Day 33….Time of Reflection (4/27/10)

So I have decided that the rest of the week will be a complete reflection over the past 16 weeks of this semester. I have had many of things come to me and of course, it’s me. I love to write and so here I am trying to type as fast as I can think. It’s difficult though because my thoughts are going a mile a minute. We’ll give it a shot. Hopefully I remember everything that I am thinking! I’ll start off with how things went today.

Welp. It’s already hump day. Only two more days life. What an experience. My first class today got to teach their games to other classmates. I think that they enjoyed it. I saw a lot of the students becoming engaged and participating in each other’s game. After observing each group and their game, I tried changing one of them up a little bit because there was a lot of waiting. The students seemed to go with it and didn’t complain. The changes seemed to be an improvement on their game and they said that it makes it better. After about 10 minutes of observing and making sure the students were participating, I started jumping into the games and playing with the students. I saw an increase in their intensity of participation. This just really goes to show that whenever the teacher participates, the students participate more. I realized today that I haven’t done a lot of that (playing with the students) lately. I guess I just get lost in observing and watching the students.

Before class, I was standing outside talking to one of the other teachers at the school. I noticed this boy was lining up for P.E. and he was crying. I pulled him aside and started talking to him and asked him what was wrong. He immediately started telling me “They won’t leave me alone. They keep harassing me.” “Who is they?” “All the 6^th graders. They keep bullying me.” Oh boy. Really. I have to have this conversation with this student so soon after the recent events. I just wasn’t ready to deal with this kind of problem so soon. He was reluctant to give me a kid’s name, but he told me eventually. I sent him to the counselor so he could talk to someone and I told my cooperating teacher.

At the end of this first class, the principal came into class and talked to everyone about their behavior. She had made an announcement over the intercom, but all of our students were outside. She talked to them about their pushing and shoving, inappropriate contact, and gossip. She said that it had to stop or they are immediate write ups. I hope that there is still the support there whenever we actually start sending the students to the office because of this kind of behavior. It is so prevalent anymore these days. Then again, it’s amazing how these kids are so protective of their sexuality, but yet they can hang all over each other. Then when you call them out on it, they begin defending themselves. There needs to be a change in student behavior and I don’t think that continuous write ups are doing the job.

The second class today was our adapted physical education class. They are so much fun and with this class, I have probably had the most fun all semester. Today, they finally brought all of the students instead of just a select few. We got out the scooters and some of us played scooter basketball while others got ropes and tied them on the scooters to pull the kids around. It was such a somber day with those kids because today was our last day with them. They were such great kids and a wonderful group of staff members who brought that class every week.

The third class was my honors class. My honors class started teaching their dances today. We only got to two of the groups because people in other groups were still on their fieldtrip. I must say that they did a fantastic job. I absolutely loved it. I started the class with a six minute warm up dance in which the students danced to how they feel the music. Well, I had a few girls doing it every once in a while and there was about three or four girls who didn’t really move. They did such a good job teaching. At the end of class, I had enough time to teach the Cotton Eyed Joe at the end of class. I combined 3 different variations. I believe the students really enjoyed this.

Dr. Oliver came to observe this class today and that was a lot of fun too. She jumped in and started dancing. It was really fun to dance with her even though she was very hard to lead. I am the same way though. That is why I always take the lead when I dance. It was so funny when the girls went to leave the class. I told one of the girls what a good job they did today dancing. The girl responded “Of course. We are cheerleaders. We know how to count beats.” I just kind of chuckled as she walked out the door.

The third class today also got to teach their games to each other. This class was more difficult to get involved and engaged. They got everything set up and played for the first 10 minutes. After that, they kind of just stopped playing. I had them switch who was teaching the game and once again, after 10 minutes they got bored. There were only a few groups of students who really got engaged in one another’s game. Near the end of class, I pulled them inside and talked to them about their participation and gave them the same speech about boredom and their games as I did with the first class.

Today I had to tell one of the students in my class that he had to stop touching me the way he does. Every time he comes into class, he always starts talking to me and puts his hands on my shoulders and has to face me and be real close. I just straight up told him that “it’s okay to talk to me face to face, but you need to stop putting your hands all over me.” He seemed a little taken aback by this, but he seems to be okay with it. It was just putting me in an uncomfortable situation and I finally had enough of it because it just kept progressing from one hand to two hands to actually up in my face. Some students just need to learn boundaries.

Overall, today I felt content with what the students were doing even after seeing some of the kids waiting around. It’s probably the senioritis setting in and me not really making a big deal out of the situation because I am leaving soon. I feel like if things were going to be changed and made different, it would have been done by now.

I am going to use the next couple of days as a time of reflection and remembrance of all that has occurred over the past semester. I have made it my personal goal to be the happiest, most optimistic person at any school I go to. I can’t believe the amount of negativity in some of the teachers that I have come across over the past 16 weeks and even here at the middle school or their lack of caring for the students. Then we wonder why students are the way they are. We wonder how they could be so bad and not care about their education. School should be a placed filled with people who teach because they care, not because it was the easiest thing for them to do to earn a half decent paycheck. School may be the only place children can go where some receive the attention they need because they aren’t getting it at home. I believe it’s when they don’t get it at either place is when they begin to act out. Acting out is a way for them to get attention. Most teachers succumb to it because it disrupts their classroom. Other teachers handle it pretty well and know how to react to those situations.

Over the course of the past 16 weeks, I have experienced two different groups of students. The students know when there is a newcomer. I have had a lot of students staring at me as I am walking down the halls or standing in their classrooms. One type of student will welcome you with open arms. They are glad that you are there because they like meeting new people or getting a chance to “suck up” to a new teacher. The other type of student will be resistant. They want nothing to do with you. They don’t acknowledge your presence. They feel as though they don’t have to listen to you because you haven’t been around. Some teachers are like this too. There are some who welcome you, want to work with you, and get to know you. They feel relieved whenever you come and want to do some of their job for them. Then there are others who don’t acknowledge the fact that you are in the school. They hate that you are there because they may feel like you are treading on their space. Some may think, it’s my way or the highway and you do what I tell you to do. I wonder if this is innate in all of us because I see it at both levels. Will the children grow out of it or will this aspect of their life remain the same. Meaning, they will never like new people coming in and out of their lives.

Some battles are not worth fighting for. As an instructor, you have to pick and choose and decide what is really important. Safety, first and foremost, should be on the top of the battle list. Setting up protocols is equally as important. A teacher doesn’t want chaotic classes, so he/she must set up the rules even when in later classes he/she will be constantly reminding students of those protocols. To me, protocols need to be something that is reinforced daily. You can’t just let it slide once because then every student will think that he/she can get away with it. However, the whole “coach” issue is something I have just let slide. Every once in a while, well almost every day, when a student says “Coach M,” I always say “Miss M.” It’s one of the things that I don’t put much emphasis on at this point because there are more important things on my list, but it is still something that I gently remind my students about.

It is so important for a teacher of any grade level or specialization to set up rules and protocols for the class and then consequences for breaking those. Without them, students can take advantage of you. Although, as a student teacher, this is difficult because rules and protocols are already set in place before you get there unless you start at the beginning of a new school year. This has been a challenge for me, but it is also teaching me how to work with my cooperating teacher. It makes it an easier student teaching semester when cooperating teachers are willing to work with you and incorporate your ideas into their lessons. I have had a different experience at both places. One was very supportive and always there but the other one was not as much. Not only is it a learning period for me, but they are gaining a good experience as well (or so I think).

A teacher needs to be firm with the students, but yet respecting and nurturing at the same time. This is something I struggle with, although I have gotten better at disciplining (considering where I started from). I always catch myself giving students “second chances.” Those second chances turn into 3, 4, or 5 chances. I know this is something I struggle with and it’s not because I don’t want them to think I am mean (that’s far from it). I just like to see the good in everyone and I, for some reason or another, think that maybe this time they will listen. Well, the majority of the time, they don’t!

Well, only 2 more days. Until tomorrow!

Day 32…Doing the Best I Can (4/27/10)

Wow! This all is just going by too fast. I can’t believe that Tuesday is already over and it’s going to be the middle of the week already.

Today, I did another day of student designed games. Today just reaffirmed why I like the classes on day 2 more than the ones on day 1. The classes today are so hard to work with. These students have so many attitudes and disrespect that it’s unreal. It’s nice knowing that I only have to teach to them one more time (Thursday). Don’t get me wrong, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with all classes and students, but you can’t help but have favorites. It’s hard not to have favorites. I guess I shouldn’t say favorites, but rather those who you are more inclined to talk to. There are just some of those students or classes, whether good or bad, that you go to all the time or compare everything else to. For me, I go back to students because they are the ones who need lots of reinforcement and my continual acknowledgement of them helps them stay on task. Then there are others who are just good at everything so you want to always praise them for the effort they put in. It’s those kids who fall in between that get left out. These students I try to make it to the most. It’s a struggle because I am constantly reminding myself to get around to all students.

