Promising Practices Conference

In November, I attended the Promising Practices Conference at RIC. This year, the topic was Civic and Community Engagement. The first session, which everybody attended, was the Plenary Session. The panel discussed how they plan to make the education system in Rhode Island as strong as it can be. I did not really get much out of this session that I could use in the future. However, the next two sessions that I attended were very useful.

The first session was called “Real Voice-Real Action-Real Results”.  The panel, which included the Mayor of North Providence, the Principal of North Providence High School, and a representative from the North Providence Youth Commission, discussed a program that they created called the North Providence Youth Commission. This program aims at connecting youth with social workers. The members attend a leadership academy in the summer, where they plan community service projects upon other projects and activities. These students have a community service component implemented as a part of their curriculum. The projects that these students run are completely youth led, they decide and plan everything. The program has been extremely successful, as it has graduated every single member from North Providence High School, and every member has either gone on to college or the military. Listening about this great program showed me that we can truly make a difference in our own community. Starting programs like this in other communities would be a great thing and would benefit the students tremendously. I think other towns should take notice of this program. It is certainly something that I will keep in mind throughout my schooling and professional career. 

The next session that I attended was called “Engaging Students in Anti-Bullying Efforts”. Two teachers from Barrington Middle School led the presentation. They talked about a program that they created at their school. The program aimed at ending bullying by engaging students in activities and discussions. The group grew quickly and now consists of roughly 100 students. These students break into 4 groups and have discussions on important issues such as bullying, suicide, and eating disorders, upon many other things. They also take part in team activities and weekly challenges among the groups. The program has been extremely successful at Barrington Middle School, as grades have improved,  and the kids are happier and better connected to each other, which helps decrease bullying. This is another program that really spoke to me. Instead of simply standing by and allowing things to stay how they are, which would be the easy route, these teachers went out of their way to do something that they believed in, and thought was right. Stories like this can be very inspiring. Hearing about people trying, and succeeding in making a difference really makes you think about ways that you can contribute and help your own community, and school in the case of a teacher. These two presentations will certainly stay in my mind in the future, and will hopefully make me a better teacher. 

Observation Assignment #4

Name______________________________                                                    Mr. Willett 

Algebra I, Quiz I

Read directions carefully and show all work!

I.               Multiple Choice (Circle the correct answer)

1.    Which of the following is not an arithmetic sequence?

   

   a) 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, …                                  b) 1, 3, 9, 27, 81, …

 

   c) 8, 4, 0, -4, -8, …                                    d) 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, …

2.    What are the next three terms of the following arithmetic sequence?

                                    4, 0,- 4,- 8, -12,…

   a)  -16,-20,-22                                            b)  -14, -18, -22

   c)  12, 16, 20                                              d)  -16, -20, -24

3.    Which of the following is an arithmetic sequence?

   a)  10, 19, 28, 37, 46, …                            b)  4, 6, 8, 12, …

   c)  -4, -10, -14, -18, …                               c)  2, 4, 8, 10, …

II.             Short Answers: Write an equation for the nth term of each arithmetic sequence.

4.    7, 13, 19, 25, …

             5.    30, 26, 22, 18, …

Observation Assignment #3

The third class that I observed was a Calculus class. The students entered the room quietly and pretty well behaved. They went right to their seats and only talked to each other briefly before the teacher began class. As the teacher was talking, I noticed that about three-quarters of the class was paying attention very closely. The others either had their head down or were looking down at their phone, not focusing at all, or only very little. The teacher took attendance by verbally calling out each student’s name, and they responded if they heard their name called.

The teacher then distributed a worksheet to each student. She told the students that the worksheet contained material that they learned the previous class, and they would go over the first problem together as a class. Before they started that though, the teacher walked over to each student and collected his or her homework. They then did the problem using a smart board. The teacher would ask students to volunteer to either come up and actually write out a step, or instruct her how to do it. She used this same strategy until the problem was finished. The students then worked on the worksheets independently. As they did this, one student approached the teacher and asked her for the materials from the last class that she was absent from. The teacher then talked to that student for a few minutes, and gave her another worksheet.

The teacher then walked around the room and observed how the students were doing. When she noticed success on a certain problem, she would say something to the student like “Good job” or “Very good”. She did this very often, and it seemed to give the students a little extra confidence. When the teacher noticed any sign of misbehavior in a student, she quickly addressed it to make sure that it did not become an issue. This strategy seemed to work very well, as there were never any major behavioral issues during class. The class very rarely got too loud to the point that the teacher had to address it, but when it did, the teacher only had to tell them to quiet down, and they did so without any argument or attitude.

