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October 27, 2005

Breaks

I now understand why educators value their time off so much! After a wonderful Fall Break and time off, I feel refreshed and ready to go again!

We had parent/teacher conferences yesterday and I think that things went well. A lot of the parents were happy with the report cards and most of them wanted to know ways to help their child improve the grades. We only talked with a couple of parents who had students who did not pass one subject and had low scores on the others. I wasn't sure how that was going to go but things didn't get out of hand. I was surprised that many of the parents came alone. There was a set of parents who divided up so they could be in two classrooms at the same time.

You can learn a lot about a child from his or her parents. I noticed many of the traits you see in the student are also found in the parents. A couple of them straight out told us, "Yeah, she got that from me." As always you have the proud parents and you have the parents who want to know what they can do to help at home. I think that I am going to have a list of ideas for parents who want to help at home. You have the things they are already doing and there is always something they haven't thought of that you have.

Posted by Autumn Mundy at 3:02 PM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2005

Reflection

We are about half way through the semester. I have decided that I am not cut out for Urban teaching! People from home have always told me that I have more patience than I know what to do with. Well, that patience is starting to wear thin. Students in this setting are so in your face, that you have to be aware of where they are at all times. If they are not in your face then chances are they are in one of the other students’ face. That is never a good thing and it is hard to regain control of a class if students are ready to fight all the time. The learning levels are much lower in this particular setting. I think that presents a challenge to the teacher because they have to re-teach so much information. This causes a problem when you have to teach on grade level also. When students do not understand the information they are learning, they become disruptive. It’s a vicious circle of unwanted behavior going round and round.

If you think that you would want to be a teacher, be prepared for the testing that the students will do every day. They will test your memory, patience, and sanity all at once. Patience is still the biggest thing to have as an educator. Management is ranking high up there along with organization. The other big thing is preparation. Those three go together really well. If you are not organized, then you cannot be prepared. If you are not prepared, then you can not manage your class efficiently.

The intricate web of relationships you make in your school building is amazing! If you can talk openly to anyone in your building you have many, many, many resources at your fingertips. I have noticed that teachers in this building are very open and willing to help out anyone who needs it.

The Urban program itself is challenging to us as college students as well. We have to keep all our lessons, observations, and projects straight in our schedule. On top of that, we have the daily lessons and grading that we do in the classroom. Attending classes in the mornings on some days and in the afternoons on others, crates a hectic schedule when you are trying to find a time when you are in the classroom every single day. There are a lot of balancing acts going on but in the end, we are going to have more experience than we will know what to do with!

Posted by Autumn Mundy at 5:17 PM | Comments (2)

October 5, 2005

Second Day

If it tells you anything I am completely drained. After this second day without Mrs. C I feel as if I have no respect from any of the students. It was crazy. The principal was listening in on our class over the intercom and said something after we confronted a student three times. She scared everyone in the room and after that, they were a little better behaved, until after lunch. We had a drill that was not expected and took almost an hour to deal with because a student pulled the alarm and the whole school received a talking to. Students did not like the work left for them to do and they balked about it the entire time they SLOWLY worked through it. We didn't get a science lesson done in the past two days, we didn't get spelling review done, and we didn't get some of our reading finished either. The sub helped with discipline problems but at the same time she sat and was my eyes while I was writing or looking at my books.

I have to write up a few plans tonight and get some other homework done. I’m taking home papers from the past couple of days to grade so Mrs. C doesn’t have to deal with all that. I think I am going to go enjoy the coolness of the basement I’m living in right now.

Posted by Autumn Mundy at 6:13 PM | Comments (0)

October 4, 2005

First Sub

Today was day one of two where we are having a substitute in our class. The kids were active. One of my boys was sent home this morning for disturbance and kicking and another spent most the morning in the office for refusal to do anything! After they left the others kind of settled down but not really. They were so talkative and active that I took them out for recess and let them run around. If I was of my word they wouldn't have had any time outside but they were sitting in the classroom all morning and they needed to run their meanness out! We were late for Art because someone, that would be me, wasn't watching the time and didn't realize we had Art so soon after lunch. The sub in here helped with keeping the class quiet and in order. Otherwise I did most of the teaching. I just hope that by November and December they have calmed down and realized I don't put up with all the noise. I will stop the lesson and wait for them to quiet down because I do not like to scream over them. Hopefully, tomorrow we will finish up what we didn’t get done today and get done what we need to do tomorrow.

I also have to type out another Social Studies lesson and try to get most of my Science together for my Family Fun Night box. Family Fun Night is a night where students come in with their families and do activities that we Ball State students plan. That should be an interesting night!

Posted by Autumn Mundy at 5:49 PM | Comments (0)