Digital Case Study Materials Citations

Audio Citations:

“Cry Little Sister (theme from Lost Boys)” by Gerard McMann & Michael Mainieri

“Never Too Late” by Three Days Grace

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” by The Chipmunks

Image Citations:

Audible-android picture. Intomobile. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://www.intomobile.com/2010/09/06/audible-releases-an-android-app-audiobook-fans-rejoice/

Bored.jpg picture. Poop or Chocolate: Comedy's Answer to Fascism website. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://www.pooporchocolateblogs.com/2010/06/page/3/

Call of the Wild picture. Boysread.org. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://readingtribe.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html

Carrot on a stick picture. The Cartwheel Blog. Accessed on December 10, 2011 at: http://blog.cartwheelit.com/2010/10/21/does-being-a-parent-make-you-a-better-manager/bigstock_carrot_6127270/

First_Day_School_yawn picture. LJWorld.com. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://www2.ljworld.com/photos/2006/aug/17/104786/

Graphic Classics Poe picture. Shooting Stars Mag blog. Access on November 29, 2011 at: http://shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com/2011/05/graphic-classics-edgar-allan-poe-review.html

Harry_Potter_Trivia picture. Android Apps Lisisoft. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://androidapp.lisisoft.com/apps-android-phone/115202-harry.potter.trivia.html

Kindle_Blackberry picture. Cnet News. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20000079-264.html

Knights of the Hill Country picture. Trapped in Adolescence blog. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://trappedinadolescence.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/knights-of-the-hill-country-by-tim-tharp/

Oregan Trail Game picture. Blogspot. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://vhiec.blogspot.com/2011/01/oregon-trail-game-is-coming-to-facebook.html

Otrail picture. Frontfree. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://front-free.com/oregon-trail-bitch/

Outside the Box picute. Diesel eBook Store. Accessed on November 29, 2011 at: http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/item/9780595442959/Allosso-Dan-Outside-the-Box/1.html

Sleeping picture. Our Town online. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://ourtownlive.com/ourtown/?p=522

Spore box picture. Wikipedia. Accessed on November 29, 2011 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spore_(2008_video_game)

Spore Creatures picture. Cnet Reviews online. Accessed http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10442006-233.html

Spore Creepy and Cute picture. eGexaBlog. Accessed on November 29, 2011 at: http://blog.egexa.com/games/12143-spore-creepy-and-cute-parts-pack-eph.html

Students picture. Buffalo News. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://www.buffalonews.com/city/schools/article471509.ece

Teenage boy looking bored picture. For Bloggers By Bloggers. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://bestbloggingtipsonline.com/first-50-words/

Twisted cover picture. Syracuse.com. Accessed on November 29, 2011 at: http://blog.syracuse.com/shelflife/2007/11/twisted_among_amazoncoms_2007.html

VHS sleeping student picture. Knightly News. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://www.knightlynews.org/archives/tag/sleep

Vintage School Desk picture. Diary of a Quilter. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2011_01_01_archive.html

Words with Friends picture. Android Central. Accessed on December 6, 2011 at: http://www.androidcentral.com/words-friends-now-available-android-market

Online Reflection #4: OMG what do I do now!!??

It is done. My teaching unit is done. WOOT!

Sorry. I was wary about the unit as I had to build it around The Catcher in the Rye which I dislike. I was also on a restricted diet during my planning. My CT had things planned already. Some of it I was able to re-vamp or create, others I was not. She did give me a free hand to create and administer a comprehensive quiz. I was like, hey I have to do that for my methods class anyhow! Awesome. So I built myself a unit inside my CT's unit and tried to inject as much actual teaching time as I could. I get the handouts and test done and get a thumbs up. I send her the files so her para can make copies. I am on a roll.

The week before my unit, my CT is giving a quiz over chapters 1-18 of CITR and I am observing and redirecting. Then a student question clues me in that they have a question, from a chapter beyond 18. I bring the issue to my CT and she grabs a copy of the quiz and has them cross out 4 or 5 items. Somehow I wander on and I catch another question, but as I am answering I read another question on the quiz and I am like “huh, that sounds like the essay question I created...”

Yup, it was my comprehensive quiz that got handed out by accident. Neither I nor my CT realized it until a hurried over to her at that moment, 10-15 minutes in. Panic mode.

We quietly conversed over options. We couldn't collect the tests and hand out the correct one at this point. In the panic pow-wow we thought maybe I could re-write or tweak this test and see if they improved. Oh, the students will love that. Then I thought, “hey, I don't think I am actually required to do formal assessment for my unit...” I mentioned that if I didn't need the test for my requirements, I might just create another assessment, like a worksheet project. She said that would be fine. I told my CT I would email Dr. Mason as soon as I got home and get back with her. A few hours later I emailed her that I didn't have to redo the test and I would create something and send it to her in the morning.

