Extra Curricular Observation 2- Carnival

Last week we had the annual carnival at our school. Each year there is a day where students get to wear pajamas to school and the Middle School students are in charge of running a carnival. The day is structured so that each grade gets 30-45 minutes of time at the carnival. At the end of the day the Middle School students had time to play at the carnival as well.

At the carnival there were stations with games like a ring toss. There were also a couple of activity stations, like cookie decorating and face painting. At each of these stations the Middle School students rotated around helping the younger children. In addition, there was also a bouncy house, giant blow up slide and blow up obstacle course.

When it was the Middle School student’s turn to play at the carnival teachers were in charges of each of the stations. I was asked to go into the blow up maze and sit at the top because some students were congregating in the back and it was hard to keep track of how many students were in the maze. It was such a blast!

As the students were coming through I was supposed to keep them moving. The students were excited and friendly. Some students wanted to scare others as they came up to the area I was at. They were having the best time and it was so great to see them enjoying themselves and playing with each other. It was a lot of work to keep them moving through the maze, but still fun. When I have a chance to see students outside the classroom it really gives me so much more information about their personalities and interests. I also got a clearer picture of which students are friends and how close they are with each other.

There is one student who is an English Language Learner. I have not worked with her very much; she is my mentor teacher’s student. However, I have had interactions with her and she struck me as very shy and introverted. She also was very blunt, which made her hard to read. While I was supervising this maze, she asked me to help her up the ladder, I helped her and then she said she wanted to stay with me. I laughed and told her that would be fun, but I am here because I am supposed to keep people moving through the maze. She said ok, and told everyone else, “Keep moving!” I told her she can come back around and sit with me for a minute again. She was hilarious and so much fun; we have something that has connected us so now when I see her in the hall, she always smiles and says hi to me. Just that, made the whole supervising experience worth it!

Extra-Curricular Observation 1

A couple of Saturday nights ago I went to a basketball game on my school’s campus. One of the teams competing in the game was the High School which my school feeds into. It is also in fact the school my brother plays for, which is why I was at the game. He is a senior and this was his last game. Several of the students who play on the High School team have siblings who attend the school where I teach. Many of my students were at this game. It was a great opportunity to see my students outside of the school day. One occurrence that was especially fun to watch was four of my students cheering on my brother. Their older brother is on the basketball team too, but they made signs for my brother not theirs! Through this experience I learned a little about them that I did not know. Namely, that they constantly tell my brother they like him better than their own brother (who happens to be my brothers’ best friend) J.

The 8^th grade student who I work with on his year-long project was there as well. He goes to most games because he is so excited to be on the team next year and he wants to be a professional basketball player. It was fun to watch the game with him because for the last four years (before this) he had a sister who was on the basketball team, so he “got it” when I was cheering on my brother. He also liked that I knew something about sports and it gave us something else to connect about.

Observation 3- 8th Grade Math

What I See                                                                                                                                                                  What I Wonder

I came into class five minutes after it started. Two of the students are taking advanced Algebra so they are sitting right outside the classroom working independently on an assignment.The teacher is reviewing HW questions from the night before on the boardTeacher is reviewing scientific notationStudents are all facing the board, two hands go up Teacher calls on each student one after the other and answers the questions Student asks if there is another way to solve the problem, a way she sees as simpler. Teacher responds by explaining why she does it the way she does it. Teacher says the way she does it lays out all the info more clearly Transition to note taking Students are having a couple of side conversations while teacher puts notes up on board (Teacher is using a projector, computer and smart board) Students are taking out their composition books to take notes Teacher begins explaining the notes on the board as students are copying down the notes One student asks a question, the girl next to her answers it quietly The next slide has up problems; teacher gives them a few minutes to find the answer. She asks for volunteers to answer the questions She calls on students- no one is raising their hand Teacher uses smart board to write out answers Student asks for teacher to go over one of the examples again. Teacher says we saw one like this yesterday as well, and then goes to re-explain how you solve the problem and why it can be solved that way. Transition Teacher gives out an assignment for students to work on as an in-class assignment Students get to work pretty quickly A couple of clarifying questions are called out. Teacher walks over to students to answer questions 10:15-Each student takes out their books and begins. Some students seem to be working together asking questions to each other. Science teacher walks in to give Teacher some papers Student start calling out Happy bday to science teacher- this creates an eruption of conversation Teacher calls everyone to attention, it needs to be silent in here so people can work Students get back to work immediately, with small conversations. One student is asked if she needs to move seats, she says no, she can get back to work. Students are re-engaged in the work Teacher is walking around asking to see students HW from last night, to mark in her grade book 10:20-Teacher gives a reminder for students to be quiet One student keeps asking the students around him if they got the answer to various problems 10:25-Teacher gives a reminder to be quiet again, students are silent As teacher is walking around checking HW, some students have questions about the math. Teacher stops at their desks to answer their questions. Classroom is decorated with math posters and information on the walls (i.e. the Distributive property, a guide to problem solving, and a picture of Albert Einstein) 10:30- Students are working silently on the math, teacher is walking around checking work and giving feedback to students One student gets up to leave classroom and as she is walking to asks to use the restroom, teacher nods One student raises he r hand often for help Another student says he is finished and is looking for teacher attention, but she is helping a student. He asks what should he do now Student who is finished is starting a conversation with student next to him Teacher says she will give him the HW assignment to start 10:35- more conversations are starting around the classroom Teacher is writing HW assignment on the board Students are reminded to keep it down again Teacher continues to walk around the room, answering questions or giving feedback as needed Students write down the HW, student work right up to the bell and are dismissed- they are reminded to leave their things because they are coming back 4th period

Do the students know that they may be called on without having their hand up?           This teacher has had these students for math for the last three years. It is obvious they have routines and guidelines that they all know well.

Professionalism- E3

E3-Exemplify an understanding of professional responsibilities and policies.

Part of the responsibility of a teacher is to constantly be growing as a professional in the field. Education is constantly changing and in order to keep up we need to have professional goals, just like we have our students make learning goals (daily weekly or monthly as the case may be), it makes sense that we too have goals to grow as teachers.

At my school we have spent the last 3 years writing standards for teachers. These standards basically break down what it means to be a professional, growing, and effective teacher (at our school). I in fact, I had the opportunity to be on the team that wrote the standards. Part of the process of the standards also included a mentor program. This opportunity came to us through Brandeis University. Brandies piloted a program of implementing a mentor program into private day schools. What made this program so successful was that the mentor program was directly tied to the standards. In most pairings it was a mentor/mentee relationship. I was a part of the program for two years and in both years I acted as a mentor for new teachers. Another unique aspect of this program was that it was not just a mentorship for new teachers, but it is for all teachers. We are currently in the fourth year of the program and have changed the relationship to be peer mentorships (unless you are a new teacher, in which case, it is a mentor/mentee relationship). I also had the opportunity to travel to Brandies last summer with my Principal and Head of School. It was an amazing experience and I love being a part of this team. This has helped me grow professionally and being a part of the team has helped me truly understand my role as a teaching professional.

Each of our goals is to be tied to one or two of the standards from our school. Attached are my goals for this year, including the school standard the goals are tied too. Professional Goals