Comments on: Student Teaching, week 1 http://journal.starwidget.net/2007/08/25/student-teaching-week-1/ First year teacher extraordinaire! Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:33:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: jes http://journal.starwidget.net/2007/08/25/student-teaching-week-1/comment-page-1/#comment-60 jes Mon, 27 Aug 2007 23:49:37 +0000 http://journal.starwidget.net/2007/08/25/student-teaching-week-1/#comment-60 i expect lots of advice, ideas, help, etc. with 1st grade this year. while you go 1 day a week to teach 27 kids, i go 7 to teach 1, well, i dont really "go" anywhere. but you know. i expect lots of advice, ideas, help, etc. with 1st grade this year.
while you go 1 day a week to teach 27 kids, i go 7 to teach 1,
well, i dont really “go” anywhere. but you know.

]]> By: Miss Fox http://journal.starwidget.net/2007/08/25/student-teaching-week-1/comment-page-1/#comment-59 Miss Fox Sun, 26 Aug 2007 16:33:28 +0000 http://journal.starwidget.net/2007/08/25/student-teaching-week-1/#comment-59 I'm excited about the PLC framework - the only people at my school that are apprehensive to the program are those who are afraid that the district will abandon it, or that they won't fund it. Which, sadly, are both very likely outcomes - but I really like the idea, and I'm excited to see it in the development stage so I'm familiar with it. I HATE that stupid song. They should have let the kids vote... adults rarely pay attention to what is being said in a song, they tend to judge it by it's "sound" and whatever category they lump that-sounding song into. (Says an adult... to an adult. But you know what I mean.) It's so whiny and Utopian... and Nickelback, well... they suck. I guess the upside is that the teacher's apparent approval of the song will make all the kids hate it, and perhaps it will get less radio play. What were the other choices? I’m excited about the PLC framework – the only people at my school that are apprehensive to the program are those who are afraid that the district will abandon it, or that they won’t fund it. Which, sadly, are both very likely outcomes – but I really like the idea, and I’m excited to see it in the development stage so I’m familiar with it.

I HATE that stupid song. They should have let the kids vote… adults rarely pay attention to what is being said in a song, they tend to judge it by it’s “sound” and whatever category they lump that-sounding song into. (Says an adult… to an adult. But you know what I mean.) It’s so whiny and Utopian… and Nickelback, well… they suck. I guess the upside is that the teacher’s apparent approval of the song will make all the kids hate it, and perhaps it will get less radio play. What were the other choices?

]]> By: Jen http://journal.starwidget.net/2007/08/25/student-teaching-week-1/comment-page-1/#comment-58 Jen Sun, 26 Aug 2007 13:58:42 +0000 http://journal.starwidget.net/2007/08/25/student-teaching-week-1/#comment-58 All day staff development--get used to it! Teacher workdays are rarely your own--they have to be state mandated as such for you not to have at least one meeting. PLCs are in their third year at the high school level. I really like the theory of it, and I like how our school has allowed us to have a lot of control in how we organize it, but like any other initiative, it's created a lot of resentment from people who haven't taken the time to understand the organizational framework or who think it's going away just like every other new plan the district's thrown at us before. However, I don't think that will happen with PLCs because they make a lot of sense--collaboration, focus on the skills the students require rather than the content of how you teach the skills, focus on the students and what/whether/how they are learning, focus on ways to help students who are struggling. The only drawback to PLCs is similar to the drawback of every major plan to "fix" education: there's no money connected to it. If we are going to put the pyramid of interventions into place to keep kids from struggling, we need more money, and the district has none right now. They did, however, find time to create three music videos from which we teachers were supposed to vote for our favorite to be the theme song of our year. I always wonder what it is that people do at the district headquarters all day long; apparently, they listen to a lot of music to find a song that's "inspirational." Oh, Nickelback's song about how if everyone cared, no one would die won...what a dumb song. It makes no sense--even if there were no killings from violence and hatred, people would, in fact, still die. Anyway, your week sounds about like mine; I had planned to try to plan out the whole first two weeks for my students by Friday afternoon and I hadn't even had time to start. I went in yesterday to make up my sophomores' first weekly syllabus, but I still have to decide about the other two classes I'm teaching and make theirs. And I still have to make copies. Gotta love being prepared. All day staff development–get used to it! Teacher workdays are rarely your own–they have to be state mandated as such for you not to have at least one meeting. PLCs are in their third year at the high school level. I really like the theory of it, and I like how our school has allowed us to have a lot of control in how we organize it, but like any other initiative, it’s created a lot of resentment from people who haven’t taken the time to understand the organizational framework or who think it’s going away just like every other new plan the district’s thrown at us before. However, I don’t think that will happen with PLCs because they make a lot of sense–collaboration, focus on the skills the students require rather than the content of how you teach the skills, focus on the students and what/whether/how they are learning, focus on ways to help students who are struggling. The only drawback to PLCs is similar to the drawback of every major plan to “fix” education: there’s no money connected to it. If we are going to put the pyramid of interventions into place to keep kids from struggling, we need more money, and the district has none right now. They did, however, find time to create three music videos from which we teachers were supposed to vote for our favorite to be the theme song of our year. I always wonder what it is that people do at the district headquarters all day long; apparently, they listen to a lot of music to find a song that’s “inspirational.” Oh, Nickelback’s song about how if everyone cared, no one would die won…what a dumb song. It makes no sense–even if there were no killings from violence and hatred, people would, in fact, still die. Anyway, your week sounds about like mine; I had planned to try to plan out the whole first two weeks for my students by Friday afternoon and I hadn’t even had time to start. I went in yesterday to make up my sophomores’ first weekly syllabus, but I still have to decide about the other two classes I’m teaching and make theirs. And I still have to make copies. Gotta love being prepared.

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