September 19-23

This past week, my students researched Rube Goldberg and then designed and drew their own Rube Goldberg machines in the form of a blueprint. The creativity that went into these blueprints seemed to be only at one extreme or the other - some were the most creative ideas I've ever seen from 8th graders while others were as bland as low sodium Ritz crackers. I thought this assignment would be fun and boost students' desire to be creative in science class, but for many this was not the case. I wonder if this assignment was less effective because it was NOT a group project. When the students worked in groups on their bridges and made their news report videos they all were so creative. This time around many students could not even begin their Rube Goldberg machine because they said they didn't know where to start. Maybe this mini project was too open ended, but I did provide a series of guidelines and criteria that they had to meet. So, I'm stumped as to why there was such a gap in creativity. Perhaps the Prezi's they will be working on next week will show less of a gap.

September 12-16

This week was full of technological crises. The students were wrapping up their videos and putting the finishing touches on them. We had issues with editing due to file type compatibility with MovieMaker. Some videos would only play sideways on the computer screen. Then the videos would not play at all, because they were saved in a file on the server which made them VERY slow and glitchy. The students thought they'd never get to see each others' videos. It was just a mess. But luckily, my mentor teacher is a tech savvy genius.

Note to self: When using any technology, make sure software and file type are compatible, make sure you have a safe place to store files, and make sure you can open and effectively use those files. Ugh!

The videos, for the most part, were very creative and thorough. The students loved watching each others videos, but when it was one of their own turns to show their video they did not want to be in the room while they were on the big screen. It was interesting to see their reactions to their own videos. Embarrassment was probably the most obvious reaction, but that is middle schoolers for you. Secretly, they were proud of themselves and their videos.

I also gave a quiz on the material covered in the bridge project (Scientific method steps, variables, etc.). The Bridge Project is OVER! Here we come, simple machines.

I have changed my bulletin board. Previously, I had a contest with scientific method graphic organizers and had posted these on the bulletin board. Now that the Bridge Project and the scientific method unit is over, I have decided to put up student drawings, newspaper clippings of students, and other random student work that they are proud of enough to want posted on the bulletin board. The students seem excited about this, so, we shall see how this goes. I hope this shows them how invested I am in them and that I appreciate their doodles! :)

Highlights of this week include:
- SMS dance on Friday - These kids can Dougie!
- Watching one of my special needs students grin the entire time his video was being played on the whiteboard.
- Watching a student-made video with a student rapping about "Earthquake Dowling".

Thing I should work on:
- Backup plans when technology fails.
- More concise directions for students when using technology or doing a BIG project
- Patience with technology.

September 6-9

This was a short week, thanks to Labor Day weekend...but, it was a difficult one. At the beginning of this week, I think the students had simply gone on too long with unstructured group work that they believe they could get away with misbehaving. I had to give out an ABC to a student who would not stay quiet while I was giving directions. I was not happy about this and neither was the student. But, things improved as the week went on.

Students tested their bridges before and after "Earthquake DOWLING". This "natural" disaster was hilarious. The students would add weight to their bridge until they thought it was close to it's breaking point and then the bridge would have to submit to this terrible experience that was "Earthquake DOWLING". My mentor teacher, Mrs. Dowling, would bend and twist the cardboard land that the bridges were built on to cause damage to the bridges and then the students would test their bridges again to see if it held the same amount of weight. The students loved and hated "Earthquake DOWLING", so classes were definitely interesting.

One of my students with special needs made an incredibly strong and durable bridge. The other students were so impressed with his bridge that they cheered him on throughout the bridge weighing/testing process. His bridge held the most weight out of his class period and the students clapped for him when he was finished testing his bridge. It was a really amazing moment.

Another student with special needs made a not-so-strong bridge, but it didn't matter to him, myself, or the other students. In fact, I am so glad that his bridge wasn't sturdy. You know why? Because as this child was adding more and more weight to his bridge, it caved in so far that students began reaching out to hold the cardboard against the table-top just to keep it from completely falling to the ground. I have never seen students so supportive of one of their peers. They cheered him on and made sure he got to add every single weight to the bucket. What a strong bridge they formed that day! So amazing!

On Friday, the students began working on their conclusion videos. They are going to make a "News Report" in which they will be reporting on the devastating earthquake and the bridges that were affected by it (of course, this means the bridge they constructed last week). The students began writing their scripts and figuring out how they wanted to film the news report. Some students wanted to make a movie trailer instead, which sounds really interesting and creative. I can't wait to see how they turn out. They begin the actual filming on Monday.

August 29-September 2

This has been a very busy and exciting week. The students have been working on their bridge projects in order to learn about the scientific method. They are spending a lot of their time in groups building the "best earthquake bridge" using glue, toothpicks, straws, and cardboard. This is the "designing/testing the experiment" phase of the scientific method. They have been very enthusiastic, but there are a few groups who are really struggling to believe in themselves and realize that they can indeed build a bridge out of these materials.

It has been interesting to see how my two non-English speaking students have been interacting with their group members. At first, they seemed segregated from their group, but eventually became more involved and even gave them the idea that really got their bridge blueprint going. Also, I have students with autism that are building their own bridges while working with a group. These students seem to be interested in making a bridge out of toothpicks, but seem a little out of touch with the goal of the project. I am hoping that when they finally get to test their bridges they will understand why we worked on this project for so long.

