The first day of class at my school, I was shocked at the racial segregation of my classes; three of my classes contain primarily African American students, while my other two classes were made up mostly of white students. I have about four or five students who are fifteen, and the youngest age of my students is twelve. The ICR classes do contain at-risk students, and multiple students with IEPs. My students are also from various ends of the socioeconomic totem pole.
The abilities these students have is mixed in all of my classes; three of them are ICR, and two of them are AG. My first ICR class is not that big, while the other two seem to be larger. Both of my AG classes seem to make the room feel smaller. I was surprised when one student in one of the AG classes stated that her favorite books were written by Dan Brown. An eighth grader reading Dan Brown? This surprised me, but at the same time, worried me; the abilities of my students are literally on opposite ends of the spectrum. I am worried that I will not be able to teach effectively to each ability level, while also using appropriate differentiation.

Classroom Environment

Ligon Middle School is a supportive environment for diverse learners to excel; the determined staff contributes greatly to this positive learning space. Not only do teachers and administrators push students to succeed, but some families also provide student support. Even though some students’ parents and grandparents may come to volunteer, many students still do not receive the needed amount of support from home.
Ligon contains grade levels six through eight, with grade mixing among different electives which students choose to take. The school is located in a part of town that is surrounded by lower-economic status and government housing, but students are bused from all over the county, so diverse populations are present. Even though Ligon is made up of a diverse population, the mixing of students within classes is not evenly assorted.
Three of my language arts classes are ICR classes, and the majority of students in them are African American, while my two AG language arts classes are compiled mostly by white students. Within the three ICR classes, eight students are white, eight students are Indian, and two are Hispanic. The two AG classes contain ten students who are Indian and two students who are African-American. According to these numbers, diversity is present in these classrooms, but is not evenly distributed.
In the first two ICR classes, I have eighteen students, and in my third ICR language arts class, there are twenty-five students. I am glad the day starts off with a smaller class; many mornings, the air conditioning in my classroom does none turn on until around nine in the morning. A classroom full of antsy middle-school-students and no air conditioning may not be a great start to the school day.
The two AG classes are composed of twenty-six and twenty-two students. The classroom seems cramped at times with the larger classes, but it is still functional. Students have more trouble moving around into groups, so it is easier for them to work in groups on their particular rows; seating charts have been made to ensure cooperative learning groups will be present on each one.
All of these classes have a spectrum of abilities, and within the ICR classes, I know for certain five students have IEPs. During one lesson, my cooperating teacher read a short story out loud to the three ICR classes, but the AG classes were able to read more of the piece silently by themselves. It concerns me that many of these students still have extreme difficulty reading independently; especially when three students in the ICR classes are fifteen.
There is a big difference among students’ ages in these classes; the youngest age is twelve. Not only do these classes contain a big difference in age, but they contain an uneven gender distribution. In second period (an ICR language arts class), four students are male, while thirteen are female; third period shows almost the same distribution, with four students being male and fifteen female. Fourth period, a larger class, contains ten males and seventeen females. Fifth period has fourteen males and thirteen females, while seventh period contains nine males and fifteen females.
Even though the classes do not contain much diversity, the classroom is highly organized, and students can easily follow the days’ events and schedule by glancing around the room. Classroom rules are placed in front of the class, and strategically beside the clock. Also beside the clock is the school’s PBS discipline flow chart. Schedules are posted on every wall; a normal school day consists of eight periods, one of which is lunch, and each period lasting approximately forty-three minutes.
Supplies are also placed in front of the classroom and on sides of the classroom, along with a classroom library bookshelf, a bookshelf for grammar and literature text books, a bookshelf containing dictionaries and thesauruses, and crates containing grammar workbooks and soon to contain students’ focus question notebooks. There is an ELMO, a t.v. with VHS/DVD player, a projector, two computers (one of which is not working at the time), and a printer are also located in the classroom.

Ligon Middle School

This year, cooperating teacher has moved from Daniels Middle School to Ligon Middle School; even though this is an exciting move, I am not as familiar with Ligon as I was with Daniels. The school's location is a major difference than that of Daniels; Ligon appears to be set in a lower-economic part of Raleigh. The staff is very focused and positive about giving their students highly effective teaching; I am looking forward to working with them for a great (and busy) student teaching semester!

I did attend a faculty meeting at the beginning of this week, which was exciting because it was my first student teaching experience this semester. A lot of information was given that day, and it was a lot to take in; I have much more to learn. I need to learn more about Ligon's PBS system, along with everyday school procedures. I was never fully aware about the smaller details that make a school run much more smoother, such as duties and behavior policies.