I was truly rescued when my husband suggested I do something like a facebook page for the main characters. I thought it was an awesome idea and I thought I could connect it back to the coming of age themes the CT's unit was focused on. So I created my own little paper “facepage” for Holden Caufield, complete with period ads on one side.

I have skimmed over my video but have not done my deep reflection yet and I see many mistakes. I know I was thrown off from having to make last minute changes and nervous because I know the students really like to talk over adults. I had trouble keeping them quiet enough to do my lecture and class segments, I tried a few things, even my CT's “snap once if you can hear me” technique. One huge problem I had was projecting my voice, which in the real world I don't have. I must have been even more nervous than I thought. Of course my teacher, is a recognized awesome teacher and I am not. The students are seniors and for the most part smart and/or headstrong. Not to mention, I felt unprepared because of the little prep time me and my CT found.

Another minor issue is knowing I have no recourse if a student acts out, and I am sure at least some of them know it as well. I can tattle to my CT but that is all the power I have been bestowed and she is pretty laid back and flexible in her rules. So I never quite know when a student is breaking a rule today or not. I am not sure what she set up with them before I got there, as far as expectations and rules but some rules I have gotten from her are flexible. They can text if they are sort of paying attention or not being rudely blatant about it. They can't have food unless they are half-way done before she catches them. However, for her they are quiet when she finally has to ask, in part because they like her very much. It kind of leaves me in the cold though.

All in all though, the students were very supportive and polite during my lesson. It is just that once they start talking it is like trying to stop a train. I am going to miss them if I don't get to student teach in the spring.

Ooops...KATE Conference Post

     I had a pretty darn good time at the KATE conference. I ended up with more questions than answers, but isn't that the way of education. The first morning I sat at a table with some teachers from an area community college and was joined by some area teachers and then fellow students. It was a nice mixture and we all chitchatted and nibbled until the keynote program started. We even squeezed in an extra chair when the allotted seating ran out. Our local author Clare Vanderpool was entertaining and inspiring. She certainly made me want to read her book.

     Wandering the halls trying to pick between, Survivalism 101 and Using Socratic Circles I heard “In the Jungle” creeping around the halls. I was drawn in like a moth. Imagine my please surprise when the room with the tunes was the Survivalism 101 breakout, AND the dynamic due in jungle camo in the room were Monica Swift and Amanda Torbett, the Derby High teachers from my breakfast table! Serendipity at its best. I stayed of course and the information was great for me, an unblooded-not-yet-teacher. I loved their packet, which is going to be a useful reference, but even better it had a picture of retro Pitfall on the cover. Monica and Amanda played off one another perfectly as well, one a techie and one a veteran, old-school organizer. I plan on blended their techniques they discussed, because come on, who doesn't like color-coding??

I spent the whole conference torn between one or two break-outs, and I never had such a clear cut choice victory as the first one. There were no more tunes to lure me onto the right path. Of course, there also were no absolutely wrong choices. Poetry Out Loud, wasn't what I thought, but I can out with awesome FREE materials. I did feel a bit deflated when my session D choice on that first day promised I would leave with “both short-term assignments as well as long-term projects” and left with neither. C'est la vie.

     The continental breakfast on day 2 was epic. A buffet of real, hot food, fruit, cereal, pastries, and juices to tempt any palette; if you didn't mind sitting next to abandoned dirty place settings. Then we jumped right into our day. I ended up in a few of Curtis Chandler's break-out sessions and he is a pistol. What I really liked though, since there was an overabundance of interesting looking break-outs, was the presenters amazing attitudes. I got papers and emails from many sessions I couldn't make it to. It was very nice. The YA Lit in the CC Classroom session was lead by a teacher I know from my placement and I liked when we posted classic curriculum reading on the walls and tried to align it with popular YA fiction. I got some cool ideas, but like I said earlier, many more questions.

     I sadly missed most of Jay Asher's presentation, due to a lunch SNAFU. The part I heard/saw was funny, the part about the different book covers around the world. I did get a picture with him and some signed books! How awesome does that make me feel about building a lesson plan around the book.

It was an awesome experience. I got lots of materials, or ideas for materials and planning, and I have more coming via email. I will be distilling all of this data for another semester, hahaha.

Online Reflection #3: Students & Catcher & Subs. Oh, my!