Open House was this past Tuesday. It was definitely a memorable experience. I ran into one of my students with autism. He is high functioning and very social. He ran up to me with his mother and introduced me to her. He also told me something I will never forget. He said, "Miss Hatcher, you know, out of all of the interns here you are the one who has shown the MOST IMPROVEMENT!". Man, do I love this child. What a statement! I couldn't stop grinning the rest of the evening.


Next week, the students will get to test their bridges and begin working on their video conclusions! I can't wait for this part of the project!

Aug. 22-26

It was nice to have students the entire week, unlike last week. I am getting used to the new names and faces a lot quicker than I had anticipated. The students this year have been very enthusiastic about using the educational social network Edmodo.com in my classroom. Students can use this site to share links and ask each other for help during projects and online assignments. The students were 'tested' this week to see if they could be respectful to one another on Edmodo by having a conversation about the meaning of respect. It gave me a good idea of who I need to keep an eye on when on the computers and who are the 'helpers' in the classroom.

I asked my teacher to let me teach all day on Friday, and I was pleased with how smoothly things went. The first couple classes were a little shaky at the begging of each period, because I wasn't really sure what order the directions should be given to explain the online assignment. I may have been going through the directions a little too fast for my students also. My mentor teacher gave me a few pointers and the rest of the day went smoothly.

One of my classes is an inclusion class with many different modifications. I have students who cannot yet speak English in this class. It is also the largest class with so many students we have run out of table space. So far, this class is my biggest challenge and most exciting part of my day. This class is going to be the one that best prepares me for my first year of teaching.

This week has been a positive experience, and I am excited to see what the rest of the semester holds. Good luck fellow interns!

Practicum plan reflection

To be honest, after midterm, I did not use the practicum plan. I liked the idea of creating one at the beginning to see when you will need to complete assignments and etc. but I did not use it so much as a 'planner'. I think it would have been more beneficial to me to make an actual planner. Maybe we could have used Google calender or created an actual paper copy of a 'participant planner' to print out so we could carry that around with us to class and to our PDS. Also, for me anyway, it think I would have used my practicum plan more if I had to make one in the fall semester because my workload was actually greater since I had Reading, C&I,and Sped along with our practicum.

I ended up just incorporating some of my learning goals into lessons for my my 2 week full time teaching. I don't think the practicum plan helped me to establish my learning goals, but it did make me consider how what I wanted to get out of my teaching experience at North Marion.

Characteristics 3 and 5 of the Novice Teacher

3. The novice teacher should recognize that teaching is a professional, moral, and ethical enterprise, should understand moral issues and ethical practices in educational environments, and should have developed ethical frameworks which facilitate effective teaching.

This characteristic refers to ethics of the educational setting that is our classroom. As teachers, we must be able to set an example for our students by being able to answer the moral questions that will come up during those 'teachable moments in our classrooms. This characteristic is especially relevant to science teachers and the 'ethics of science' conversations that are bound to come up during such topics as genetic engineering, gene therapy, cloning, etc.

At North Marion in my 10th grade Biology classes, I created a lesson in which students worked in pairs to assess the ethics of a recent genetic engineering article from the magazine Popular Science. I passed out a variety of articles so students would not all be assessing the same ethical issues. For example, one pair was given an article on genetically engineered cows that have been genetically engineered in a way that makes the cows not feel any pain. Students were given an ethics worksheet to assess how this genetic engineering relates to humans, how (if at all) it benefits humans, and if it is ethical to genetically engineer an organism just because it benefits humans.

They had to discuss their answers with their partner and then we had a group discussion on each of the various articles. I used this lesson to teach students not only about the ethics of genetic engineering, but also to teach students to think critically about the ethics of science as a whole, the responsibility involved in having and using these scientific technologies, and the responsibility involved in government regulation of funding for various types of scientific research. This lesson represents characteristic 3, because I led a discussion on a touchy subject to lead students into creating their own understanding of what it means to be ethical. I played devil's advocate to show students that these ethical issues have many different perspectives that must be addressed to truly assess the underlying 'right or wrong' of each genetic engineering scenario (if a 'right or wrong' can even be assigned).



5. We believe that the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of pedagogy.

This characteristic explains the importance of knowing how to teach through a strong understanding of learning theories,instructional strategies, and the learning process. I believe this characteristic most strongly demonstrates the importance of knowing your students and best meeting their educational needs.

During my teaching experiences at North Marion High School, I've had the opportunity to give out a learning survey in which students explained how they believe that they learn best and why they believe this. The majority of my students replied that they learn best in group or pair work and through working on projects. From this feedback, I created a lesson on genetic engineering in which students had to genetically engineer their own organisms in some way and answer a set of questions that relates to the ethics of science and the overall ideas in genetics that they had been recently learning. Students were given the opportunity to work in pairs or on their own. Students were also allowed to present their project in a way that best matches their learning styles. Students could create a powerpoint, documentary, song, rap,poster,skit, etc. The list I created for them had about 20 different ways to present their project. I feel that this lesson relates to characteristic 5, because I am appealing to student's learning styles and also using student feedback to generate a lesson that allows students the freedom to learn in a way that best works for them.