There are many things I still need to learn about Ligon Middle School, and I plan to gain more knowledge on school policies and procedures this upcoming week.

Is it really exam time?

As this semester quickly approaches an end, reality starts to settle. I am one exam week away from holding the title of "Meredith College Senior." Senior year contains many memorable events in any college student's life, and for future educators, this long-awaited year contains the highly anticipated student teaching semester. Since freshman year, my education friends and I have discussed how excited we would be when we were about to student teach, and we would often count down the semesters until the time arrived... now, it is actually here. Student teaching is the Mount Everest of the track to receiving a license, so, am I really ready to conquer Everest?

My professors have well-equipped me with the knowledge I will need to be pedagogically sound, while putting theories to practice. The field of education has endless possibilities, and I am eager to use the many strategies I have been learning about for two years. Although I have completed the reading and studying
needed to successfully complete these courses, I will not fully understand these concepts until I'm in front of the class.

It is hard to grasp the idea that I will be student teaching next semester; the most important semester of my college career is only four months away. I do not mean to sound dramatic, but it is a little anxiety-inducing, but still extremely exciting, that I will soon be in front of the class. I do know that the fall will be one of the best learning experiences I will ever encounter; I am excited to see what next year brings and discovering more ways to teach effectively.

The Writing Workshop... where to begin?

We recently read Nancie Atwell's In the MIddle: Writing, Reading, and Learning with Adolescents in our methods course. The writing workshop, as described by Atwell, produces affective writers and improves students' writing abilities. She works one-on-one with each student, holding conferences to ensure each step of the writing process is taking place. Looking back on my middle school and high school years, I cannot remember a teacher who went through each step of the writing process and held conferences with each student. This may take much time, but when used wisely, much can be accomplished using this writing workshop model.
Atwell's model is extremely affective in her classroom, but I am nervous of where to begin this process in my future classroom. The closer I get to student teaching, the more anxious I get about classroom organization, an essential element in the writing workshop and for a positive classroom environment. I plan on keeping the class as organized as possible to create a positive learning place. This will take time and effort, but I am sure I can effectively organize the class so that students can become better readers and writers.

Technology this Semester

Walking into EDU 241, I felt as if I was technologically illiterate. I have improved my technology skills quite much in this class. I was super excited, and nervous, to find our we would learn how to create websites in this class. Looking back on my webpage and webquest, I am proud to know I created them from scratch. Knowing how to use Expressions will greatly help my career; I will now be able to create class webpages and webquests to incorporate 20th century learning into my future classroom. There are so many ways to use technology in the classroom, and this class sparked great ideas that I will carry with me into my career.
I wish we had spent more time on Access; this program highly confused me. Databases will be a great way to organize information about students, and I wish we would have spent more time on them.
Not only have I learned about technology in this class, but my confidence in using technology has increased. I am not as afraid of technology as I was at the beginning of this course- thank you Dr. Parker!

School Violence

When I turned on the television, I immediately heard about the school shooting in Colorado. It saddens me to know that school violence is increasing everyday. Even though the reported shooter was not one of the students, this still was an act of violence taking place in a public place of education. Schools are supposed to be a safe haven for students- a place where everyone feels safe, accepted, appreciated, and wanted. It seems as if everyday, there's a news story about school violence. When will this end?
Teachers have a vital role in their classrooms; not only are they the subject guru, but they are mentors. Teachers should encourage students to get involved in their school; extracurricular activities are a great way to steer students away from violence. Also, teachers should make students feel accepted and appreciated. Much violence is linked to hatred and depression. If teachers assure that each student is treated equally and accepted in their classrooms, then maybe... just maybe... we will not see a news story about school violence each time we turn on the television.

The Love of Literature

Linda Sasser makes a great point in her article "Teaching Literature to Language Minority Students." She explains that teachers should not only focus on comprehension of a work, but to also help students understand the "beauty" of literature. Not only am I worried about teaching ELLs language arts, but I am wondering how you can teach someone how to love literature. The reason why I want to teach language arts is because I do love literature so much, and that is what I want to pass down to my future students. I want to make my classroom as exciting as possible, and this will help ELLs be more motivated to learn about literature.