I tried doing student designed games with all of my classes. Student designed games helps the lower skilled students finally find enjoyment in physical education because they have the chance to make a game up in which meets their needs. The higher skilled students get bored because they want to play the games “right” or vice versa. It can go either way. For example, I walked up to one of the students and asked her why she wasn’t participating. She responded that she was bored. Inside I had to chuckle at her response. I proceeded to tell her, “How can you be bored during your own game. You’re the one who created it, so if you’re bored change it. Don’t complain to me about being bored. Change your game up so that it’s more interesting.” She just rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and started walking away.

So I have decided that I am just doing the best I can; that’s all anyone can ask for. Compared to others, it may be the best and it may be the worst. I shouldn’t be concerned about that. I can’t make my standards based upon somebody else, but I need to base them off of my own skills and abilities. I don’t live a perfect life; only One person has, but that still doesn’t mean I can’t do the best for me.

Until tomorrow!

Day 31…Healing a Broken Heart (4/26/10)

Well, today starts my last week of student teaching. One day down, 4 more to go! While I am elated and relieved, how can you not be sad knowing that you’re going to be leaving the things you have established over the past 8 weeks?

The first class went pretty well. I had the students do student designed games today. The first class was doing the mushball unit and so I required them to design a game that dealt with using a bat and a mushball. It was quite nice to see all the types of games the students were coming up with. There were some groups that had to sit down and write and other groups that just got up and played. A few students were off task in the beginning and it was difficult to get them started.

However, before we started the class I had one student come up to me and say, “Miss, we are going to be changing units this week and we haven’t even played a real game of baseball.” I responded by saying “Yes, but we have played many mini games that are associated with baseball and softball and it looked like your were enjoying them just as much as a regular game.” It just gets me every time whenever a student tells me we are not playing the games right or even playing games at all. They definitely have not experienced anything but traditional based sports in physical education. I am hoping that by us being there these last eight weeks that our cooperating teachers will see that changing is not so bad and that they might have learned a few things from us.

The second class was really laid back. I took the first half of the class and did my dance lesson with them. We warmed up to the song “Hey Baby” and I think the students really liked it. Afterwards, we learned the Boot Scootin’ Boogie. It was a very simple country line dance. After this dance, I gave them an option on whether or not they wanted to learn the Cotton Eyed Joe, work on their dances, or go play in the gym. I feel pretty comfortable about having them play in the gym. This class has done really well for me that rewarding them with the free day wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Well just like in all things that you give options, some wanted to work, others wanted to learn, and the rest wanted to play. While the one group worked, I put on the Cotton Eyed Joe for the others to learn and dance to. After we did those two activities, we went out and a group played basketball and a group played soccer. I brought out the scooters with about 15 minutes left and had them play scooter soccer with a big exercise ball and scooter basketball with buckets serving as baskets. They really liked being able to play on the scooters. It provided a new challenge for them to overcome and conquer and with this being a very competitive class, it served to be a good end of the class period.

I guess you could say that the way I structured this unit was that for every genre of music I chose, there was both a line dance and a partner dance that the students had to perform. However, the disappointing fact is that I won’t get to my swing dance or multicultural lesson plans. The next two class periods they will be teaching their dances that they had created with their groups. It will be nice to see the type of dances that they came up with. There are a few groups that I am concerned about and what they have planned because they have not really used the time in class to practice the dance, they just listen and choose what music they want. It will be interesting to see what they conjure up. I am excited to sit back and learn them teach a dance they created instead of me teaching ones that I have put together.

The third class also did student designed games. However, this time I didn’t require them to make their games around the unit we were currently in (soccer). Things took off very slowly. It looked like nothing would get accomplished during this class period. There was one group though that completely had their game set and started playing within five minutes. However, on the other end of the spectrum, another group didn’t start playing until 15 minutes left in class. The majority of the other groups came up with a game, played it, went and changed it, played it, and changed it again until they got it the way that they wanted. This class also had some pretty good games.

I really like doing student designed games with my classes. It helps give me new ideas about activities that I can try with future classes in similar units. It really is a refresher, especially since teaching baseball/softball is so new to me and I don’t know a lot of lead up games. The games the students designed today are good enough to be lead up games for those future classes. I designed the two classes different to see how they would respond to structure and different set ups. I required that the first class design their games around the things we have been talking about and learning over the past couple of weeks. The last class of the day, I didn’t give them any structure. All I told them is that they were to design a game in which used the equipment in the corner of the gym. It didn’t have to deal with what we had been learning (soccer). I wanted to see how different each class would go about designing their games. To my surprise, the morning class did a lot better with designing their games than the class didn’t have structure.

There are different interpretations that I have been thinking about from these results. One, the morning class was a lot smaller than the afternoon class so it could have appeared to have gone better than the afternoon class. Secondly, the morning class consists of sixth graders and the afternoon class is a seventh grade class. I think that age level does play a role in how this all worked out. The sixth graders, at least at this school, still have a creative imagination. You can give them a general outline of what you want and they take it and run with it. I struggled with the seventh graders as far as this is concerned. A lot of the students kept saying how they weren’t creative enough, but I told them “Haven’t you ever played a game and wish it was played differently? Do that.” All they had to do was take the time to think about what they wanted to do or go and try it out and change it as they play. Thirdly, I believe that different groups of students respond differently to structure and no structure (as seen by our college group J ). A lot of these middle school students complain about there being too much structure and things being too regimented and they rebel against that stuff. However, as seen by the first class, the students did better under a structure as compared to that afternoon class that had no structure. Of course, age could play a factor in this as well, but it was just an interesting thing to observe today.

To change the subject, how do you stop a broken heart from hurting so bad? All I really want to do is just break down and cry. My heart is breaking for Ben and his family. My heart goes out to all these kids who might be going through the same things. I still can’t help but look at all these students and think about the things that they go through on a daily basis. There is a student who hasn’t been in class for the past two weeks. I came to find out that his dad was probably involved with a recent murder and he pulled his son out of school. This kid was a good kid. He was very polite and well mannered, but here things are totally different at home. People can do a really good job of hiding their emotions on the outside, but be torn up on the inside. I know, I’ve been there. My heart is also breaking knowing that I will be leaving pretty soon. If you figure out this answer, could you please let me know? Thanks! J

Until tomorrow.

Day 27…Know Where They’re Coming From (4/20/10)

Just another ordinary day. One more day of testing and then it’s over. I think I felt the most tired the past two weeks and it’s because of this testing crap. I think that there is a better way of implementing this testing. It’s all standardized so why can’t they break it up a little bit? Have a testing session all week and then not have the next week of testing until a month later. I think it is just too much for the students to have almost two full weeks of testing. It makes students do crazy things and teachers to be just frustrated and wishing it was all over.

My first class today was a riot. I love how the kids this age (6^th grade) think that they know everything. They are very egocentric. We continued with our personal fitness unit. We went over computing our nutrition and how to figure out how many calories are required for their daily living. I also briefly went over some basic nutritional facts about energy sources and then finished with energy boosters and zappers. We then went over to the weight room and they got to do circuit training.

The second class today was the honors class. I absolutely love teaching this class. This class gives me confidence in teaching. It builds every class and it’s especially important during this time because I am teaching an activity in which I am not too comfortable with yet. Today I taught the students how to two step (country dancing). It was funny because whenever I mentioned we were two stepping, the students thought that I was talking about the hip hop two step. I had them start with the basic side to side two stepping and then we moved into going backward and forward. After completing these tasks, I had them partner up and practice doing that with a partner. The next task was to learn how to lead and how to follow. Overall, this lesson turned out to be a really good one! I was so excited after the class was finished. The girls were pretty happy and I think that I really did teach them something.

The third class did the same kicking lesson as the other class yesterday. We focused on kicking for accuracy and kicking for distance. We didn’t get to do the Keep Away game because we were strapped for time, but like the other class, these students really liked the activities I had planned. I even noticed today that I am using more and more Spanish as the days and class periods pass by. My only fear is that I will gain that confidence but not in enough time since I only have a week and a half left.

It’s so funny to sit in the portable after the students are done testing and just listen to their conversations. The two main things they talk about are relationships and their parents. They talk about how their parents make life hard for them and they don’t let their kids do anything or how teachers are mean. I used to think that way too. I know where they are coming from. If only they could see themselves in 10 or 11 years when they become parents or authority figures, then they might reconsider. Everyone should be able to understand where their students come from and not be so mean all the time. They were once in that position. They were once the loud and obnoxious student in the halls or the ones who used to think that their parents and teachers didn’t let them do anything.

The relationships between the teachers here is incredible. Two of the teachers gang up on the other one. The only sad part about it is that they don’t confront the other teacher about the problems that they are continually talking about, they would rather say it to each other behind this teacher’s back. Why keep talking smack about the other teacher. Just confront them or do something about it instead of always bad mouthing.

Oh well. It’s not my battle. I don’t want to cause any conflict and then just up and leave. Until tomorrow!