      Today I nearly cried. I teared up and I sincerely hope the students didn't see it.

      My teacher had to fly out of state to teach critical reading (or something similar). We were left alone. We were bereft, and we had a substitute teacher. I knew we were going to have one, I even had my own copy of the sub notes and the assignments for the day. The students always act up and I was expecting some flare ups. I didn't expect to have to dose fires started by the sub. The sub had actually left me to teach, after taking role. She even left me alone in the room at one point, I didn't realize what a bad idea that could have been until much later. (Yeah for legalities.) Several students had missed the last class or two, so they were way behind in the reading and topics covered. There was a pass and response writing assignment and I wanted them to at least get some credit. I asked them to write that they were gone and try to use the chapters they had read to fill in the prompt. Only one previously gone student wrote anything at all. Let's call him Carlos. Carlos wrote that he missed class and was behind because he was in in-school suspension. The sub was working the timer near him and saw what he wrote. She told him, loudly, that in-school suspension was no reason to have gotten behind on work. It had to be embarrassing. When he told her he wasn't allowed to bring anything into in-school suspension she started arguing with him. I stepped in and said that I was not sure how it was handled for all students, but that I had, in a previous placement, delivered work to in-school suspension and the students didn't have anything that wasn't delivered by paras or others. The sub finally backed off and I got Carlos reading to catch up. Later, Carlos stopped me and thanked me for standing up for him and listening. I told him I appreciated that he had tried to write something. At the end of class he stayed after to tell me he thought I would make a great teacher because I understood the students and I tried to talk to them. I so nearly cried. It was my best teacher-type moment yet.

     I know it must be hard to be a substitute. I plan on being one if I graduate in the fall. This is the second no-so-great sub we have had in the last three weeks. The first one was just disorganized and left the class mostly to the para and me. Though come to think of it, he almost had a run-in with Carlos too. I know he picked on another male student, Aaron. It is like they take a flash perception of the class and pick out the “bad” ones. They pick or embarrass them, perhaps in a mislead way to strike the first blow. They see Aaron and they see a emo-esque slacker and think he is going to be a problem. He rarely is, though he is hard to motivate. I worry about him. They see Carlos and they see Hispanic gang-banger and think he doesn't care about school. What I see is a student who pulled himself out of the gangs to secure himself a real future. I am only there one class a day. I can't see it all. But is it because I want to see? Is it really necessary to embarrass students or ignore them rather than to pay attention?

      Other, less exciting business: The students are deep into Catcher in the Rye now. Which means, among other things, that my unit is swiftly approaching. I feel unprepared. I am as nervous as a baby gazelle in a lion exhibit. Sure I could run or jump, but would it really help anything. Let me preface with the fact that I dislike Catcher. I find it a chore. I see qualities in it that are relevant and certainly teachable. The students like the gritty images and swear words. A few of the girls have asked me when Holden finally gets some alcohol. I told them they needed to read on. I won't like everything I have to teach. So I have to find ways to make it liveable for me and my students. That is a precious lesson...if I can learn it. Any tips or ideas? Help me??!!!

Genre Reflection #1 - A poem most l33t!

Txt U L8r

Click, click, click...tap, tap

: P text, post, like

message and reply

Our phones a vibrating reminder

that we could be elsewhere

that we have friends

that we are important

What can a teacher give us?

:( Busy work...

homework to gouge our fun

to lock us away from life

What can a teacher give us?

A kind word - spoken, written

o_O texted!?!?

“Good job on that essay!”

What can a teacher give us?

Knowledge, questions

books, words, skills, respect

O_o self-reliance!?!?

What can I give my teacher?

: ]

The 7 Habits of Highly Stressed-Out Pre-Student Teachers, Part 2

 This is a pseudo continuation of my previous blog entry. That entry described a really interesting and well paced lesson plan my CT, Ms. R executed. In contrast this is mostly for self-exploration and humor. For those who do not have access to Sean Covey's book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens I am going to give the lists with the brief descriptions Covey gives in the first chapter.

Sean Covey's list of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens:

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Take responsibility for your life.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Define your mission and goals in life.

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Prioritize, and do the most important thing first.

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Have an everyone-can-win attitude.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

Listen to people sincerely.

Habit 6: Synergize

Work together to achieve more.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Renew yourself regularly.

Covey's “The 7 Habits of Highly Defective Teens”:

Habit 1: React

Blame all of your problems on your parents, your stupid teachers or professors, your lousy neighborhood, your boy-or girlfriend, the government, or something or somebody else. Be a victim. Take no responsibility for your life. Act like an animal. If you''re hungry, eat. If someone yells at you, yell back. If you feel like doing something you know is wrong, just do it.

