As I finish my blog...
I'm sad.
I had a wonderful semester.
I learned I can't procrastinate as much as I would like....
I've learned that friends will get mad because you decide to spend the night with your textbook and hot cocoa rather than a night with them at the local watering hole, and that is okay.
I've learned that sometimes the best teaching/learning experiences are the ones that you are active participants in.
I've learned that no matter what you try to do to avoid it, bad things happen.
People die, car accidents happen, and there's nothing you can do to avoid them, but you can only learn from them and move on.
I can't wait to student teach.
I'm going home.
They say home is where the heart is.
I think I've left a piece of my heart at Troy.
I would love to teach there someday, but if this is the closest opportunity I get, then so be it.
Thank you for a wonderful semester, Pete.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Taking Criticism Constructively...
November 27, 2007.
I'm very annoyed after tonight's class. Why is it impossible for classmates to take criticism constructively? Co-workers apply here for that matter as well.
I try and offer a comment that is helpful, and get evil looks rather than a "I never thought of that."
YES, your idea is great, however it is not the ONLY way to approach the situation.
There are OTHER ways of looking @ the situation.
You may not have the ONLY fresh-fun-inventive way of teaching or staging a classroom.
Perhaps what works in a Christian Reform School may not work in an urban, secular high school. Has anyone ever thought of that?
As my dear friend says, education is not a one size fits all t-shirt that would only fit Paris Hilton....
I feel as though this blog is turning into a rant, but come on.
Rather then bitch and moan at me and give me dirty looks, just accept the fact that I may have another way of looking at this situation and am not "shooting down" your idea.
Perhaps I think your idea is actually a good one, but just know it wouldn't work in MY classroom because I have a pretty good rapport and understanding of the 17 year old brain.
When I was 17 years old, I sure as heck wouldn't be concentrating on Social Studies, I'd be staring at the cute Football player next to me!
I'm very annoyed after tonight's class. Why is it impossible for classmates to take criticism constructively? Co-workers apply here for that matter as well.
I try and offer a comment that is helpful, and get evil looks rather than a "I never thought of that."
YES, your idea is great, however it is not the ONLY way to approach the situation.
There are OTHER ways of looking @ the situation.
You may not have the ONLY fresh-fun-inventive way of teaching or staging a classroom.
Perhaps what works in a Christian Reform School may not work in an urban, secular high school. Has anyone ever thought of that?
As my dear friend says, education is not a one size fits all t-shirt that would only fit Paris Hilton....
I feel as though this blog is turning into a rant, but come on.
Rather then bitch and moan at me and give me dirty looks, just accept the fact that I may have another way of looking at this situation and am not "shooting down" your idea.
Perhaps I think your idea is actually a good one, but just know it wouldn't work in MY classroom because I have a pretty good rapport and understanding of the 17 year old brain.
When I was 17 years old, I sure as heck wouldn't be concentrating on Social Studies, I'd be staring at the cute Football player next to me!
Pictures can tell a lot...
When you look at this image, what do you see?
What are the people in this image feeling?
What year do you think this photo was captured?
How do you think these people were feeling when this picture was taken?
Using pictures like these in teaching can capture emotion and an inquisitive nature in your students that ordinary lecture would not.
The picture of the young boy saluting is a toddler John F. Kennedy Jr.
What students will see is a cute little boy saluting an assassinated president, killed too early, and we will never know why. Hopefully this photo will open up a debate.
The second photo is normally entitled "Kissing the War Goodbye"
It is a wonderful picture of a woman kissing her husband as he returns to her after World War II.
I think it captures the relief that men were returning, alive, from a vicious war across the globe.
Pictures like these are gripping. They also make students think.
Listening to what Paley says
Thanksgiving Break...
Cutting my hair was amazing!
I am so glad to have a few days off from class & work.
I was able to take a few days off from work this week and enjoy some time off.
As we give THANKS this week, there are many things to be appreciative of.
I am so appreciative of loving, supportive parents that have wired the house with wireless internet and never complain that I don't do dishes because I'm reading and or doing work.
I'm thankful for good friends.
I'm thankful for understanding, flexible professors.
I'm thankful for having a love of social studies
I'm thankful for my family, my health, and my life.
Cutting my hair was amazing!
I am so glad to have a few days off from class & work.
I was able to take a few days off from work this week and enjoy some time off.
As we give THANKS this week, there are many things to be appreciative of.
I am so appreciative of loving, supportive parents that have wired the house with wireless internet and never complain that I don't do dishes because I'm reading and or doing work.
I'm thankful for good friends.
I'm thankful for understanding, flexible professors.
I'm thankful for having a love of social studies
I'm thankful for my family, my health, and my life.