Day 30….Looking At Things Differently (4/23/10)

I looked at things differently in two ways today. One was in such a way that regarded my teaching. It was nice to be able to relax last night and not worry about teaching today. The students have a field day all day long because of their testing success over the past two weeks. The students just came in during their scheduled PE time. Outside we had different stations set up such as hacky sack, 3 legged race, wooden skis, soccer, football kick, arm wrestling, Frisbee, and jump rope/hula hoop. We let the students go out and have a go at each of their stations at their own pace. They had an hour to do what they wanted. Not only was it our PE kids, but all the students who finished their testing. They did an hour for each grade. The 6^th graders had more fun with it than the eighth graders and I didn’t get to see the 7^th graders outside.

The weather had gotten a little worse throughout the day so we moved some activities inside for the 7^th graders. My cooperating teacher had asked if I wanted to do a dance station in the dance room. Of course I said yes because it was too windy for me outside. At first, it looked as if I wouldn’t get anybody in there and doing the dances, but they started trickling in. Of course, throughout the whole session, I only had females in there dancing. There would be a few guys who would stop by and look in the door, but none of them stayed to dance. I basically taught them all the dances that I had taught my honors class and I added a few that I hadn’t tried yet. I guess you could say it was a practice run at those dances and the girls really really liked them so it makes me feel comfortable about doing them with my honors class.

It wasn’t such a bad day after all. When we were outside in the morning, all we did is just monitor and make sure things were running smoothly. The first hour was rough because it was windy and cold. The second hour wasn’t as bad because the sun started coming out, but during the third hour, I could hear the rain and the hail hitting the windows. A couple of the students came in wet, but luckily all of this happened during the cleaning up part of the field day.

Just like the weather today, my thoughts were overcastted by yet another unfortunate tragedy that I had just learned about last night. I got a phone call from my mother who was crying. We had just talked about an hour ago and see told me she was going to see my uncle who is in the hospital. Immediately I thought that something happened to him and she was calling to inform me. Fortunately, it wasn’t about him, but it was sadly enough about another person we know. The phone call was very short but she told me that they found Ben, the son of a family that is really close to us, dead and that he either hung himself or died of a drug overdose. Unfortunately, he had gotten into drugs recently that cause a downward spiral in his life. However, what’s even more is that he was being bullied at school. I guess he couldn’t just take any more of it and he hung himself in the garage.

Ben would have been 17 today and graduating high school in a month. I feel so angry right now. Angry that he couldn’t live to see his next birthday. Angry at him for being so selfish. Angry and upset that is mother had found him and now she’ll have to live with that image for the rest of her life. Angry at the kids who bullied him into making this decision. Angry that somebody didn’t do anything to help (he had gone to counselors about it). Angry that kids these days just don’t think about their actions. They act in the moment and how they feel in the moment only to realize that once you complete the act of suicide, there is no coming back. I am angry at all these kids who have been posting things on Facebook and who think this is just a temporary thing. Do they understand the severity of this situation? Where were these so called “friends” whenever he was struggling with the ways of this world?

With these overcastting thoughts, I can’t help but look at these kids with another lens. I look at them and see that they are not much younger than what Ben was. They could be going through some similar stuff right now but you can’t see it. Will this student be in Ben’s place in 2-3 years or would this one? How can you go about saving these kids and making them feel like life is worth a lot more than just today’s satisfactions or feelings? The pain may be hard to get through today, but can they see the bigger picture of life? I have always said that God has put me in a place and has a plan for me. As I walk through the courtyard, through the fields, and in the hallways, I understand that I am here to help these kids. I just hope that I will be able to build up a relationship with all my students so that they will feel comfortable to talk to me or that I can develop in them a higher self esteem so they will be able to get through tough times like this.

Parents shouldn’t have to bury their children and no one should pass away by their own hands. There needs to be more education about bullying and preventative measures to help in situations like this. Whenever Ben sought help, the counseling system should have done more for him than just say “It’ll be okay and we’ll watch more.” Teachers and administrators shouldn’t turn a blind eye to this type of behavior. I know that it is hard to see it sometimes because now I am in a position in which I watch for it all the time, but if we keep an eye out for it, we may be able to save at least one kid.

Broken hearts and untamed thoughts. Until next week!

Day 29…So Stressful, but so Rewarding (4/22/10)

We are back to regular schedule and it feels so different. It was a nice change to go straight into teaching instead of having to sit outside for two hours while the students tested.

The first class went over nutrition and then I had them have the extra time to do circuit training. Nothing spectacular happened. However, the students did have homework that was due today. I only had 3 students turn theirs in. I was so frustrated and upset that these students still don’t want to do their homework. They know that it is something I grade them on and is a part of the unit, but they still don’t do it. I told them that I expected all of them to do it, but they still don’t turn it in. This profession is just so stressful when it comes to working with the students, but yet it’s so rewarding when the students finally learn something or they accomplish a task that I set for them.

The second class was the best class all semester long. We combined the boys and the girls’ honors class and I did my two step lesson again. However, this time I told the girls that since they will have to teach their classmates how to dance to their dance, this would be good practice for them. I guess the whole point of bringing them together was to teach them (both boys and girls) how to be social and mature enough to be partners with the opposite sex. I told the kids that just because someone comes up and asks you to dance doesn’t mean that they like you or that you have to like them, they just want to dance. I think they all really liked it. We ended the class with something that was a little more upbeat and more relatable to the students. We finished with the Cha-Cha slide and the Cupid shuffle.

The third class also did the pulse logs. It was really nice to do it with this class because I had a whole hour to complete this task. That means that the students got to do a lot of different exercises to where they could see how their heart rate changes. They didn’t do too badly with it. I had to even write up a boy in the class because he just wouldn’t sit down or even listen for that matter. I had given him like 3 warnings before I said “that’s it, just go do a lap.” I then kindly reminded him of the rules and consequences that the class had made during our co-creation of our environment.

Today was just another general day. There are more and more days like this now that everything is winding down. I can’t believe that it is almost over. I feel like I just got started. I am upset too because I don’t think that I did everything I could have when it comes to teachings. There have been some really really stressful times in which it would have just been easier to quit than continue on, but then I think about all the rewarding times and they definitely outweigh the bad.

Until tomorrow!

Day 28….Just Working with What I’m Given (4/21/10)

Whoohoo! Last day of testing. I am so ready to just be done. Today was really uneventful. Nothing that is really notable so today’s journal will be pretty short.

With the first class of the day, we started in the weight room and talked about nutrition. Nothing really special about today’s class. I assigned them the backside of the one sheet for homework. It is very simple. All they have to do is calculate their daily caloric requirements and track their food intake for one day. I told them that this time I expected all of them to turn in their assignments. I even constantly reminded them throughout the class.

The second class was split once again between half and half. I hate how the schedule is for this period because we only get 10 minutes with them for the first half. We just played that game of tag that we previously played in the last class period. During the second half of the class, we talked about nutrition like I have done for the other classes who are on this part of the unit as well.

The third and final class of the day finally just got around to the pulse logs. We are a day behind on each of the units because of the way that the classes fell and how the schedule was worked for the testing weeks. The class did really well with doing the logs. They really understand what target heart rates, heart rate zones, and maximum heart rates are. It was a struggle to get them started on the activity and keeping them quiet while counting our heart rates. It turned out to be pretty good for this class.

There are some parts of each unit in which really gets the students to think and be engaged in the activities. There are a few things I could do for each unit that would increase their participation and engagement levels. I can’t help but think that these lessons and my ability to teach them will get better and better. Maybe I am not fully preparing myself the night before because I am ready to get out. I know it’s wrong, but I can’t seem to shake it. Senioritis has set in and has been lingering for a while. Guess I am just working with what I’m given.

Until tomorrow!

Day 26… Finally Clicking (4/19/10)

Today is the start of my 6^th week of being here at the middle school. There is only one more week. I can’t believe it. I only have 5 more days with each of the classes. There is only three days left of testing.

Things are finally clicking with this first period class. The first couple of weeks they were so resistant to the activity that we were playing. However, now I have the students requesting to play the game that we played for a few minutes on Friday. It’s a modified version of Gaelic football and today I even let the students use the basketball hoops as another goal. After they scored the regular way, they were allowed to shoot the ball either by fist passing, hand passing, or foot passing. They really liked this new addition to the game. We even stopped a few times to check our pulses and see how hard they are working.

The downside to this first class and being put into competitive situations is that there were almost two fights between the students today. The first one was between two students who like to goof off and talk a lot of crap. I had to tell the one student to go into the girls locker room and stand in the door way so the student couldn’t get to him. I told him to start walking and cool down. I made the other student sit out of the activity for a while because he was the one who started it all. Then about 10 minutes later, I heard one student tell another student he was a “faggot.” Before I could get the words out of my mouth to tell him to take a lap, the kid he said it to pulled back and was going to hit him in the back of the head. I yelled at him and you could just see that he disassociated for a couple seconds and by calling his name I brought him back. While the one kid went outside and did his lap, I sent the other one to the corner. As I walked up to speak to him, I could tell that he was emotionally distraught and I told him that whenever he cools down and he can come over and tell me how he could have handled that situation differently. Eventually he came to talk to me and it looked like he just wanted to cry.

After the tensions subsided, we finished the class pretty well. The students left sweating, smiling, and happy. I can see that the tensions were tight and I think it is just a result of the testing. It was nice to see that the students were engaged in this activity and was something that they were requesting. Before it was “Awe Miss! We have to play that football thing again.” It was a nice change of events and a good way to start this week.