When the students finished the worksheet, the teacher instructed them to keep it in their folders, and that they would go over it next class. The teacher then handed out another worksheet to each student for them to do for homework . The bell then rang shortly after that, and the teacher dismissed the class. The students then got up and left the room in the same quiet and well-behaved manner that they had entered it in. Overall, I thought the teacher showed great classroom management. She used positive reinforcement, which the students seemed to respond very well to. She was also very quick to stop any distractions or signs of misbehavior in a stern fashion. This prevented any issues from arising in class. 

Microteaching II

We all got through Microteaching II! Any helpful comments or suggestions would be great. Thanks!

Observation Assignment #2

Lesson Plan Template for SED 406 and 407 part 1 = planning
Teacher Candidate: Spencer Willett	Subject: Algebra 1	Grade(s):              9, 10
Name of Lesson: Arithmetic Sequences and Linear Patterns
Learning Objective(s), including Bloom's taxonomic level: (label A, B, C, *D) *optional Students will extend linear patterns and visual patterns and graph the relationship between term number and term value in an arithmetic sequence.
Student Standards (GSE or/GLE or Common Core-in draft for math/science- list which): -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teacher Standards (professional society and/or NETS  and RIPTS-list which): -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rationale: Why this lesson? How does it fit into the curriculum and context? Is this the introduction, conclusion, or somewhere in the middle of the unit of instruction? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Materials/Resources needed, including technology: Smart board, computer, worksheets
Accommodations and Modifications (special needs and learning styles) For example:  Dr. Kraus has poor vision and needs written material to be at least 12 pt. font.  He also reads two grade levels higher and needs appropriate reading material.  Will speak Spanish to students who primarily speak Spanish. (Class is made up of some ESL students)
What content resources support this knowledge base? (list at least 2) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How confident are you in this topic as you start this lesson? Very confident, great understanding of topic and how lesson will be executed

(Boxes expand as you type)   Lesson Plan Template part 2 = action
Bell-ringer: How will you get students seated, and ready for academic work? (without your voice) Instructions on board for a warm up exercise
Anticipatory Set: How will you introduce the material, interest the students, show relevance of topic? Talk about warm up and why it is relevant and important to topic
Phase (change as needed)/Time	Teacher action	Student action	Questions/Assessments
e.g. Intro/10 min.	Instruct students to complete the “do it now” that is on the board	Work on the “do it now”
Presentation or Open-ended/ 20 min	Do problems on smart board	Contribute, help teacher complete them	What is the next step? How? Why?
Guided Practice or Convergent/15 min	Handout worksheet, help Ss and answer questions	Work on worksheet	How are we doing with the problems?
Closing/5 min	Review what was talked about in class	Listen, ask questions if necessary
HW/Application/1 min	Handout homework worksheet
Review and Reflection: How will you review for students who are still having trouble? Help Ss individually during class who are having trouble while other Ss work on worksheet
Extension: What will you offer to students who have mastered this? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Closing: How will you review the material, and draw conclusions? (may be listed above)

	Lesson Plan Template pt. 3 = reflection
WHAT?	What went well?   Time management and smart board activities
	What area of weakness needs addressing? Did not discuss why this is important or why they are doing it
	Which objectives were met? What is the evidence? It was clear that the objectives were met by the Ss who participated and tried. The evidence was the successful completion of problems during the activities and on the worksheet
	Which students did not meet objectives? The Ss who didn’t bother to participate or seriously attempt any problems
	Was time managed appropriately? Yes
	Did any teacher mannerisms or actions detract from the lesson? No
	*What were the strengths and weaknesses of classroom management? Excellent classroom management, kept class under control and noticed and addressed any potential problems right away
SO WHAT?	Was the lesson engaging? Yes, Ss participated by using smart board and having discussions with the teacher about the problems
	*What did I learn from my peer observation (address at least one aspect)   Any potential issues need to be addressed right away. No major problems broke out because the teacher was very aware and made sure he stopped it. Also, activities where the Ss can use technology such as a smart board keep them more interested, and are generally more successful
NOW WHAT?	How will this experience influence your professional identity?  The teacher of this class showed many good teaching qualities, such as his classroom management, that I will certainly use one day
	How will it influence how you plan/teach/assess in the future? The teacher wrote out on the board what he expected of the students before class, which I think is a good way to get Ss to understand what they need to concentrate on and what they need to accomplish while they are in class. Also, I liked the way he incorporated technology. I will certainly try to find the best ways to do this myself.