Habit 2: Begin with No End in Mind

Don't have a plan. Avoid goals at all costs. And never think about tomorrow. Why worry about the consequences of your actions? Live for the moment. Sleep around, get wasted, and party on, for tomorrow we die.

Habit 3: Put First Things Last

Whatever is most important in your life, don't do it until you have spend sufficient time watching reruns, talking endlessly on the phone, surfing the net, and lounging around. Always put off your homework until tomorrow. Make sure that things that don't matter always some before things that do.

Habit 4: Think Win-Lose

See life as a vicious competition. Your classmate is out to get you, so you'd better get him or her first. Don't let anyone else succeed at anything because, remember, if they win, you lose. If it looks like you're going to loose, however, make sure you drag that sucker down with you.

Habit 5: Seek First to Talk, Then Pretend to Be Listen

You were born with a mouth, so use it. Make sure you talk a lot. Always express your side of the story first. Once you're sure everyone understands your views,, then pretend to listen by nodding and saying “uh-huh.” Or, if you really want their opinion, give it to them.

Habit 6: Don't Cooperate

Let's face it, other people are weird because they're different from you. So why try to get along with them? Teamwork is for the dogs. Since you always have the best ideas, you are better off doing everything by yourself. Be your own island.

Habit 7: Wear Yourself Out

Be so busy with life that you never take time to renew or improve yourself. Never study. Don't learn anything new. Avoid exercise like the plague. And, for heaven's sake, stay away from good books, nature, or anything else that may inspire you.

      Think about where you are on these lists. I am still fluctuating between the two. It inspired me to create my own list, The 7 Habits of Highly Stressed-Out Pre-Student Teachers. Feel free to post your own lists, be they joking or serious.

My “The 7 Habits of Highly Stressed-Out Pre-Student Teachers”:

Habit 1: React to Emails a Week Later

Habit 2: Begin the Semester Thinking Graduation is a Million Years Away

Habit 3: Do the Easy Homework First

Habit 4: Think Better in the Hot Tub

Habit 5: Sparknotes First, Read Later

Habit 6: Don't Anger Cooperating Teacher/School

Habit 7: Wear Yourself Out with Eureka or Harry Potter Marathons

Online Reflection #2: The 7 Habits of Highly Stressed-Out Pre-Student Teachers, Part 1

      Friday August 2^nd, when Ms. R broke out spanking new copies of a book I was like “cool – new book smell.” Then I saw it was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey. I thought hmmm. I have seen a chapter or two of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. I suspected at this point that they would be similar. [Spoiler alert!!! The 7 habits are the same in both books and I will be listing them in this blog entry.] Before having the students crack the books she had them get out a piece of notebook paper and individually define the word “habit.” Their desks are clustered in groups of 4 or 6, so it made sense that Ms. R next had them define it as a group. Each group had to add their definition to the SMART Board. In addition she had them stand and give an example of a habit. Some student examples included playing with hair, tapping pens and brushing teeth. She also took a few items from the book, though I didn't know it at the time. She had the students stand up and cross their arms. Then cross them the other way. It demonstrated how strange it felt to cross your arms in a non-habitual way. The students were surprised and attentive. (I am so stealing that.)

      Ms. R had them discuss a Samuel Smiles quote from the book (Covey, Page 8):

“Sow a thought, and you reap an act;

Sow an act, and you reap a habit;

Sow a habit, and you reap a character;

Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”

Whoo-hoo, talk about deep. She kept the discussions short, around a minute, but that handy little quote contains much to work with. She utilized another quote for a mini-discussion. It was a portion of a much bigger riddle, author unknown. “Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me, and I will destroy you. Who am I? I am a Habit.” I am going to make a poster of this for my future classroom.

     Then she did something amazing. She gave them a writing assignment prompt. On the PowerPoint slide she titled it “3 Point Source Integration.” The rest of the slide looked like this:

“In the text ________(title), _________ (author) __________(verb). This is a valuable point because _________.”

Example: In the text The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, Sean Covey states “Take me...(rest of quote).” This is a valuable point because....

Ms. R gave an example of the quotes value because it is a 21^st Century Skill. The students then copied down the example, writing the entire quote, and finishing with their own analysis. They not only got more familiar with the book, they learned about source integration, formatting, and were made cognizant of the fact that this quote addresses their 21^st Century Skills. Only then did she give them the reading assignment and have them find the correlating handout Get in the Habit. It was fabulous.