I believe this first class went well because I had set up the activity better and it was all a review from the last class. The students had already been exposed to what we were going to be doing that day. I had even told the students today that I only had a few more class periods with them and then I was going to leave. I had one student ask if I was going to come back. I told him no. He responded by saying you’re better than (and he just looked in the direction of my cooperating teacher). I hate when students put me in this situation and predicament. Yes, it’s nice to hear that, but I know that whenever you get a chance to have a break from the regular teacher, it’s always nice. Eventually if someone were to come in for me, the students would be saying the same thing to the new teacher.

The second class was broken up into half hour before lunch and a half hour after. After they did their warm ups and stretching, it only left 10 minutes before we had to release them to lunch. I decided to just have them play Energy In and Energy Out. The students seemed to really enjoy this. There is always something about playing childhood games (tag, in this case) that makes the students more engaged and having the majority of students participating. This simple tag game helped them to just expel the energy they built up during testing. However, when they came back from lunch, they were very very wired. It was almost unbearable, We continued with our personal fitness unit and went over nutrition.

For the third class, we worked on passing with accuracy, kicking long balls, and playing Keep Away. They had a really good time with the bowling pins. The students and their partners were passing to knock over bowling pins. We then transitioned into kicking into long balls into zones. At the end of class, we finished with a simple game of Keep Away. However, the students were struggling with comprehending on how to play it. They just didn’t understand regardless of the way that I stated it.

Having the poly spots on the ground really helps with my classroom management. It helps keep the students close and more uniformed. It’s easier to teach knowing they are on their poly spot than spread out in the teach area, especially when we are outside. I think that I will have to keep on using the poly spots as base points for the students to stand and listen.

Almost done with this testing stuff. I can’t wait! Until tomorrow.

Day 25… Frustrated, Friday, Finished (4/16/10)

Today was a frustrating day, but I am glad it is Friday. We only have 3 more days of testing and I can see that these kids are just ready to be done. All this testing is just bringing out the craziness of the students.

I guess another source of my frustrations came from knowing that I had a lot I needed to cover in my first class and only having a half hour to do so. The first class today was actually my 7^th grade afternoon class. They switched the schedules around so each class would have a chance to have the hour class. As usual, the kids are always asking what we are going to do. I told them we are continuing our soccer unit. As usual, I hear a few moans and groans but the students are usually pretty good about doing the tasks I have provided them. However, I had one student say “I thought this was supposed to be about what we wanted to do.” I responded, “It is but you didn’t choose basketball, your whole class chose soccer.”

Today was a difficult day and I can only imagine it being so because of all the testing. The students were so unmotivated to do the activities and I had a lot of students engaging in off task behavior. How do you get students to be motivated to do the activities that they chose to do? It makes me frustrated and upset knowing and seeing that the majority of students are not really participating. I have tried a different approach each time such as pulling those students aside, addressing the class as a whole, or changing up the tasks when I see the students aren’t really enjoying it.

I think that if I could go back and redo some things in this whole process, I would change up a few things. I don’t think I gave the students a fair view of different activities. I think that I was still regimented and not willing to take risks on activities during the sampler lessons. I know things got pretty hard because we missed that whole week for being in Indy, but I could have established myself and my presence earlier in the semester. I know the first time going through this process, it is about trying to find our own way to implement this process and working out the kinks, but it can only get better the more times we go through this.

The second class was my honors class. I let them work on their dances once again. However, with the last ten minutes, we played ultimate Frisbee. I just wanted them to work off that energy and tension from testing. It is really nice to see them develop into their dances and work as a group. The first day we worked on the dances, I was having second thoughts about having them do it and about how successful they would be. However, they are progressing very well and it will be nice to see them teaching the class their dance. There were several groups spread out among the dance room and gymnasium so they can have more space to practice. So, it’s also nice that I can leave them alone and they will still be doing what I asked them to do.

My third class was a pretty small class. It’s usually my first period class on day 2. We all went to the cardio room for 20 minutes. I allowed them to use the bikes, treadmills, or throwing the football back and forth. The only stipulation was that they had to be moving. Some of the students even grabbed the hula hoops and was playing around with them as well. I turned on the music and just let the kids do their thing. Periodically, I would check in on them and have them take their pulse rates because they are doing different exercises. They can see that not just one or two exercises can work their hearts more, but they can check their pulse rates during almost any kind of activity.

Today, I was a little annoyed and it showed in my instructions. I think I am feeling a little bit like these kids right now. I am stressed and can feel the tension that has been building all week long. They are ready to just let loose and relax and I am ready for that two. It’s funny how our emotions can feed into how the kids act in our classes, but it also goes for teachers as well. If the class as a whole is goofing off and you can just feel the tension in the air, teachers become affected by that as well.

It’s the weekend! I only two more weeks with the students. Geez! It did go by way fast. I can’t believe we are almost done! Until tomorrow!

Day 24… Defiance and Disrespect (4/15/10)

Today is a very short response day. Just another day of testing and it is so boring sitting outside. They have two testing sessions; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I’m glad it’s Thursday though. That means all this testing is almost over and we are getting closer to graduation and going home. I also had an interview right after the testing so I wasn’t there for the longer of the classes. It was nice to write up a lesson plan and leave it for my cooperating teacher so that she could teach it.

The second class of my day I took them to the weight room. We finished up our pulse logs that we started the other day. These students really worked hard. I think it was because I challenged them. I had told them that today they were going to be working to get the highest heart rate over the past two days of doing these logs. I think they are really learning about the importance of taking their heart rate and how it can impact how they work out and be healthy. This was the class that has the student who was giving me some troubles over the past couple of days. He did really well in the class and it even took me by surprise that he asked me for help with one of the machines. I guess you could say that I was expecting him to ignore me and be rude over the next couple of weeks. I guess I though wrong.

The last class only had 20 minutes. We also finished up the pulse log (just a small review and one or two exercises). I then just let them finish the last 12-13 minutes in the gymnasium with my colleague’s class. They were just playing basketball, soccer, or volleyball. My students jumped in and were participating as well. There were even a group of girls who were just standing around and talking and I just told them to make sure they were moving a little bit. They started walking around the perimeter of the gym.

Students are so disrespectful and rued anymore these days. I can’t say for sure because I experienced both places (here and Pennsylvania) with two totally different lenses. Students don’t know the line between those with authority and those without. They are very defiant. For example, whenever I ask a student to give me a ball because it’s time to clean up or to sit down because I am trying to talk, they are so resistant to doing so. I had to ask this one student six times to give me the ball and she kept refusing and moving further away from me. It wasn’t until I told her that I would write her up if she didn’t give me the ball and that’s when she finally handed it over. I don’t know if this is because I haven’t really established much of a relationship with these students over the time that I have been here or if that is just how students are these days.

It’s my job to escort the students to the bathrooms, nurse’s office, or main office, or wherever they need to go whenever they finish their testing. I get about 4-5 students every time to go to the bathroom. They are to be respectful and quiet while walking through the halls because other classes are still testing. I walk with them and constantly try to get them to quiet down, but they don’t care. They only think about themselves and what they need. These kids are just rude to others, but except others to treat them better. What gives?

Until tomorrow.

Day 23…Shouldn’t Have to Be Like This (4/14/10)

We’ll my first class didn’t go so bad. We only had a half hour with the kids after they got changed and did their warm ups. This testing has the schedule all screwed up. It really forces us to be organized and maximizing the time that we have. I taught the students correct batting technique along with bunting. It took quite a bit to set up. I had two poly spots about 10 feet away; one for each partner. At one poly spot, there was a bucket with a bat inside. I had about 10 of these set up around the gym. My first instructions with them, because of safety, was that the first person I saw goofing off with the bats would have their equipment taken away. This really helped with curbing the students’ behavior to be of somewhat on task.

I noticed that with this lesson and a couple of my other lessons, I don’t provide enough challenges for those who “get it.” I know that I write them into my lesson plans, but whenever it comes time to teach it, I either forget to provide them the challenge or we just go into the next task without getting to those challenges (especially now since classes are so short and I need to cover a lot of stuff because class meetings have been cut in half). It’s hard to go from planning for an hour class to being cut to only a half hour.

The second class was only 26 minutes long as well. I had my honors class and the girls are working on their dances. I gave them the whole class period to have time to work as group and come up with the dance they are going to teach. I even saw from this class that there is a little resistance from the students from doing anything right now because of testing. Some classes are worse than the others, but I have even noticed it from my honors class. I guess I was already expecting this and that is why my lesson plans are not too intricate, but it’s harder to get the students motivated to do anything else other than talking to their friends.

My third class just went to the weight room and were given free time to just work off the stress of the testing. They only had 20 minutes so we talked a little bit about heart rates, but they didn’t really want to listen, so then we just went straight into lifting. I only required that they do something and not just stand around and talk. It was also a good time to see the students apply what they learned from the last class such as our weight room rules and principles.

