Observations in Newark 9

Today we continued with the test prep by having class in the computer lab and having them take a practice test again. The continued exposure to these practice tests will hopefully give the students familiarity with what’s expected of them on May 15^th when they take the written state exam. The students acted pretty much the same as they did the week before when they took the practice test for the first time. Many of them were not interested but some of them gave it a legitimate shot.

            When a student would ask me for help I would in turn ask them questions to get them to think about the question differently and have them figure out the answer based on that. I want to get the students to think more objectively about the questions and see if they can figure it out if the answer isn’t immediately available to them. I had one student who told me that they need a calculator to do this problem, so I went over and helped them work through the question in their head and they eventually got the right answer. We will not be able to help the students when they are taking the real test but helping them think more critically when they ask for help on the practice tests can only help.

Observations in Newark 8

So at this point of the school year we’re transitioning into EOC prep mode. The students are taking practice exams every Friday until they actually take the test on the 15^th of May. The students absolutely hate taking the tests. They’ll just burn through it and say they finished or not even take it at all and go on facebook instead. I’d go over and try and motivate them to complete the practice test and some of them would try and answer a few while I was around them but then they’d usually lose interest in the test and get distracted. Even though the students are enjoying taking these practice tests, we figured that the students can’t get enough exposure to the types of questions that they’ll be facing when they take the real test in May.

            I had to break up a fight today between 2 guys. It started out as just something small but then started to escalate and that’s when I jumped in. This was the first time that it’s happened when I was around but I think that the disinterest in the test contributed to them getting off task and disagreeing about something.

            There were periods throughout the day where the students actually stayed on task for 10-15 min at a time but they were few and far between. While the test experience is great for the students, it is leading to some classroom management issues that we are taking care of as they happen.

Interactivity 3

Our group knocked this assignment out of the park. It looks fantastic and all of the technologies are hyper linked for convenience. We all worked together well and rarely hit any speed bumps. Each person's voice was heard and everyone contributed equally. A lot of the technologies that we found were more along the lines of internet labs and resources rather than hardware that we could bring into the classroom to supplement the teaching. A lot of science is based on things that you can't see with your naked eye, so these technologies allow us to bring the concepts to the students in a more interactive and visually engaging way.

Observations in Newark 7

Today was my turn to teach again and the lesson was on Punnett Squares and Probability. I tried to make the lesson more relate-able to the students by making the probability question “If a couple wants to have 3 girls in a row, what is the probability of that happening?” The students liked that question and participated well through that section. Mr. N likes to give them a PowerPoint with guided notes so that they keep up with the lesson and it works really well with them. Ms. P gave me a SpongeBob genetics worksheet to use because the students love SpongeBob and it tied in directly to what I was teaching. I bought a slide changer remote to allow me to walk around the room while I was talking, so I could more effectively use proximity control. I am beginning to learn the students’ names and it definitely helps when I want to get everyone involved with the lesson. Mr. N said that he taught some of this stuff to these same students last year when he taught Environmental Science. 4 out of 5 classes went smoothly, and I was very pleased with that because it is only my second time teaching in front of these students.

            Period 1 gave me no problems. They followed along with the lesson and participated throughout. They completed most of the worksheet and the rest was assigned for homework. Using proximity control allowed me to walk over to a group that was having a side conversation and they quieted down as I got closer.

            Period 4 has the “swizzle stick” but he wasn’t out of line this week. He was participating throughout the whole lesson and stayed on task the entire period. The rest of the class was also very good and I was able to get through the information and help them figure out some of the stuff on the worksheet. Period 6 was my best class all day.

            Period 7 was the hell class. Students were coming in yelling and talking. Mr. N had to step in a few times to try and get the class back on task but that didn’t even work. Eventually we were able to get them on task for periods at a time but it was rough and extremely draining for the both of us.

            Period 8 was great as usual. That class respects me and is always participating and remaining on task. It was a nice way to end the day.