Observation Assignment #1

            I walked into Mt. Pleasant High School, and was overwhelmed by the school’s size right away. It was different than every other high school that I have ever been in.  When I first walked into the classroom that the secretary directed me to, I noticed how plain and simple it was. There were desks in the middle of the room in groups of three to four, and a larger desk in the front of the room for the teacher. There was also a large desk in the back where I sat. There were a few posters on the wall, all of which were geometry related. There were also two chalkboards, a smart board, and a computer towards the front of the room. Overall, I thought the room looked like a pretty typical high school classroom. It made me feel pretty bored at first, as it was very bland and unexciting. The students entered the room loudly and obnoxiously, as some of them would yell things at each other, some of which was very inappropriate for a classroom setting. When they finally sat down, the teacher was constantly trying to get them to calm down and listen to her, but her efforts were unsuccessful for the most part. She never was able to fully get control of the whole class. I noticed that there were 20 students total, 12 of who were Hispanic, and 8 were African-American. Also, 11 were female, and 9 were male, and none of the students seemed to have any disabilities. The class seemed to be fairly consistent with the rest of the school in terms of diversity.

            The teacher finally started teaching, after she gave the students about 10 minutes to work on a warm up activity, which I observed that maybe 6 students actually worked on. She tried to get the students involved, but most of them were still talking and complaining pretty loudly. The teacher gave every student a chance to participate, but only the same 4 or 5 students would actually participate and answer the teacher’s questions. I couldn’t believe how disrespectful some of the students were to the teacher. When the teacher asked one of the students to pay attention and stop talking so loudly, she replied “Why should I listen to this crap that I don’t need to know,” in a rude tone of voice. From then on, all of the teacher’s attempts to get that student or any of the other’s sitting in her group were shot down right away. The few kids that did take part in class discussions seemed like they knew the topic very well. They understood the questions and problems that the teacher put on the smart board, and were doing a good job at answering her questions. If only the teacher could have controlled the rest of the class better, she could have had a much more successful and effective lesson. Her many failed attempts to get them to join the rest of the class wasted a lot of class time.

            I could tell that the bell was about to ring, as many of the students started getting their stuff together and standing up, even though the teacher was still talking. She asked them to sit until the bell rings, but they continued with what they were doing anyway. Within seconds, nearly every student was standing and fooling around loudly while they waited to leave. The teacher simply sat at her desk and waited for the bell to also. When it finally did, the students quickly left, and the teacher seemed very relieved. I have never experienced a class like this in my schooling career, so I was very surprised and interested to see how it would play out, as I could tell the direction that the lesson was headed right when the students walked into the room. I think it would be very interesting to be a student in this class, and in the school in general. I would be a minority in terms of race, which would be a big change for me. In my high school, I was in the clear majority, as about 90% or more of the students were white. The environment inside the school is also much different than in my high school. It would take a lot of adjusting to the new setting. Although the class did not go as I had envisioned it would, I believe being able to see it unfold was a good experience, as I can use the lessons that I learned when I become a teacher myself.

Microteaching I

My SED-406 class completed Microteaching I on Tuesday, October 22nd. It was a great experience and very helpful to actually see myself as the teacher rather than the student. I'd love to hear feedback from others in my group! Thanks!

Parental Involvement in Education

            There are many ways that the tax paying public can make a difference in public education. However, I believe that greater parental involvement would be the best way to make progress toward improvement. Lack of parental involvement is one of the biggest issues facing public schools today, and it needs to be addressed. If parents became more involved in their children’s studies, this would not only benefit the children, but it would also help make sure that teachers are doing their jobs properly. More involved parents could talk to their kids about their teachers and the learning environment in their classroom. This communication can help parents get a better idea of how their children’s teachers are conducting themselves in the classroom. If they believe that there is something that needs to be addressed, they can arrange a conference with the teacher, or speak with the principal or vice-principal. When parents get more involved, they will be able to tell which teachers truly care and which simply do not. If a teacher has no interest in getting back to a concerned parent or a parent who has reached out to them, the parent will surely realize that the teacher is simply not interested, which is not a good sign from a teacher. Communicating with parents is a key ingredient in good teaching. The best teachers never surprise parents, as they always know how their child is doing in class. Teachers that regularly contact parents by e-mail, phone or however they choose and regularly keep them involved in what is going on at school show parents that they truly care and are there to help. When it comes down to it, parental involvement in schooling is necessary in order for the tax paying public to have an idea of what is going on in their children’s’ classroom. In my opinion, it is the best way to try and make sure that teachers are doing their jobs properly.