There is a lot of crap coming from the situation with the student that occurred yesterday. I had already talked to my cooperating teacher about it and she told me not to worry about it because the student said the same thing about another teacher just the day before. The assistant principle sought me out and was asking me what happened. Apparently, the kid went home and told his mother about it. The mother called into the office and now he was questioning me about it. I know that is what they have to do, but even as I was talking to him about it, I could see that he would rather side with the kid anyway. My cooperating teacher was standing right there next to me as we were talking about it. She told me after we walked away that he has already been sued twice before for not handling situations like this properly. However, about an hour later, my cooperating teacher told me that he said to the student “You know you can’t be making allegations like this because it could cause a teacher to lose their job.” You don’t say things like that to a kid like this. He will use that information and just be a pester to another teacher. AGHH!!

I guess it just goes to show you that you have to be careful with the way you work with the students. It’s a shame because you shouldn’t always have to be watching over your shoulder. I know that it is important that you watch what you say or do around students because you are a role model, but I show my appreciation and affection to students by patting them on the shoulders. It’s a disgrace that all of this has had to come about just because I touched another student on the back. It shouldn’t have to be like this.

Welp. What can you do? Kids these days have it rough and teachers have it rougher trying to reach out to their students without it looking like they are “crossing the line.” J It’s a shame.

Until tomorrow!

Day 22...Screwing Things Up (4/13/10)

I need to really keep remembering what I want my students to know and be able to do. I should be constantly revisiting my objectives just to remind me and keep me on track. Sometimes I lose sight of these and then realize I am off track. It helps me to maintain my focus and direction. I can only imagine what it might be like for a veteran teacher if I struggle with this as a student teacher. They might be completely off and just do activities for the sake of doing them. Maybe this is just want student teacher’s go through until they figure out a routine and how to keep themselves accountable and the veteran teacher has got their lesson plans down pact that they know exactly what they are doing and teaching.


My first class today was very short. After they got done with their warm ups, we only had 28 minutes with the students (actually 24 because they need to change out). I felt very rushed and I think it led to my frustrations as well. Whenever I feel rushed, I usually get frustrated. We went through the skills very very quickly. Then to top it all off, the game was too complex for the students to understand in such short time even though I had two kids saying the game was more fun than others we have tried in our Gaelic football unit. Instead of giving up on this lesson, the next time we have class, we will revisit the skills and I will have to modify the game in a way for the students to understand. The game was just so over their heads that they just got to a point where they didn’t listen anymore.

The second class was all screwed up. We had them for about 10 minutes (after stretching and warming up) and then they got to go to lunch. After lunch, they came back to us for another half hour. When the kids returned, they were worse off than the first half hour. They were so wired and loud. I want to say that this class is horrible, but I know that it is just a few students who ruin the image for the whole class. There is even one student who takes everything out of context. I patted him on the back and asked him to pay attention and he is crying “foul.” He thinks and says that I hit him too hard and he’s telling his mother. His cousin (a girl) even came up to me after class, got in my face, and said “Did you hit my cousin?” She said it in such an attitude that it was like she was talking to a girl her age. I was completely floored by her approaching me and talking to me like that.

With my third class, I tried talking to them about their progress thus far in the semester with our classes. They were not having it. I only had 20 minutes with this class and they were so talkative and chatty that there was no way were going to get anything done. I just turned on some music and let the kids get on the bikes and treadmills. At least they were being active for the time being.

This whole testing stuff is throwing everything off. I have everything planned down to a “T” only to have it be changed by the testing schedule. It leaves the kids being so rowdy too. I can’t wait for it all to be done with. AHH!! Only 6 more days of it.

Until tomorrow!

Day 21...Wanna Get Away (4/12/10)

This whole week the students were testing. There wasn’t a whole lot that went on. The schedules were all screwed up. We only have one-1 hour class a day. All the other ones are about 20-25 minutes long. During the short classes, the students didn’t dress out.

I must say that being a proctor for the test is a very boring job. All I did was sit outside the whole week trying to find the little shade that was out there so I didn’t have to cook for 4 hours. The testing session in the morning is two hours and the one in the afternoon is only an hour and a half. If the students had to use the restroom, I had to escort them to and from. I do have to say that it was some good reading time though. I got through a lot of my Bible readings that I got caught behind on a little bit. I was able to write a few people letters and just spend some good quality quiet time with myself.

For the first and third class on today, we went over how to take our pulses, what target heart rate, heart rate zone, resting heart rate, and maximum heart rate are and why it’s important to know such things. I only had a handful of students turn in their homework that they were given on Friday. It really depresses me that these students don’t even try to do it or make an effort for their learning in Physical Education because they see it as nothing more than just a recess type class where they learn different, traditional team sports. All they want to do is play; they don’t want to learn. I even had one student give me a free homework pass for something so simple. It just amazed me that he would use it on this assignment and not something harder.

It was awesome for these two classes. This is the quietest I heard them EVER!! I had them working out for 45 seconds, taking 5 seconds to find their heart rate and then 15 seconds to count it. Those 15 seconds were the quietest and it was so nice to hear silence! It also helped me to see that these students were interested enough to partake in the activities as I asked them too. Granted, there were a few students who were being obnoxious about it and trying to count out loud or talk, but eventually they came around and did the same.

The adapted class was a nice little escape and getaway. We played scooter basketball outside on the basketball courts. Those kids are a riot and so fun to be around. You don’t have to hear complaints about how parents aren’t fair or they don’t let you do anything. You don’t hear anything about dating and relationships or the sinful natures of students these days. I do agree that kids these days have a harder time living in society because of the way society has turned. It’s all about who you’re with, who you are, what clothes you have, how you look, or seeking the approval of others all the time. It’s nice to be with this class because they don’t care about any of that. Kids these days are so fake and hurtful, but these kids are genuine and caring. Like I said, it’s a nice little break from the rest of the school.

With my honors class, we continued with hip hop dancing. We finished our dance to Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” and started one for Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow.” They were very talkative today and it’s okay because I know that testing can do that to students. Today, however, I incorporated the line changes and the partner changes to those they haven’t worked with yet. This way, I hope to go in and break up or disrupt the “clicks” that are occurring and for the students to see that they should be getting to know each other more instead of always being with the same person. My cooperating teacher even stepped in and was dancing with the class.

If it were me, I would clean the equipment room out while the student teachers were teaching. It looks like a minefield in there and a bomb went off. The room is so disgusting, dirty, and very hard to move to get equipment. I rearranged a few things today (my OCD kicking in) and found equipment that I could have used a couple of weeks ago. I know that they are to be observing us as we teach, but half the time they don’t, so they should make themselves useful and clean the room a little bit.

Things are not exactly where I would like them to be and I guess I can’t complain that much because I am only here for a few short weeks so I can’t expect to come in and change their whole curriculum. That wasn’t my intentions to begin with, but now that I am getting comfortable with being here, I have pushed for my cooperating teacher to realize that there is more than one way to approach and teach a class. Going through progressions is okay. We don’t have to play the actual game every time we have class. That is all I have seen here. Once they start a new unit, they cover the basics and then let the kids play. They never go into skill progressions or development. I think that I am helping my cooperating teacher see that it’s important if you want all kids to participate.

More testing and being bored tomorrow!!

Day 19...Making Learning Meaningful (4/9/10)

Wooty woot woot!! It’s Friday again! Another day done and another day closer to graduation and going home. I can’t believe I have only spent 20 days with the students. It definitely feels like more.

Today with my first class, we talked about our heart rates, where they should be, and what it indicates. I also talked about target heart rate zones, maximum heart rates, and target heart rates. I taught them to calculate their resting heart rate and maximum heart rate as well as how to figure out to find a certain percentage of their work rate. After figuring this out, I had the students practice taking their heart rates after 45 seconds of activity. After 45 seconds, I gave them five seconds to find their heart rate. Then they counted it for 15 seconds and I would yell stop. They would record it and the activity they just did and have 30 seconds to get to the next activity before we started again.

The second class did the similar activity today. This class was a lot better than on Wednesday. The students that I wrote up behaved a lot better than I expected. I don’t know if it was because I wrote them up and they see now that I won’t put up with it. I could also be because even though they really misbehaved last time, I was still talking to them like a friend instead of avoiding them altogether. It could also just be the nature of the activity and how it was organized. There wasn’t much opportunity to be talking and misbehaving. However, during the 45 seconds of each activity, two of those boys started doing unconventional tasks. When I spoke to them about it, they said that they were doing the extreme patty cake. Whatever it was, they were still doing physical activity. I never said they had to restrict it to doing weights and at least they were taking their heart rates and recording them after the time limit.

Whatever it takes to have these two boys behave and be on task in this class is great because if these two are on task and behaving, the other group of boys will do so as well. This is just an example of how these two students took and activity and made it their own. We as educators can’t be worried about if the students don’t do the activities the way we planned them then they are not learning or they are being off-task. I just don’t have to fret over the itty bitty and miniscule details about them doing the activities the way I want them done. They will adjust it to fit their needs and that is okay with me.