            One thing that frustrated me during the day was Ms. P’s substitute. Usually the sub will just sit in the back of the room and not do anything but she was trying to learn what I was teaching, which I didn’t mind at all. What I did mind was when she would interrupt me and call out groups of students who weren’t particularly on task and criticize them for not following along. I knew that they were aware of what was going on because I made sure to direct my questions to groups of students all around the room.

            I know for the future to incorporate more activities in my lessons. I want to just give them the info and go with the activities. If the class is moving and flowing, they tend to stay on task better than with a lecture.

Observations in Newark 6

Today Mr. N was out and he let me know this the day before. He said that Ms. P knew what was going on and would fill me and the sub in. Well I got stuck in traffic and got there late and the sub got there even later than I did. Mr. N didn’t leave any lesson plans to guide us along in period 1 so we just gave them a study hall. During the prep periods Ms. P came in and filled us in with what they were doing. She is there periods 4, 6, and 7 so it helped when I ended up teaching period 8 by myself. They were finishing their projects and filling out a study guide for their test on Monday.

            Period 4 has the “swizzle stick”. This fella says things to get a reaction out of the teacher and I figured that so when he started making terrorist jokes because of my beard, (nothing I haven’t heard before) I ignored him and he eventually stopped. Period 4 is the class that’s usually behind and they had a case of the Fridays and refused to do their work but we were able to motivate them to a degree to just complete some of the study guide.

            Period 6 was a great example of how when a class is ahead, they do their work and are much more well-behaved. There are a few characters in the class but nothing mean or directed towards anyone. Well, actually one student said Mr. N should take a different job so me and Ms. P could teach them because they “actually learn from us”. That was a nice confidence booster. Period 7 is a rowdy bunch and is male dominated. It was during this class where I felt myself blending with the students more and more. Period 8 was all mine because the sub just sat on his phone all day and played games. Ms. P said that that’s fairly common, so I’m going to apply to become a sub in Newark so that if either of them are out again I can fill in and not waste the city’s money. The students in period 8 were on task for the most part when they were working on their posters but when it came time for the study guide they didn’t care. I kept reminding them about their test on Monday and motivating them be reminding them on how well they did on their last test. It helped a little but they were checked out for the most part.

            At the end of the day I was talking to Ms. P about how the day went and the different dynamics of each class. She noticed that I’m fitting in much better with the students after only being here for 6 Fridays. She also reminded me to not get offended by anything they say because of the homes the grew up in and the influences that they have on their life. It seemed like she was much more understanding with the students while Mr. N was much harder on them and exerted his coercive power much more. I’m listening to the students and being more like I have been because they seem to like the mutual respect and the simplicity in which I present the material.

Observations in Newark 5

So today was my first day teaching to high school students and I was incredibly nervous. I had taught before but it was only one lesson to my peers in my methods class. I got to Central high early and set up the classroom the way I needed it and got everything set up. Mr. N showed up a little later and helped my set everything up. My lesson was an introduction to the NJBCT, which the students will have to take at the end of the year. 80% of Newark and 95% of Central High failed last year so they wanted to make sure the students were prepared. My lesson opened up with them receiving a question sheet with a number on it as they walked in. They were to sit at that group and answer as many questions to the best of their ability in about 10-15 minutes. Then after that I was going to introduce the test and go over the answers with the students.

            So throughout the whole day about half of the students were engaged in the lesson and those who were engaged got the material. I made the mistake of telling them that it wasn’t going to be graded first period and they just shut down and didn’t even try it. Period 1 was just me and Mr. Nazaire and in periods 4, 6, and 7 Ms. P was there also. Periodically throughout the lesson they would interject with something that the students may have learned earlier in the year that would help them understand the question better. Mr. N said that 4^th period my energy wasn’t there but as the day went on it picked up again. He also said that period 1 was my best but I felt that period 8 was. Period 1 students are still sleepy and they just go along with whatever but period 8 students are usually checked out by that point but I got some really good participation out of them.

