My KATE Conference Experience

What did the KATE Conference mean to me?  I have been inspired and I feel like it was an impactful experience.  I learned so much from the breakout sessions.  My favorite session was titled "Selfie Culture: Make it Work."  I was unsure about going to this one at first because I did not know if it would be beneficial to me as a teacher.  I was so wrong.  Stacy Chestnut and Alexis Fisher incorporated numerous activities I can use to get to know my students.  One activity I would like to do with my sixth graders would be the "Five Core Values" we got to do.  They had us first write our five values and then put a circle around it.  The next circle is where we had to write names that help us protect those values.  The circle after that are people that do not always help us with our values but we continue to have around.  The last circle are the names of people we probably should not have in our lives.  I like this activity because I feel like middle school is a good time for students to look at the type of friendships they have.

Another session that I am happy that I went to because it was not at all what I expected was the "Pod Save Us All."  I never really thought about podcasts being a tool for teaching.  The one that I could use with middle school students would be Storycorp or Poetry Now.  I feel like Storycorp would work with middle school students because it would be a good way to show how to create a story.  I think that the stories on this website are meaningful and students may empathize.  I liked the podcasts for Poetry Now because the authors of the poem read them.  Students would be able to understand the flow of the poem.

The next session I want to talk about is the "Get Out of the Way and Let Your Students Read."  I remember reading Penny Kittle's book Book Love during Literature for Adolescents.  Although I enjoyed the book and Kittle's discussion on how to get students to read more, I did not really know how to incorporate the strategies in the classroom.  This session showed me how teachers are able to use strategies effectively and how to incorporate your own spin on the strategies.  My favorite technique was how the teachers check on how students are doing with their readings.  I found it encouraging that the teachers presenting were getting some of the same results that Kittle was experiencing!  I now know that I will be able to incorporate a few of these strategies into my own classroom.

I liked being with a group of English educators who are passionate about their profession.  They were all welcoming and I was thankful for it because I was a little nervous going into the conference the first day.

One presentation I with I went to was the "Hatred of Poetry" session.  I heard so many amazing things from the other teaching interns about it.  One session that I thought would be different was  the "Including Diversity in the Middle and High School Curriculum."  I appreciated that they gave more titles of diverse novels that I could incorporate into a middle school classroom but I wish that there was more discussion about how to teach it.  The session never really got past discussing the novels.

Overall I am so happy that I attended the KATE Conference.  I want to try my best to return next year and learn even more!

Should I Call On You? (Blog Post #2)

Where did I last leave you on my journey through student teaching?  Ah yes, I was trying to figure out how to ask more in-depth questions.  I am happy to say that I have gotten better at posing higher level questions to my students.  I think I was able to ask better questions because I was teaching my unit last week and I had to plan out lessons for five days.  I took my mentor teacher’s advice and read the text we were going to be reading in class, Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, while I was planning so I could write out the main questions I wanted to ask.  Now that I have had the practice to write out what higher level questions I want to ask I now need to work on asking higher level questions on the spot.

During my week of teaching I tested out my question of “how do I incorporate discussion and still have enough time to complete the lesson.”  I can now tell you after a week of teaching that it is really difficult to balance!  I wanted to get through all that I planned with my students but in order to do that there were some days that I did not ask all of my questions I wanted to ask.  If I had more time to teach I would have had more in-depth discussions with my students.

One struggle I had while teaching was not calling on the same three students to answer questions.  How can I get more students involved in the discussion?  After the first day of only calling on people who raised their hands I experimented the next day and decided to call on students.  I gave students time to think about their answer when they did not talk right away but there was one student who refused to answer the question.  I also gave an opportunity to talk in small groups but that did not help her answer the question.  What are other techniques I can use to help students be more comfortable voicing their opinions in the classroom?  One technique I have found on John Spencer’s article Encouraging Introverts to Speak up in School was number seven on his list of ten ways to get introverts to speak up in class.  He says “I conference ahead of time with students who are anxious. I affirm their courage in speaking up and allow them to share their frustrations with the situation.”  I like this idea because he gives students a chance to talk to him one-on-one about any issues they might have about speaking in front of their classmates.  I want to try this technique with my students who are shy.

One idea that I want to incorporate into my teaching is allowing students more free time to write about whatever they want to.  Students are given times when they write in my mentor teacher’s classroom but I would like to incorporate more time for students who enjoy writing.  According to Bomer (2011), “we need to teach students to attend to their thinking, to develop and extend it” while writing (167).  I would want to incorporate at least one fifteen minute block a week where students are allowed to write whatever they want to write about.  For those who were like me and did not like having too much freedom while writing I would post writing prompts on the board to spark an idea.

Link to John Spencer’s article: https://www.quietrev.com/encouraging-introverts-to-speak-up-in-school/

Bomer (2011). Building adolescent literacy in today’s English classroom. Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Waiting to be Called On (Genre Reflection #1)

Dear Heather*,

            I am sorry I did not give you a chance to talk in class today.  You have such amazing ideas in your writing but you seem shy when you are sitting in class.  When I walk by and you are working on partner work I have noticed that you are actively engaged in your conversation because you are usually talking to your friend.  I would love to hear you give your insight to the rest of the class.  Is it because you do not like speaking in front of others?  Do you not want students to comment on what you are saying? 