Music in the Classroom?
November 21st...
So tonight we spent time speaking about the different uses of music in the classroom.
For me, there are tons, especially as a history teacher.
I swear that I did so well on the Global Studies and American History Regents because of "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. As cheesy as that sounds, it captures almost every single decade!
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnny Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenbergs, H Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King And I, and The Catcher In The Rye
Eisenhower, Vaccine, England's got a new queen
Maciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dancron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, Rock Around the Clock
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge On The River Kwai
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkwether, Homicide, Children of Thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go
U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Hemingway, Eichman, Stranger in a Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician sex
J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and Roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
With lyrics like that, it pretty much reminds you of what has gone one over the past 60 years in the U.S.!
If you were to give that to a classroom and ask them to analyze that, what fun that would be! How could you not love to be given one of those terms and then need to google one and look it up and find the definition, etc... I really like using music in my classroom and look forward to doing so as soon as I student teach!
So tonight we spent time speaking about the different uses of music in the classroom.
For me, there are tons, especially as a history teacher.
I swear that I did so well on the Global Studies and American History Regents because of "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. As cheesy as that sounds, it captures almost every single decade!
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnny Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenbergs, H Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King And I, and The Catcher In The Rye
Eisenhower, Vaccine, England's got a new queen
Maciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dancron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, Rock Around the Clock
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge On The River Kwai
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkwether, Homicide, Children of Thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go
U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Hemingway, Eichman, Stranger in a Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician sex
J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and Roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
With lyrics like that, it pretty much reminds you of what has gone one over the past 60 years in the U.S.!
If you were to give that to a classroom and ask them to analyze that, what fun that would be! How could you not love to be given one of those terms and then need to google one and look it up and find the definition, etc... I really like using music in my classroom and look forward to doing so as soon as I student teach!
Ruby Bridges
11/13
So in class we read a book called The Ruby Bridges Story by Toni Morrison.
I AM using this in my classroom, regardless of what grade level I am teaching. I could be teaching seventh, either, or eleventh grade history, but I will be using this wonderful short book by Toni Morrison. This is a fabulous, short, clear, and concise book that shows students how powerful one little girl's will can be in a town where so many have preconceived notions. I admire Ruby, as she continued to walk to school everyday through a group of people that disliked her simply because of the color of her skin. What a brave, mature, courageous child.
I think this book could also help students of other ethnicities in the classroom. I feel that after September 11th and the War on Terror, Islamic students are sometimes targeted by their peers and often picked on because they are a scapegoat. "Oh, blame the foreign student" is what I have heard peers say when I was a senior in high school (September 11th occurred my Junior year of H.S.)
Not only will Ruby Bridges' story be a great way to launch into the Civil Rights Movement and integration in the classroom, but it may make my students of other ethnicities more comfortable in my classroom and let them know that I welcome their differences!
So in class we read a book called The Ruby Bridges Story by Toni Morrison.
I AM using this in my classroom, regardless of what grade level I am teaching. I could be teaching seventh, either, or eleventh grade history, but I will be using this wonderful short book by Toni Morrison. This is a fabulous, short, clear, and concise book that shows students how powerful one little girl's will can be in a town where so many have preconceived notions. I admire Ruby, as she continued to walk to school everyday through a group of people that disliked her simply because of the color of her skin. What a brave, mature, courageous child.
I think this book could also help students of other ethnicities in the classroom. I feel that after September 11th and the War on Terror, Islamic students are sometimes targeted by their peers and often picked on because they are a scapegoat. "Oh, blame the foreign student" is what I have heard peers say when I was a senior in high school (September 11th occurred my Junior year of H.S.)
Not only will Ruby Bridges' story be a great way to launch into the Civil Rights Movement and integration in the classroom, but it may make my students of other ethnicities more comfortable in my classroom and let them know that I welcome their differences!
Body Bios?
In our class on November 6th, we did some Body Biographing for Educating Esme`.
This was a great activity that I can see myself using with historical figures in the future.
While it was fun to do this activity with the heroine of our story, Esme`, I think it would be even more amusing to see my students do this activity with a historical character such a Hitler, Mussolini, or even FDR.
People's perceptions of these figures will be extremely interesting to view.
I think it will be an entertaining activity to see students draw Hitler as this short, small man (more than likely) with a small, narrow brain and mind, Mussolini as a fat, small man with a small, narrow mind, and as FDR and other whimsical Americans (Teddy Roosevelt, JFK, etc) as these larger than life, wonderful men and women that have done so much for the United States while these opponents (and within good reason, Hitler and Mussolini were horrible people) will be drawn as horrible, scary, small minded men.