            Period 7 is a rough class because of the personalities amongst the students. There was a little issue with one of them and Mr. N and him were going back and forth until Mr. N told him to “Go pop a perk”. I know that things aren’t supposed to distract you from teaching but I couldn’t help but laugh.

            For the future I really need to incorporate more motivation into my lessons to get them to participate. Mr. N recommended that I incorporate something to get them out of their seats in the future. He also said that I need to work on my teacher voice in the classroom. I think as the lessons continue I will feel more comfortable in the teaching role and exude more confidence in front of the classroom. I will also figure out what works and what doesn’t to get them motivated and interested in the lesson.

Observations in Newark 4

I was supposed to teach today but on Thursday night I was told that the students needed to test on Friday, so my lesson would be the following week. The student’s test was on material that I had helped prepare the week before, so I felt comfortable helping them with the test. I didn’t have to grade as many papers this time around but instead he wanted me to plan lessons for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week. I guess the students are learning from my lessons because he wants me to keep writing more for him.

                  Anyways, the test was on growth factors in a population and growth limiting factors in a population. The test was fairly easy and the students scored much higher than on the test 2 weeks ago. I have more of a presence in the classroom so Mr. N wanted me to help out answering student’s questions more. Two students stuck out to me in period 8, both weren’t there the day before for the review but they were there most of the week, so they had to take the test. They both refused to take the test and just sat there on their phones. I decided to approach them and just have a simple conversation to try and understand why they won’t take the test. They both said that they weren’t there the day before for the review so they shouldn’t have to take it. I stuck by Mr. N’s ruling and challenged them to just give the test a shot and if they need any help just call me over. In the end one of them got an 87% and the other got a 71%, both well ahead of what they expected. I’m feeling that the students just need a nudge sometimes and taking a different approach with them is definitely helping me connect to them.

                  In period 6 the students were testing and I noticed someone looking under the desk at what appeared to be the study guide from the day before. I let it slide because it wasn’t too clear if he was actually cheating or if he was just thinking. I saw him do it again and walked over to his desk and asked for the paper. He insisted he was cheating but then gave up the paper eventually. I wanted to take care of the issue quietly, one on one, but the other students noticed something going on and the class focus was gone. After a few minutes everything calmed down and I went over to the student who was cheating and asked if he needed any help and he declined but when he did need help he called me over.

                  Today was a day that I really felt that I’m connecting to the class, which is perfect because I’m teaching the whole day next Friday.

Observations in Newark 3

Today’s lesson was a review of the previous 2 days in which Mr. N was absent. In 3 of the classes Ms. P was there and she taught the material so they were ahead of the other classes. The lesson was PowerPoint based with guided notes provided by Mr. N and a worksheet that became homework if the students weren’t able to finish it in class. I noticed a few classroom management techniques that Mr. N did that weren’t very good. First, he didn’t have something for the students to do when they entered the classroom so that they could transition from the social setting in the hallway to the academic setting in the classroom. Another thing was that he talked over student’s conversations in the beginning of the lesson to try and get them to listen to him. He would raise his voice and call out students individually to get them focused. In one class he actually took out a ruler and started tapping on the students desks to get them refocused, I did not like that. The pace of the class was very fast with a lot of distractions, which led to many side conversations amongst the students when they were supposed to be working. By the third class he added an activity that reinforced the lesson and kept the students a little more focused and allowed for Ms. P, Mr. N, and myself to work with each group individually to help them through any difficulties. As the day went on the classes were more focused and he incorporated me more into the classroom.

            During the prep periods he had me make the lesson for Monday. I enjoyed this because it gave me a chance to plug into what the students were doing in the class and allowed me to become more involved in his class. In period 7 Ms. E, the department chair, wanted to speak with me. I had prepared a short evaluation on the material that the students may encounter when they take the NJBCT at the end of the year. She was impressed with my work and offered me the chance to lead the department in the student’s preparations for the test. I accepted and have begun preparations for this Friday’s lesson. Teaching to the test is not something I condone but the students performed so poorly on the test the year before that she felt something had to be done. This responsibility includes making lesson plans for the entire department beginning this week in preparation for the test. I begin teaching my own lessons on Friday and I couldn’t be more excited.