            When I was in middle school I did not like having to speak in front of other students unless I was asked to do so by the teacher.  I did not really come out of my shell and feel confident to answer questions until high school. 

            I hope to make you feel more confident about speaking up during discussions.  Today we talked about the first chapter of Freak the Mighty and you looked actively engaged in what your peers had to say.  I wish I had called on you so you could have been a part of the conversation.  It is still early on in the year so there is a chance you may become more comfortable giving your opinion. 

You came up to me today in the hallway and asked me a question.  That made me really happy!  I like that I am starting to build a relationship with you and I hope that also makes you more comfortable.  I look forward to working with you and helping you become more comfortable in the classroom.

                        Best Regards,

                                    Ms. Jewell

*name was changed

What is in a Good Question? (Blog Post #1)

Hello readers!  After my last week and a half in my classroom I have realized one thing- I need to become better at asking students in-depth questions.  My mentor teacher let me try to ask questions when we were reading "The Good Deed" by Marion Dane Bauer in class.  I would start out asking surface level questions but could not come up with deeper questions that led to a discussion on what a good deed really is.  When I talked to my mentor teacher after class she gave me great advice about how to ask deeper questions.  She told me that when I go to read the story before I teach it I should write down the questions I think of as I am reading in the margins so I know when to pause the story to discuss an important point.  I feel like this advice will help me when I have my own classroom.  In Building Adolescent Literacy  in Today's English Classroom, Bomer (2011) discusses the importance of helping students hold their attention to one idea and to develop that idea (p. 4).  As I am learning to ask more insightful questions I will help students focus in on one idea and to form their own opinions.

People have always questioned why I want to teach middle school.  My answers have evolved over time and my current answer is because I love how eager the majority of them are to have their opinions be heard!  It can be a little tough to reign in the students that are more vocal once they get started on a topic but my mentor teacher does a great job at letting students have their discussions while driving the lesson forward.  My main worry and my question I will be posing for myself throughout the year is "how do I incorporate discussion in my lessons and still have time left to complete the lesson without rushing?"  I want to be the type of teacher who helps students figure out what their opinion is throughout the year but at what cost to the lesson?  When I asked my mentor teacher about my worries she told me that for her it depends on the day if they are able to get through the lesson in enough time that they are not rushing.  If there is not enough time to finish the classwork then they have to finish at home.

Once I take over the classroom I do want to continue incorporating discussions.  I feel like middle school is a great time for students to build their own opinions.  A lot of times I think people believe that middle school students only listen to what their friends think.  I disagree because I think that students do have their own opinions but need to have a space where they can openly talk about them.  They also need the chance to say their opinions.  I also enjoy hearing their opinions because twelve year olds have some great insights on what is going on in the world.

One practice I would like to try out in the classroom this year while I still have the help of my mentor teacher is Fishbowl Discussions.  I would have half of the group set up in an outside circle asking questions and the inside of the circle would be answering the questions.  They would switch halfway through class.  I like this strategy because more students will be engaged in the discussions.  It also makes students who have a difficulty listening to others a chance to learn how to.  The students in the outside circle will also have a chance to ask insightful questions that make the whole group think.  I also like this strategy because it will not be solely on me to direct the discussion.

I am excited to learn how to ask questions this year as well as working with my students on how to form their opinions.

In My Ideal World (Practice Post)

We all have ideal fantasies about what we would like out of teaching.  "I want my students to love reading and writing!"  "All of my students will leave inspired after each class!"  These idealistic goals are good stems for what goals I would love to complete for myself this year.

My first professional goal for myself is to learn how to make grammar lessons interesting for students and how to incorporate grammar into units.  The sixth graders I observed last year dreaded the grammar sheets they would get as homework once a week.   At some point this year I will ask my mentor teacher how she thinks grammar should be taught.  It is important to find a new way to incorporate grammar because some students do not pick up grammar rules through worksheets.

My second professional goal is to learn how to discipline effectively.  My mentor teacher told me that when I take over the classroom I need to nip any bad behaviors in the bud so the rest of the classroom does not walk over me.  I think disciplining will be one of my biggest challenges because I hate when people do not like me.  I plan to talk to my mentor teacher about techniques that work best for her when discipline issues arise.  Achieving this goal will be important because I need to get through my head that students do not need to always like me because I am there to teach them as much as I can.

My academic goal for myself this year is NOT to procrastinate as much.  This bad habit has only gotten worse throughout my collegiate career.  I need to practice working on assignments earlier because I know that when I am a teacher I do not want to procrastinate grading.  In order to work on this goal I need to use my planner and work on assignments the day that I wrote them down for.

I am excited for the school year and for my first time taking over a classroom.  I have been waiting so long to become a teacher that it almost does not feel real.  I cannot wait to start my first steps to complete my goals.