I think this is an important activity to do and it also presents the opportunity to our students to actively participate and engage with their peers, share ideas, and move freely around the classroom (using that bodily-kinesthetic intelligence we've learned about in 578!)
This was a great activity that I can see myself using with historical figures in the future.
While it was fun to do this activity with the heroine of our story, Esme`, I think it would be even more amusing to see my students do this activity with a historical character such a Hitler, Mussolini, or even FDR.
People's perceptions of these figures will be extremely interesting to view.
I think it will be an entertaining activity to see students draw Hitler as this short, small man (more than likely) with a small, narrow brain and mind, Mussolini as a fat, small man with a small, narrow mind, and as FDR and other whimsical Americans (Teddy Roosevelt, JFK, etc) as these larger than life, wonderful men and women that have done so much for the United States while these opponents (and within good reason, Hitler and Mussolini were horrible people) will be drawn as horrible, scary, small minded men.
I think this is an important activity to do and it also presents the opportunity to our students to actively participate and engage with their peers, share ideas, and move freely around the classroom (using that bodily-kinesthetic intelligence we've learned about in 578!)
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Freedom Writers
November 6th
Watching Freedom Writers really opened my eyes to a part of teaching I never really thought about.
How will my personal relationships be affected by my job?
Watching Freedom Writers really opened my eyes to a part of teaching I never really thought about.
How will my personal relationships be affected by my job?
- I'm concerned that IF I ever find that right gentleman, I could end up like Erin Gruewell and blow him off for a career. Hopefully he won't be like Gruewell's husband and be angry with her for her dedication and commitment to the job.
- I'm concerned my family won't support where I'm teaching
- I'm concerned I won't make enough money to support myself.
Esme`
10/30/07
So my goal in life is to be like Esme`Raji Codell.
She is suuuuch an amazing woman.
I want her to come to SGS/RSC and speak to all education majors!
The ideas of the time capsule, the classroom library, American girl visiting authors, etc, were amazing!!
The most important thing I noticed about Codell was her ability to connect with students that came from unfortunate family and socioeconomic situations.
I can't imagine what it would be like to see students that come from extreme poverty. I used to work @ an after school program in Troy that helped many children that were victims of poverty, however the poverty wasn't as severe as it can be.
While these students I worked with all came from older, decrepit homes, one of their parents were either in jail or fresh out of jail, they still had on "fresh" sneakers, designer clothes, and they were always kept up and clean.
Esme`s students were different and the bond she formed with most of them were exquisite.
I hope to instill a level of self control and confidence in my students that Esme` put in hers as well.
This week is a short entry as my life has been devoted to homework and reading.
Please excuse me!
So my goal in life is to be like Esme`Raji Codell.
She is suuuuch an amazing woman.
I want her to come to SGS/RSC and speak to all education majors!
The ideas of the time capsule, the classroom library, American girl visiting authors, etc, were amazing!!
The most important thing I noticed about Codell was her ability to connect with students that came from unfortunate family and socioeconomic situations.
I can't imagine what it would be like to see students that come from extreme poverty. I used to work @ an after school program in Troy that helped many children that were victims of poverty, however the poverty wasn't as severe as it can be.
While these students I worked with all came from older, decrepit homes, one of their parents were either in jail or fresh out of jail, they still had on "fresh" sneakers, designer clothes, and they were always kept up and clean.
Esme`s students were different and the bond she formed with most of them were exquisite.
I hope to instill a level of self control and confidence in my students that Esme` put in hers as well.
This week is a short entry as my life has been devoted to homework and reading.
Please excuse me!
Older, Wiser...
10/23/07
The semester just keeps getting busy!
My Mom just turned 60 years old on the 18th and I can't believe that she is that old. Granted, 60 really isn't that old in the grand scheme of life, as some people live to be 100. I just am fascinated with how much she has witnessed.
She was born in 1947 and grew up during such an interesting time in the United States.
My Mom was a small child during the McCarthyism time period, was in middle and high school during the 1960s, and was married in the 70s.
I love how much of a resource my mother is to my teaching. She has seen so much and is willing to talk about all of it.
I think by using my Mom as an example of Oral history, and even allowing my students to interview my Mom and ask her questions about the 1960s and 1970s especially.
Oral history is such a rich tradition and I hope to instill the love that I have for it, in my students!
The semester just keeps getting busy!
My Mom just turned 60 years old on the 18th and I can't believe that she is that old. Granted, 60 really isn't that old in the grand scheme of life, as some people live to be 100. I just am fascinated with how much she has witnessed.
She was born in 1947 and grew up during such an interesting time in the United States.
My Mom was a small child during the McCarthyism time period, was in middle and high school during the 1960s, and was married in the 70s.