Observations in Newark 2

Today in class the students took an ecology test. Most of the day I spent grading the tests. Doing this gave me a good idea of the literacy level of the students in the class and the way they think. Most of the students failed the test, some because they didn’t care and left half of it blank and some because they didn’t know the information. When I was done grading the tests, I had to fill out a feedback form that was stapled to the test. I really did not like this way of giving feedback to the students. As I was grading the tests I would see that they defined a word wrong or they mixed up a concept but I was not allowed to write on the test to help the students understand why they got the question wrong. The feedback form was very general and the evaluations were geared more towards a lab than a test. I assume that Mr. N uses the same feedback form for all of the assignments. I can’t stress enough how much I disliked the feedback forms. I could not get specific with my feedback because the additional comments space was very small. In my classroom I would write on the test giving the students specific feedback according to what they got wrong. Now, the test was a department test. It was made by all of the teachers in the biology department and was used by all of the teachers. I can see the benefits for this type of test, just like I can see the benefits of a standardized test but I did not like that each teacher couldn’t customize the test to accommodate their own classroom. Two of the questions’ answers were wrong and the consensus was to just give the students the free points. If each teacher made their own test or they at least revised the test, this wouldn’t have been an issue. While the students were taking the test, a lot of them were cheating and talking and sharing answers. Mr. N seemed preoccupied with other stuff and I was grading the tests while the students were taking the exam. Personally, I would have put off the other stuff until after school and focused on helping the students with the exam and protecting the academic honesty of the students. There seems to be a feeling in the department that the students need to get good grades, instead of understand the material and I think that that’s a twisted perspective.

            I was supposed to teach next week but since the two times I observed they were doing research and taking a test I asked if I could teach the following week so I can get a feel for the classroom procedures and what the students respond well to.

Observations in Newark

Today the class was doing research for a school mandated paper on World Hunger. Upon entering the computer lab I noticed that the students were not on task and refused to do their research. There was already my cooperating teacher in the classroom and a co-teacher working with the students. My main goal that day was to help Mr. N and Ms. P keep the students on task and offer advice if they needed it. One thing that stood out to me when working in the classroom was the management strategies employed when the students became rowdy and restless. More often than not, the teachers resorted to yelling to get the students to calm down. This rarely worked, as the students would just yell back or come back with a clever and insulting retort. I decided to try something different when walking around the room, I just asked what the student’s paper was on and move on. The subtle gesture of showing interest in their work seemed to have a more calming affect on the students than yelling did. I’m not going to say that it’s always going to work because Mr. Nazaire does know his students better than I do and he knows how to connect with them better also.

            Going into a Newark public school was certainly an eye opener. It was Friday, so the students didn’t have to wear their uniforms and I think that definitely had a negative affect on their behavior. Also, the fact that they were in a computer lab and not a regular classroom had a negative impact on their focus and led them to not stay on task.

Interactivity #5

The teacher that I interviewed was my cooperating teacher at Central High School in Newark. "Jim" graduated from Montclair State University and has 2 Masters degrees from Montclair also. He is originally from Haiti and was raised in the Oranges in New Jersey. He is currently teaching sophomore biology at Central High School.

When I showed Jim the NETS-S and NETS-T standards he didn't know what they were. After he read through them, he noticed that they are pretty technologically involved and some of his students do not have access to the kind of resources needed to meet the standards. Central High has no begun to implement these standards into their curriculum and according to Jim, it's because of the poverty that many of the students fall victim to. The school has installed Smart boards in all of the classrooms to increase technology proficiency in the classroom and the students love it. Honestly, I was not surprised with any of the answers he provided. We have had many conversations about the socio-economic status of the students in his class and the issue of technology has come up before. Many of the students do not have a computer at home and are not particularly technology proficient. When I have my own classroom I would definitely talk to my department chair about steps we can take to implement the NETS-S and NETS-T standards into the curriculum. 

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