     I read the assigned pages as I walked around the room. I stopped to answer questions, redirect and observe but I still got through half of the reading. Enough to answer pertinent questions. I found it colorful and interesting. I was shocked by the “The 7 Habits of Highly Defective Teens” list (Covey, Page 7). I have in the past possessed all of those bad habits! I scrambled back to page 5 and the 7 habits the book is about. How ineffective, or defective, was I now?!

     Even though Ms. R says she is only going to work on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens a few weeks, I ordered a copy. It has good information in a fun package that I think will be invaluable to self-reflection as a person and a teacher. I figure I can always add it to my classroom library when I have a classroom of my own. Besides I already had an Amazon cart full of YA books for CI 454E, a book for ENGL 362, and Umbrella Corporation parking permit stickers for myself and my husband. (You have to laugh and smile at some point.) What's another $8 towards my education?

     Take a peek at the lists in my blog entry appendix. Where do you stand? What about your students? For a laugh check out Part 2.

Appendix to this blog entry:

Sean Covey's list of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens:

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

Habit 6: Synergize

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Covey's “The 7 Habits of Highly Defective Teens”:

Habit 1: React

Habit 2: Begin with No End in Mind

Habit 3: Put First Things Last

Habit 4: Think Win-Lose

Habit 5: Seek First to Talk, Then Pretend to Be Listen

Habit 6: Don't Cooperate

Habit 7: Wear Yourself Out

From The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey pages 5-8.

My First Week

My Meaningful Goals for my Pre-Student Teaching Semester:

I will learn the students names.

      By obtaining a seating chart and using their names as often as possible.

I will gain more classroom management experience.

      By practicing redirection and other philosophies that are kosher with my CT.

I will log more lesson planning creation and observe how my CT creates lesson plans.

      By building my assigned unit and other projects my CT allows me to be lead on.

I will examine more closely what being a teacher requires, day to day duties and dramas.

      By observing not only my CT but other teachers in the school when I am able.

I will attend at least one extracurricular activity.

      By listening to announcements and students and choosing on that fits my schedule.

I will read, re-read, and read again Catcher in the Rye.

      By getting my own copy of Catcher in the Rye and marking it up usefully.

I will create an awesome unit for Catcher in the Rye.

      By deep reading, adhering to standards, models from my CT, and online/textbook research

I will impress my CT, the administration and the students.

      By my professional manner and amiable personality.

I will explore new music and literature from the students.

      By listening when they gush, brag, and grumble.

I will complete all tasks on time and well.

      By organization and time management.

I will fulfill my obligations as both a student teacher and a WSU student.

      By keeping track of obligations in my planner, my smart phone/Google, and binders.

I will more closely examine the structure of my placement school, the physical and interpersonal.

      By spending time before or after class to explore, as I was encouraged to by principal.

I will encourage the students think.

     By developing a challenging lesson plan and assessment.

I will urge the students to laugh and smile.

     By incorporating appropriate humor and my self into my lesson plans/presentations.

I will dress professionally every day.

     By buying a few practical items and reorganizing my wardrobe

I will smile.

     By activating the smile muscles of my face and being possitive.

I will practice my “teacher” voice and look.

     By practicing.

I will keep a journal and a blog about my experience.

     By building and maintaining a digital journal and keeping up with our assigned blogging.

I will not lose my name tag. :)

     By leaving it in my classroom bag when not attached to me directly.

Reflections:

My first full day with my CT and class and I spent half of it waiting in a principal's office. The other half was spent watching the Devry representative present to the students. It was pretty interesting though. The students used a PDA device to make selections and get career information. They were placed on teams by the profile answers they had made and competed throughout the presentation. The students helped each other out with questions, the technology, and guessing where to find items they are interested in.

I love this school. It is my favorite, that I have been in. I really hope I get to do my student teaching here.

My CT has the semester planned out with much detail. Hence why I will be reading Catcher in the Rye repeatedly. It leaves me less creative license in my planning than I prefer but it also takes away the stress of starting from scratch. I remember so little from Catcher and it was not a pleasant read back then. I hope it will not be so horrid for these students. I will have new particular challenges. Like how do I created a unit that fits into my CT's plan, teaches, and livens up a somber text.

Query:

If you had to construct a lesson using only images (still and video) and music, what would you choose as a topic? How would you pull it off?

Bumping into the Fourth Wall

Welcome! Huzzah! Wassup!

This is my first post and as such... The fourth wall is the invisible wall in plays, movies and video games. It is the porthole into literature and entertainment. This blog is going to be the porthole into my journey to teaching.

Hope the show is entertaining and/or educational for you!

~M