I love how much of a resource my mother is to my teaching. She has seen so much and is willing to talk about all of it.
I think by using my Mom as an example of Oral history, and even allowing my students to interview my Mom and ask her questions about the 1960s and 1970s especially.
Oral history is such a rich tradition and I hope to instill the love that I have for it, in my students!
October...
So I took a week off in my diary @ home, and caught back up....
October 16th-18th.
Much has been going on in my life!
I've broken up with my boyfriend of 5 years and decided to move on to bigger and better things.
To quote Sarah Jessica Parker as "Carrie Bradshaw" in Sex and the City, "While some people are settling down, some people are settling, and some people refuse to settle for anything less than butterflies" I don't think that anyone should settle for anything less than butterflies. I realized the butterflies were gone and realized it was time to pack it in and move on.
The website and you tube activity helped keep my mind off of a failing relationship and focused my attention on the finer things in life; a higher education, a desire to learn, and a passion for education.
I enjoyed the you tube activity because I am such a fan of the website and didn't even realize what a great teaching tool it could be!
You can practically find every battle scene from any war epic you want right on you tube!
You can also find great speeches, great drama, and silly parodies on the most controversial and classic moments of history all on one website!
For the website activity, it let me get more involved with my content area and let me focus on how I want to use the world wide web with my teaching strategies.
I won't know for sure how much I will be able to use technology in the classroom as I am student teaching and eventually teaching, however learning all I can now helps.
Ideally, I'd like to incorporate the web into my teaching at least once a week.
In a perfect world, I'd be able to do this, but, as I venture into my own classroom, I will see how much I can use!
October 16th-18th.
Much has been going on in my life!
I've broken up with my boyfriend of 5 years and decided to move on to bigger and better things.
To quote Sarah Jessica Parker as "Carrie Bradshaw" in Sex and the City, "While some people are settling down, some people are settling, and some people refuse to settle for anything less than butterflies" I don't think that anyone should settle for anything less than butterflies. I realized the butterflies were gone and realized it was time to pack it in and move on.
The website and you tube activity helped keep my mind off of a failing relationship and focused my attention on the finer things in life; a higher education, a desire to learn, and a passion for education.
I enjoyed the you tube activity because I am such a fan of the website and didn't even realize what a great teaching tool it could be!
You can practically find every battle scene from any war epic you want right on you tube!
You can also find great speeches, great drama, and silly parodies on the most controversial and classic moments of history all on one website!
For the website activity, it let me get more involved with my content area and let me focus on how I want to use the world wide web with my teaching strategies.
I won't know for sure how much I will be able to use technology in the classroom as I am student teaching and eventually teaching, however learning all I can now helps.
Ideally, I'd like to incorporate the web into my teaching at least once a week.
In a perfect world, I'd be able to do this, but, as I venture into my own classroom, I will see how much I can use!
Speak really spoke to me...
So for this week's assignment we had to read Speak...
Thank you Pete.
I can never thank you enough for having us read such a powerful, poignant piece of work!
As I went through something very similar to what Melinda went through, this book "spoke" to me on many levels.
I think this is a book that you have to teach in High School.
Students are sexually, emotionally, and physically abused every day in every school district.
Maybe reading a book like Speak will give them the courage to speak out and not take abuse like Melinda did.
Speaking about such traumatic events can help.
Thinking about Speak and then watching an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit where a nurse accidentally told a friend that a patient was raped by a teacher and wouldn't speak.
Acting on a hunch, the detective broke all confidentially laws and got to the student and got the student to talk so that the student wouldn't face years of alcohol, drug, and sexual abuse, as many rape victims that don't face/talk about their abuse end up going through later on in their adolescent and adult lives!
I hope reading this book will inspire students they may have been abused in anyway, to either speak to a teacher, friend, parent, social worker, or guidance counselor.
Thank you Pete.
I can never thank you enough for having us read such a powerful, poignant piece of work!
As I went through something very similar to what Melinda went through, this book "spoke" to me on many levels.
I think this is a book that you have to teach in High School.
Students are sexually, emotionally, and physically abused every day in every school district.
Maybe reading a book like Speak will give them the courage to speak out and not take abuse like Melinda did.
Speaking about such traumatic events can help.
Thinking about Speak and then watching an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit where a nurse accidentally told a friend that a patient was raped by a teacher and wouldn't speak.
Acting on a hunch, the detective broke all confidentially laws and got to the student and got the student to talk so that the student wouldn't face years of alcohol, drug, and sexual abuse, as many rape victims that don't face/talk about their abuse end up going through later on in their adolescent and adult lives!
I hope reading this book will inspire students they may have been abused in anyway, to either speak to a teacher, friend, parent, social worker, or guidance counselor.
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