Let me tell you what. These were the quietest classes I had ever had these past two weeks and it was really nice. The students were really working hard and focusing on doing this task. Setting it up and getting to this point was a little difficult because the students just wanted to be moving and active, but as soon as we began the circuit and taking of pulses, because the students were too busy counting their pulse rates, it left the class quiet and attentive. My cooperating teacher walked in during the counting and I mentioned to her, “This is the quietest you will ever hear this class.” We both chuckled and the students continued with their activity.

When I doubt myself and my teaching and whether or not my students are learning from my lessons and activities, all I have to do is look at these other teachers and how they teach their classes. I realize that I am doing more for my students in one unit than they might be doing for them the entire semester. I have been incorporating homework, projects, and other learning materials for the students to make their learning process more meaningful while the other teachers just have them participate in activity. I can’t say much about my cooperating teacher because I never got to see her teach a lesson. The only thing that I saw was a Tae-Bo unit. I don’t know how she does her progressions or how she has her students learning.

The third class had their introduction to the weight room today, but geez! There were 12 students missing. It left the class feeling a little empty and barren. However, it was nice to have only a class of 23 today. It was nice and small and manageable. We went over the safety rules and the principles of training. I let them have free time in the weight room just like all the other classes who are participating in the personal fitness units. I think that they will like this unit too, especially one of the students who has been giving me a hard time with his participation and off task behavior in the other parts of the classes. He really likes the weight room so I think he will be really receptive of the information that I give him. I hope all the students feel this way and see the importance of personal fitness. At this rate, this class may like the personal fitness unit better than the soccer only because I am not teaching them soccer the “correct” way.

Today was a Zap day. Those students who chose to come to the gym had a pretty cool presentation. The drama club from Onate came and did a little performance for them. It was really interesting and entertaining to watch and the students really got into it, especially when the drama club through candy into the stands. At the very end, they danced a little portion of the thriller. Before they started it, I had told my cooperating teacher that my colleague and I both knew parts of the dance. She told me that the students would love me if I would get up there and dance with them. I said I was unsure because they did it a little different than how we learned it. When the music was starting and they were just about ready to start the dance, my cooperating teacher kept nudging me to get in there in dance. Eventually, I got up joined them and did parts of the dance. After it was all said and done and the students were leaving the gym, I had a couple of my students come up to me and give me high fives and tell me I was awesome! Hopefully this will help me earn some “cool points” and respect from the students. Needless to say, my colleague was reluctant to join me.

Track today was Free the Pig/Fun Friday. I had the anticipation in the kids building all week long. They kept asking what it meant and what we would be doing. I told them I couldn’t say, but that day has arrived. I had the students warm up and do their dynamic exercises. Throughout the whole warm up, the kids were trying to touch and hold the pig. I told them that they couldn’t because he was shy and not ready to come out just yet. Eventually, we got to Freeing the Pig and all it is, is a game like ultimate Frisbee but with the pig. I had them into three groups. Two groups got to play for a minute while the third did exercises like sit ups and burpees. They really liked playing the game and wanted more, but we had to break up into our events.

Coaching is something I really like to do. I even told the one girl who asked me (a girl who is not on the team but I kept asking her to join) if I was the kind of coach who would tell the athletes to keep on doing what I told them even if they were hurting. I said, “I am most certainly not that kind of coach. I believe that you listen to your body. I can’t tell what you are going through or how you feel. If your body says stop, you stop and I won’t think any different. Just know that you are only hurting yourself if you try to get out of exercises because they are too hard.” She said, “Well now that you said that, I will go home and talk to my mom about joining the team.” However, I told her that I am very different than what I am like in the classroom. “In the classroom, we can be all fun and games, but when we come to practice, I am like a drill sergeant. I will expect you to work hard.” I have totally seen me be two different people inside and outside of the classroom. I think that I do the separation pretty well because there is a difference between being a teacher and a coach.

Well, overall it was a pretty good week. Next week we start testing for the next two weeks. It should be interesting to see how this plays out. I believe we have all of our classes, but there will be few pushed back and class times cut short. I have only got three more weeks with the students. It’s a shame because I am just getting used to teaching to them and being around them.

Until tomorrow!

Day 18...Exceeding Expectations (4/8/10)

Just another day in the life of student teaching and a pretty uneventful day at that.

My first class continued their baseball/softball unit. I really enjoy teaching this unit and to this class. We reviewed the overhand throw and grounders that we worked on the first class. It’s nice to know that regardless of how many days between doing this unit, the students still remember how to perform the movement. This shows me that the students are learning and remembering what I have taught them. That is always exciting! After five minutes of that, we moved into learning underhand tosses. It was a struggle to keep the kids under control and not throwing the ball hard at their partner or very high in the air (mainly the guys and one or two girls). I then gave them a challenge of moving and throwing to their partner.

Afterward, we practiced base running for the last 10 minutes of class. We played a base running game called “The Run Around.” In this game, the students are to set up their bases to fit their needs; they can be far apart or close together. Each group has five or six students but preferably five. There are four students that are on the bases and one at home plate. The person at home plate is the “batter.” When the catcher says go, the runner starts running the bases as fast as he/she can. The catcher throws the ball to first base, first base to second, and so on until it gets back to the catcher. If the runner makes it around before that, he/she gets a point. If not, it’s like an out. The students then rotate with the runner going to first and the catcher being the next runner. The students really liked playing this game and it was nice to see how creative the students were in setting up their bases.

What’s even more is that out of 21 students, I managed to receive 12 homework sheets back. I was so surprised at the amount I got back. I was expecting a lesser amount. This class is a sixth grade class. Maybe they don’t know how it’s supposed to go in PE. They are still too young to know. You are suppose to be resistant to what the teacher gives you and does for you. Come on kids, it is PE. There is no homework in PE (yeah right). :)

Once again, my honors class never ceases to amaze me. Today we worked in hip hop dances. However, they are still pretty basic steps and line dancing but using hip hop songs. In the beginning, after the warm up and initial instructions, I introduced them to a new song and new combination of steps to “Let’s Dance” by Lady Gaga. In the first initial steps and including my instructions, it looked like it was going to fail and fall apart. However, it just took a little bit of adaptability, thinking on my feet, and warming up by the girls in order for it to turn out good. I also had to tweak my instructions a bit for the girls to understand it.

There was a girl who came in and I noticed that she was crying. I had the girls start teaching their steps to one another for just a review, especially since a few girls were absent the first time. During this time, I pulled her aside to ask what was wrong. Of course, she didn’t want to tell me so I just told her that if she ever wanted to talk about it, I was there. I proceeded to tell her that whatever she needed to do to make things better she can do it, whether that is to sit out or continue doing what we were doing. She sat out for quite some time. When we got to the partner dance to the Lady Gaga song, she got up and started dancing with her friend. She was smiling and having a good time. I was glad to see this, but deep down she was hurting inside. I am glad that she found something that could take her mind off of what was bothering her.

This is the class where the higher skilled girls are trying to silence the lesser skilled girls. During the dance unit, all of the really high skilled girls are placing themselves closer to me and the front. The lesser skilled girls are the ones who stick near the back of the class. They still look like they are enjoying themselves. However, I want to get these girls more involved and more intermingled with the rest of the girls. I am going to have to make sure that the next time we dance, they get different partners; one that they have never partnered with before. Either that or try incorporating line changes so those girls will get a chance to be in the front and the others in the back. One way or another, I have to try to break this oppression by one group over the other.

The third class also decided to do a soccer unit. I took them outside and did the same lesson as I did with the other class but this time I told them that I have to start with the basics so that I can see where their skill level is. If I think that the majority of you are doing a good job, we can progress quickly to playing games. The students seemed a little more at ease at this statement and seemed to be more willing to work with me instead of putting up a big fuss about not being able to play. We worked on basic skills such as passing with the instep and trapping the ball. As I walked around to each pair or group, I noticed those who needed more help than others. The ones who did really well, I told them that they could start moving and passing instead of being stationary. At the end of the class period, we played short sided games.

I even spoke a lot more in Spanish with the students today. I am still hesitant to speak in Spanish with them but slowly that hesitation is diminishing. I can see that they are becoming more comfortable with speaking more Spanish with me as well. It’s nice to see that we are making this kind of progress, but it saddens me that it took this long and my time at the school is drawing to an end. Guess I have to make the most of it and keep practicing!

Like I said, today was a pretty ordinary day. Nothing too major popped in my head or made me think about things in another light. Today though, everything exceeded my expectations. The majority of my students in the first class completed their homework, my honors class really liked the dance lesson enough to ask to do it again the next class period so they could finish the dance, and my Spanish-speaking students are beginning to talk to me in their language as well as me talking to them in theirs. The students definitely exceeded my expectations and I exceeded my own expectations. It’s always nice to have days like these; when everything just seems to be falling in place and going right for once.

Until tomorrow!

Day 17...You Can't Quit What is Right (4/7/10)

Today was a pretty even keel day. There were a few disruptions and classes that got on my last nerve. The honeymoon period is definitely over with these middle school students. The students are doing their best to test my patience and getting on my last nerves. I just have persevere and not let them see me get frustrated. A lot of these students just want to see how far they can push me.

