and almost to continue wanting to teach altogether. The irony here is that if I do get a job teaching, I have to do continuing education classes in order to maintain my certification. They literally have me coming and going.
This week alone, I just finished ten reflections, the fourth major paper in four weeks, and a multitude of other assignments which are mostly minor but when put together with being in the classroom daily and the things I have to do for church, I am left with only brief periods of time to devote to this blog before bed. This cycle is destroying my creativity and my desire to wake up in the mornings. My organiziation has failed, my health has deteriorated with illness, and there's no promise of a job in my future.
I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water and listlessly drifting without any real plan.
On a less depressing note, have some kitties:
May 19, 2012
WT: The Stress Monster
You may be wondering why Kris has been carrying this blog single handedly for the past few weeks. The answer just so happens to be the topic of this weeks weekly topic: stress. Stress is why I neglected to post by thoughts on cinco de mayo and why I asked Kris to skip last weeks posting cause I didn't want to spare 5 minutes to come up with some bullshit CAUSE I WORK AT HIGHER QUALITY THAN THAT! At least I like to think I do. But now I'm finished with school for an entire summer so the blog can go back to business as usual. Actually, I'll probably be posting more often cause I have all this extra time now. Meanwhile, Kris is still working her ass off and somehow managing to keep up with weekly topic AND making extra posts when I was MIA. She must be some kind of super human.
So, for this post, I thought I'd walk you through my typical paper writing process. Here is a step by step of practically every paper I've ever written.
1. Initial encounter of assigned paper (for this example, lets say 15 pages) in syllabus.
2. "I have 3 whole months to do this!"
3. Forget about paper
4. Half way through semester, remember I have a paper
5. "I should pick a topic"
6. Think about picking a topic for 5 minutes
7. Forget about paper
8. 4 weeks left in class, remember paper
9. "Oh shit! Only 4 weeks left! I need to do some research!"
10. Pick paper topic
11. Put off research till 3 weeks left
12. Pick up 5 books from the library
13. Find 4 articles on Ebsco host
14. Put off reading until 2 weeks left
15. Read a few chapters
16. Make a super vague outline
17. Feel huge sense of accomplishment, take a few days off
18. "Oh shit! I only have 10 days to finish this!"
19. Panic
20. Decide to write 2 pages a day until its finished
21. End up spending 7 days reading and get 1 page written
22. Panic!
23. Write 3 pages
24. Panic!!!
25. 2 days left, write 5 pages
26. "OMG I STILL HAVE 7 PAGES AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOREVER!"
26. 1 days left, write 4 pages
27. Feel relieved that I only have 3 pages left.
28. Next morning, wake up early
29. "Shit I need to finish this by 4 o'clock!"
30. Get mad at myself for not finishing sooner
31. Find the courage to finish paper
32. Turn it in
33. Life suddenly has new meaning and feels beautiful
34. 1 week later, write blog about it, get PTSD
And that is my process. For smaller papers, its similar but toned down depending on the size of the paper. If the assignment has anything to do with writing fiction or telling a story (which is NEVER), I actually enjoy doing it and none of this applies.
So, for this post, I thought I'd walk you through my typical paper writing process. Here is a step by step of practically every paper I've ever written.
1. Initial encounter of assigned paper (for this example, lets say 15 pages) in syllabus.
2. "I have 3 whole months to do this!"
3. Forget about paper
4. Half way through semester, remember I have a paper
5. "I should pick a topic"
6. Think about picking a topic for 5 minutes
7. Forget about paper
8. 4 weeks left in class, remember paper
9. "Oh shit! Only 4 weeks left! I need to do some research!"
10. Pick paper topic
11. Put off research till 3 weeks left
12. Pick up 5 books from the library
13. Find 4 articles on Ebsco host
14. Put off reading until 2 weeks left
15. Read a few chapters
16. Make a super vague outline
17. Feel huge sense of accomplishment, take a few days off
18. "Oh shit! I only have 10 days to finish this!"
19. Panic
20. Decide to write 2 pages a day until its finished
21. End up spending 7 days reading and get 1 page written
22. Panic!
23. Write 3 pages
24. Panic!!!
25. 2 days left, write 5 pages
26. "OMG I STILL HAVE 7 PAGES AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOREVER!"