Compared to my first class on Monday, today’s first class more manageable and bearable today. I still had the majority of my students (minus one or two). This could have been a direct result from a better classroom management or just being with this group of students for another week. It is the second week I have been teaching this class and I think we are growing more comfortable with each other and they are getting used to my teaching style.

The students who gave me a really hard time the last time we did our Gaelic football unit were really well behaved today. It was quite nice to see this side of them. However, one of the students was not listening to my instructions and just goofing off. He didn’t really participate last time and today he had increased his participation, but during one of the activities, he tried to punch his partner when his partner was trying to take the ball from him. I told him that is not acceptable and told him to start walking. After he came back into the activity, he was noncompliant and didn’t want to participate anymore. Clearly, this punishment was enough to make him feel angry enough to not participate further in the class. He totally changed because I had told him to start walking.

I found that the students who gave me a hard time last week and were so well behaved this week could be a result of me talking to them as people instead of as an authoritarian figure. You have to find something relatable to these students and then you will gain more respect from them. This creates a common ground between you and the student and gives you something to open the lines of communication. For example, there is one student who wouldn’t just talk to me. However, during warm ups, I praised him for his good form and technique during one exercise. Throughout the rest of the class, he was always seeking this praise and feedback. “Miss, am I doing this right?”He also told me about how his abdominals were hurting because of boxing practice. We talked a little bit about his boxing as he was warming up and this became our common ground. He was so good during the rest of the class.

I had given this class their homework on Monday and today they had to turn it in. I only 6 students out of 21 turn their homework in. I kind of expected this. I wasn’t expecting many of them to turn it in, especially after the resistance I saw from them on Monday. I even talked to my cooperating teacher about this. I know that it would be a different story had it been my class for an entire year because part of their grade would come from homework and not solely based on participation.

Today, my second class got on my last nerve. Classes shouldn’t be allowed to have more than 25 students. Heck, more than 20 can get a little hectic. This class has about 30 students and there are a handful of boys who make it that much more unbearable. It is a 6th grade class and half of these students are immature. At the end of the class, I ended up writing up 4 students for lunch detentions and 1 student for a category B write up (disorderly conduct). This one student, I had told him to go sit down because he couldn’t follow directions and I had already given him two warnings. When I brought the students in to give instructions for the next activity, he was yelling at me and just disrupting the class. Of course, all his classmates paid attention to him instead of me. Eventually, I just ignored him and told the students to not pay attention to him either; he was just trying to get attention.

Unfortunately what this one student does, all his friends have to follow. Four of his closest buddies had to start goofing off and misbehave in the class as well. Soon I just had enough of them as well and just made them sit down because if I had all of them walking, it would be a disaster. At the end of the class, I had them all sit against the wall together and talk to them. I told them that “I don’t like to make you sit out or punish you with detentions, so what can I do to make you want to listen and participate in the activities? What can I do to make this better for you?” Of course none of them responded to these questions. I had even asked the whole class before they left what I should do for punishments if they don’t want to listen or participate. Some students said to make them sit out or make them go run.

The thing that bothers me the most about this punishment is that it seems like it does not even faze the students. I think that they are used to this type of punishment so it doesn’t really even matter. I wish I could find a different way to correct the behavior of these students; a way that would mean something to them. The other saddest part is the fact that their behavior affects all the other students in the class as well. I apologized to them and said it was a shame that their behavior was influencing the learning of the other students. My classroom management for the other classes apparently doesn’t work with this group. I am going to have to shuffle a few things around and she if that works better. I guess it will be a trial and error process.

My third class was introduced to their soccer unit today. These students, all they want to do is jump right into the game playing of the activity. They don’t understand that they need practice in order to be better. They would rather have fun than learn how to have fun and be better at what they do. These students are so used to traditional sports and traditional game play that it will be really hard to break them of this habit. I had one student in this class even ask “Miss, why can’t we play the sport right.” “Because the right way is not the only way. That’s how you learned it, but there a plenty of ways to play. Plus, the right way to you might leave some students feeling left out because you never pass them the ball. What’s right to you might not be right to them.”

I also took them outside to do the soccer unit. It is so hard to be outside because there are so many distractions for the students. It’s harder to keep the kids under control as well because since they are given wide open spaces, they think they can act crazy. It’s harder to keep the class under control when you have ample space to play. I even set up cones and boundaries, but the students wanted to keep going outside of them. There is always something about feeling closed in. When the students aren’t given boundaries, they manage to stay close. However, whenever you tell them that they can’t go outside the cones, all they want to do is break free.

I learned that if you say something, you better follow up on it or you will lose that credibility and respect from the students. If you say that “that was your last warning,” you cannot give them just one more warning. Students will walk all over you if they think you are a pushover. Students will find your weaknesses and prey upon those. I compare it to how Satan works in our lives. All he needs is a little crack in order to sneak in and try to control your life. After he sneaks in, he tries to control your life and preys upon your weaknesses. These students, all they need is that one little flaw, weakness, or crack before they begin to try to use that against you. I am not saying this students are “little Satan’s,” I am just saying that you can’t let the students use your weaknesses against you. You can’t let them bother you to a point where you want to quit, give up, and not want to continue in this profession. Everywhere we go, there are always going to be those students who try to get on your last nerve and break you down to a point where it feels like there is no hope. There is always hope; always hope for those students. You just have to love on them and show them compassion.

I go into the next class and the next day with optimism; always! You can’t let one class or one day ruin the way you think about students, education, and teaching. You can’t let it get you down and make you want to quit. You have to always remember that you as a student were always testing the teachers you had, in one way or another. You have to get up and try again. Things in life aren’t easy. It takes a lot of hard work to get things to be where you want them. You can’t quit the things you know are right.

Until tomorrow!

Day 16...What is Physical Education? (4/6/10)

Wahhooo! It’s Tuesday.  There is nothing special about Tuesday, but at least it’s no longer Monday and we are almost to Wednesday!

I consider myself to be a very organized person and liking structure. However, right now I feel like I can’t keep all of these classes straight. I have a total of six classes and with all of these papers that I am giving students, it might be hard to remember which ones got what. However, I have a folder for each class and write down what activities and papers they receive each day to help keep it organized. It seems to helping out a little bit, but I can imagine what it will be like when a student is absent and asks what he/she needs to get from me.

The first class had a weight room introduction with a warm up and cool down. We discussed the importance of a proper warm up and cool down and what each of them can do for our bodies before and after exercise. There wasn’t enough room in the weight room for a proper warm up so we did it walking through the exercises. Next time, I have to make sure I take them outside then back inside. I also need to cut down on my talk time because I see some of the students getting antsy to move and be active. This class is a pretty good class overall. It’s a nice, small class. I still had resistance from assigning the homework, but I think this class will do better than the others.

My second class is amazing!!! I absolutely love teaching this class. We started our dance unit today and I fully enjoyed myself. I taught the basics of dancing such as the step-touch, grapevine, front and back basic, and the 3-Step turn. As we were practicing, I taught them first and then we put it to music. After enough practice, I gave them each a chance to teach the same thing to their partner. At the end of the unit, they will have the chance to teach a dance to the class and through the practice today, I hope to help build the confidence in them to do so. They worked on cueing and leading a couple of dance moves with their partner. This is definitely my favorite class.

After having my honors class as well as my co-ed classes, I am a big proponent of single sexed classes, especially at this age. In the elementary school level, co-ed is fine and the high school students are a lot more mature to handle co-ed classes. However, this age level is awkward and confusing for many students. It’s hard to be a student at this age and trying to figure out my body and who I am while worrying about what others think about me as well. I understand that this is illegal, but I really like it to be separated. I think that I get more participation out of them as well because they are not worried about “looking good” for the guys while participating in activity. I know that these are special circumstances, 8th grade girls who are highly skilled, active, and motivated, but I think that the results would be similar at other grade levels as well and with a diverse range of students.

My third class was also introduced to personal fitness plan. We started off the class with a dynamic warm up and talking about the benefits of physical activity. Once again, I had to do a reality check with how much the students were talking. It is not idle and off task chatter. I need to get used to this, especially when making jokes and expecting the students to pay attention right after it.

What is physical education? Physical education is no longer a traditional class. It has a plethora of possibilities as to which direction teachers can go with their activities and lessons. No longer is it about play sports. It’s about finding out who you are and learning what you can do along the way. We don’t always have to focus on skill development and physical ability. It we can get students to think more critically about the life they are experiencing and leading, then I think we are doing our jobs just fine. We have to get the students to think more critically about leading a healthy life and what that all encompasses; it’s not just being physically active but making the right decisions to be healthy along the way. I am hoping to teach this to my students regardless of how much resistance they give me about homework and projects. If I can spark an interest in their learning, I am happy with that.

On a side note, we started track practice today. That was quite interesting. Coaching is really a nice break outside of the school. I still have the same students, but in a different context. I get to know these few a little bit more. It’s also nice to have more respect from them at practice because I sometimes don’t get that respect during the school day.