26. 1 days left, write 4 pages
27. Feel relieved that I only have 3 pages left.
28. Next morning, wake up early
29. "Shit I need to finish this by 4 o'clock!"
30. Get mad at myself for not finishing sooner
31. Find the courage to finish paper
32. Turn it in
33. Life suddenly has new meaning and feels beautiful
34. 1 week later, write blog about it, get PTSD
And that is my process. For smaller papers, its similar but toned down depending on the size of the paper. If the assignment has anything to do with writing fiction or telling a story (which is NEVER), I actually enjoy doing it and none of this applies.
April 17, 2012
A Quick Aside
This is for my own mental stability and is not part of our weekly topics.
Grading notes. I have never in my life encountered this particular line of bullshit before, even though I have run into others who have experienced it. Let's be real teachers: students take notes or don't take notes for their own benefit. If something isn't going to benefit them, they don't need to note it. If a class has no further use for a student when it's done, then the chore of writing additional notes and printing them out so that you can be sure that students are taking notes and printing them out only succeeds in wasting paper and irritating students. Not all students need to take notes because some have the capacity to remember things on their own.
Just because a student is taking notes:
A) doesn't mean they are actually paying attention to what they are taking notes on.
B) doesn't mean they will ever actually use these notes
I was regoriously taking notes for this class I'm in because it's part of a grade, but the book is irritating because it has no relevance for me and the subject matter is boring and repetative. I swear, I have only read two chapters so far and from the beginning to the middle of the book, the author has said nothing new. From the notes I took on chapter 1, I have added nothing new. And yet, if I don't take these notes, my grades suffer. Not to mention I have no desire to teach this subject or this grade level. My conclusion: These notes are taking HOURS to write, I remember nothing from the text when I'm done, I'm bored and irritated because this isn't my subject or grade level, and I am basically wasting my time so that the instructor can pretend like she's teaching me something. What a waste of money, time, and mental energy.
Grading notes. I have never in my life encountered this particular line of bullshit before, even though I have run into others who have experienced it. Let's be real teachers: students take notes or don't take notes for their own benefit. If something isn't going to benefit them, they don't need to note it. If a class has no further use for a student when it's done, then the chore of writing additional notes and printing them out so that you can be sure that students are taking notes and printing them out only succeeds in wasting paper and irritating students. Not all students need to take notes because some have the capacity to remember things on their own.
Just because a student is taking notes:
A) doesn't mean they are actually paying attention to what they are taking notes on.
B) doesn't mean they will ever actually use these notes
I was regoriously taking notes for this class I'm in because it's part of a grade, but the book is irritating because it has no relevance for me and the subject matter is boring and repetative. I swear, I have only read two chapters so far and from the beginning to the middle of the book, the author has said nothing new. From the notes I took on chapter 1, I have added nothing new. And yet, if I don't take these notes, my grades suffer. Not to mention I have no desire to teach this subject or this grade level. My conclusion: These notes are taking HOURS to write, I remember nothing from the text when I'm done, I'm bored and irritated because this isn't my subject or grade level, and I am basically wasting my time so that the instructor can pretend like she's teaching me something. What a waste of money, time, and mental energy.
April 3, 2012
Day 36: School
You know, it's not just lent that went by fast, this whole semester is speeding by. I only have a little over a month until summer. In grade school that would make me feel happy and joyful but in college, it just makes me go "OH SHIT I ONLY HAVE A MONTH TO GET ALL MY SHIT DONE!" That is how I will feel until I finish my final paper. Then I will feel like my happy joyful young self who is done with school for a whole summer. UNLESS I take summer school which might happen. I'm actually planning on talking to the head of department today to find out if that is a possibility. That's the nice (and annoying) thing about grad school. It's not a straight forward system. If I want to take undergrad courses (which I'm totally allowed to do) I have to get approval from the department head and the professor teaching the course so that they can both make sure I'm doing more work than an undergraduate. However, there's a class I want to take next fall that doesn't have a professor listed yet. This could put a wrench in my whole plan. Or force me to take another class. Both equality as horrible.
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