Today, I expected to lead the warm up and do the plyometrics at the end. However, when one of the coaches had the students line up on the line to begin running, he turned around and said to me “Go ahead. Do some of the running with them.” “Um….okay. Crap, what do I have them do? He could have given me a heads up before practice.” I just had the students work on sprinting and agility for 10-15 minutes. Afterwards, they went got a drink and returned for some more running. I decided to do Chelsea’s with them. A Chelsea is completed on a football field (or any squared field) and the first time around, they jog three sides and sprint one. Gradually, they increase their running to jogging 2 sides and sprinting 2 sides then moving onto jogging 1 side and sprinting 3. Eventually, they end with sprinting the whole way around the field. Well, needless to say, they died before moving into sprinting half and jogging half. Talk about an assumption of skill level. These kids were dying!! I ended up being the only one coaching even though there were four of us there.

I then had the kids come back inside and we finished practice with some plyometrics. They are going to be really sore tomorrow morning. I told the kids today that I can either be their worst enemy or their best friend. While one girl was rounding the corner, she said “Coach, I don’t like you very much right now.” “Hah..I know that.” These are some pretty good kids. I feel really good about coaching them; I really like coaching. After a few motivational speeches about potentials and abilities, we stretched and let them go.

Coaching is really a nice break outside of the school. I still have the same students, but in a different context. I get to know these few a little bit more. It’s also to have more respect from them at practice because I sometimes don’t get that respect during the school day. I think that this semester is going to end pretty well. After a rocky start last week, I finally got all my stuff organized and finished and I believe it will end in a good manner (hopefully!)

It was a pretty good day. Not a lot of complaints (other than from the athletes). It is very different being on the opposite side of the fence now and no longer being the athlete, but now coaching and seeing the athletes working their butts off during practice. I wonder if that is what my coaches thought when we were at practice. Well, I look forward to another day tomorrow. Hopefully my Monday students did their homework.

Until tomorrow.

Day 15...Changing the Face of Physical Education (4/5/10)

Before I start talking about the day, there were a few things that I thought about during this wonderful 3 day weekend. I sat down this week to write out my lesson plans for the next four weeks and complete my units. It was quite interesting not only because I was bopping back and forth between each unit, but also because of some of the decisions I made while doing so.

Two of the units are activities that I have never taught, coached or played before. Gaelic football is totally new to me. It was a little hard to write lesson plans for this sport because I don’t know the actual progressions. I did the best I could and I think I have a pretty solid unit plan. Secondly, the other unit is baseball/softball. I have played softball and coached biddy t-ball, but here it is totally different. I still don’t have a solid background in this sport as I do basketball, soccer, or track/field. Again, I think these units are written well enough to introduce the students as well as me to these sports. I am excited to get these units underway.

While writing the units and lesson plans, I kept thinking about everything I needed to include, how I wanted to approach the classes, what direction the students were going to be doing, is this something my students would like, and how I was going to assess the students throughout the units. While doing these unit plans, I kept asking myself will the students like this. How can I make this fun for the students and make sure that everyone is involved? Will the students be active throughout the whole class period? Is there enough equipment to do this kind of activity?

When thinking about the direction of the class, I asked questions such as what progressions will the students make through the course of the unit? Do I want to start small or just start large because I really don’t have a lot of time with the students? I sat down and mapped out how many classes I will have with the students from today until we are finished. I counted 10 days left. However, because I decided to do two units at the same time, it really cuts down there time in each unit to 5 class periods (this is pretty normal because the other teachers only spend 6 days on each unit – or 3 weeks). There is just so much that I can do with these students that only having 5 days with them on each unit seems absurd. I need more TIME!!!!

Assessing the students should be an interesting event. I have planned on giving students homework, projects, and opportunities to teach a portion of the class. I hope that the students take well to this kind of change. I can see the students rebelling against the homework and projects that they have to do outside of class. It goes back to making students care about their education. With the homework assignments that I have designed, I made it in such a way that I hope to spark an interest in them. For example, they will be asked to find definitions to different words that we will be talking about. I hope that by them looking up these words, they may find articles or readings that are linked to that word and they may read on. Through this, they will be gaining a better understanding and working knowledge of the word than for me to just tell them what it is.

I also kept thinking about how easy it will be on me. Do I have to get out a lot of equipment? Is there a lot of set up to be done? If I set it all up, how long will it take to get it all put away? How easily can this be organized while still maximizing the participation of the students? Some activities I turned away from doing because of my answering some of these questions. It really does influence the way that I choose my activities and how I teach the students. I know this kind of stuff shouldn’t affect it because you should teach the students what they need to know regardless of set up time, organization, and level of ease. With anything that you plan to do, there is always a way to make it easier and more organized. You just have to plan and do it. You will learn by trial and error and through experience. You can’t just knock an idea because of what you think might happen. If it doesn’t work, you reflect on that and make adaptations to it. Basic theme: Try it! Learn by doing.

Now to talk about today’s classes. I think I talk too long when giving instructions and feedback. Sometimes a longer instruction is needed, especially for the first couple of times we do an activity. When doing the benefits of physical activity, safety rules for the weight room, or eight principles of training, some of those things need to be explained so the students will understand them better. I don’t want to just hand the students a sheet of paper stating the rules and expect them to follow every word it says. It’s a way for me to assess their understanding of the rules when we sit down and talk about them for a little bit. Eventually, we will get to a point where the students know what is expected of them and little instruction or talking will be needed.

After we discussed safety rules and the eight principles of training, I let the students have some free time in the weight room to explore the machines and practice what we had just talked about. While they did this, I just walked around, talked, and instructed each individual student or group. I think that even though you talk about safety rules, the students still need to have that application. So since today we talked about safety, while the students were exploring the machines, I walked around and taught safety.

At the very end of the class I told the students that I teach a little differently than what you are used to. You will have homework and projects as well as leading your class through a warm-up or cool down. Of course, I heard moans and groans and one student saying “Miss, this is PE. We don’t have homework in PE.” My response to the class was this: “You are in school?” Nodding of heads. “Okay. You have classes in school, correct?” Again, a nodding of heads. “Don’t you have homework in those classes?” “Yes, but…” “Okay, and PE is a class so therefore you will have to do some homework.” “But Miss, this is an elective.” Some students took the homework assignment in stride and others were fighting to the end. I told them that there are only 2-3 homework assignments and they are very simple to do. One is finding definitions, keeping a food log, and creating a pamphlet on the benefits of physical activity. I said to them that PE class is about movement and fun, but we learn through doing homework and sitting down to think about the activities that we do.

I guess you can say that what we are trying to do is change the way PE is taught and change the way students think about PE. The students are going to be resistant at first, but I think they will start coming around to it. However, it all depends on what happens after we leave them for good. Will these teachers take a different approach to the way they teach the classes after we leave? As I developed the homework assignments and grading, I realized that it will be a lot of work for me in the long run because of grading the students’ papers, but it is okay. If it helps the students learn at the end of the day, then that is what I am here for.

Overall, the first class was pretty good. I even had a warm up run with the students as well. I pretty much had all of the students running the entire lap (minus a few stragglers). The students really like that we are out there and see it as a competition; they don’t want to get beat by the teachers. I also had a chance to talk to my cooperating teacher about how I was going to assess the students and grade them. I talked to her about my point system and she seems to be really cool with it. All she said is, “I will teach you how to input that into the grade book.” I really like how she is letting me do my own thing. While I wish she was more supportive in other areas, she has been really good with me being here and teaching her classes.

For the second class, I definitely need a different management system. As much as I hate being a teacher that yells and is continually getting on the students for their behaviors, with this class, that is what I am turning into. My first class and all my other classes are democracies. However, this class can’t deal with democracy (or at least right now). This class is completely opposite of the other class I had this morning. Not only are there about 10 more students in the class, but they are also younger, immature, and disrespectful (I can’t say that about the whole class, it mainly is a group a guys).

This class responded the same way as the first class whenever I told them they had homework to complete. It is going to be a rough next four weeks if I keep getting this resistance from the students for everything that I do. We were in the weight room today and I was trying to talk to them about safety rules and a lot of the students were just talking. I talked this morning about how I hated how the other teachers treat them like the army and yell at them to be quiet while stretching and warming up and here I was doing it to them as well.

The third class had an introduction to the personal fitness unit. I talked about my expectations for them over the next four weeks and what we will be doing. When talking about grading and assessment, they are also resistant to the homework, but this was expected so I can’t really complain. We continued class with a dynamic warm up and talking about the importance of warming up before activity. This class did a lot better on their first day of this activity than did the other two classes. They were more respectful and followed the rules of the exercises better. There was minimal goofing off and the students stayed on task.

I brought them back inside and we talked about the benefits of physical activity and exercise. While discussing these benefits, there were a lot of students talking to the person sitting next to them. It took me a little bit to realize that they were talking about how that benefit was related to them in some way or what they knew about it. At first, I was trying to silence them instead of fostering their thinking. Their talk wasn’t off-task behavior talk, but instead they are talking about pertinent things that are associated with a specific benefit.

Today wasn’t too bad of a day. We only a couple of more weeks left and has left me feeling rushed. What’s even more is that next week and the following week, the students will be testing, so we probably won’t even get to some of the stuff that I want to or give them projects to do. Oh well. Guess that is how the school systems work! Until tomorrow 