Gangs in Middle School

Last week, there was a news story about gangs in middle school. Gangs are a a growing issue in middle schools, and it is vital that teachers be aware of what is going on not only inside their classroom, but outside of their classroom as well. Middle-schoolers account for almost half the gang-related issues so far in the 2009-10 school year. Middle school is a trying time for adolescents; teachers must make each student feel welcome and accepted in their classroom because many students turn to gangs, drugs, alcohol, and other problems to feel wanted and appreciated.

Writing and Grammar: Inseperable

Lynn Sams, in How to Teach Grammar, Analytical Thinking, and Writing: A Method That Works, explains that writing cannot be taught without students first knowing basic grammar concepts. Since grammar includes the relationship among words, grammar is the foundation for sentence structure. Once students know more about grammar, they are able to build more complex sentences because they are knowledgeable about the linkage between the words they are writing. I am discouraged that the NCSCOS does not include much detail regarding grammar (well, at least not the 8th grade Language Arts portion.) Although not much grammar objectives are stated, there is detailed writing standards that should be met. How are students going to write well when they know little about grammar?

Technology this Week

I thought I knew quite much about spreadsheets... turns out... I was wrong about this. This week, I have been working on a spreadsheet assignment for a class, and it was a bit confusing at first, but once I got into the hang of the software, everything turned out to work smoothly. I already knew how to incorporate formulas into spreadsheets, which will greatly help with calculating grades in my future classroom. One thing I didn't know much about, which is sad to admit, was creating a graph within the spreadsheet, but I eventually figured how to create one. I also recently worked on a Digital Story, using a movie maker on my desktop. I have used this program before, and I think it would be great if students had the opportunity to create their own videos of book advertisements (almost like a commercial for a book.) There are so many ways to use technology in the classroom, and I look forward to using these programs.

Technology this Week

I never knew there was a program called Inspiration. This program has some neat graphics and such to help teachers create maps and charts to assist in their students' learning. Not only could teachers work with Inspiration, but students could use Inspiration to make a concept map or a flow chart of events/literary elements of a novel they read in class. Concept maps always helped my writing, and I am sure they will greatly help students who are visual learners and have trouble organizing their papers. Technology used to be extremely intimidating to me, but I believe I'm starting to get the hang of it now...

Middle School

For my Teaching Middle School class, we had to read an article about the chaotic situation that is occurring in many middle schools today. The article, "Trying to Find Solutions in Chaotic Middle Schools," explains that some schools in New York have become K-8 and even 6-12 schools just to avoid having a middle school. There are many things in education I feel are pushed to the side, such as literacy and exceptional children, and here is a situation in which middle schools are being tossed to the side because no one will take the time and effort to reach out to these children. Middle school students are difficult, but it is not entirely impossible to teach them; all it takes is a little creativity and patience...

Technology

This week was a breakthrough in technology for me. I created a web page using Expressions... which I never knew existed until I was given the assignment last week. Expressions can seemed difficult at times, but once I got the hang of it, creating my web page went pretty smoothly. I will keep adding things to my web page so that students can view it and get links to various sites we might use in the classroom. Not only did I create a web page this week, but I also worked on several flyers, which were a bit less complicated than the web page. I already knew how to create a flyer using Microsoft Word, but I was new to using Microsoft Publisher. Publisher is great due to its templates which make it user-friendly! I might get my future students to use Publisher to make flyers for book projects. Technology can be incorporated into the classroom in many ways, and I plan to assign my students technological work so that they will become accustomed to using computers before they reach high school.

The Many Images of Middle Schoolers

In Fires in the Middle School Bathroom, Kaleen Cushman and Laura Rogers explain that middle school is a critical time in which students are trying different "images" on. One day, a student might have the ambition to become a rock star,the next day, that student might want to become a scientist. The toughest thing about my middle school years was that I couldn't figure out "my place." I would hop from clique to clique, putting on different images, hoping to fit in. I never have liked cliques... and I plan to attempt to mingle students together in group work and literature circles. Students need to become global citizens... I know that sounds like a huge goal (because it is), but I think the first step is to de-clique the middle school.

The Fear of Teachers

I recently started reading Rafe Esquith's Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire, and have come across many extreme "ah-ha" moments. I can relate each point Esquith makes to myself or to a previous teacher.
One of the first points Esquith explains is that many teachers attempt to scare students, trying to intimidate them so the students will not act out in their classrooms. I never stopped to think of my fear of teachers... but I have started to think about the one teacher I feared the most...
This particular teacher was not friendly and easily became ill at me if I repeated a question another student had previously asked. I was not at all comfortable in this teacher's classroom, and could not learn to my potential because I was afraid of asking this teacher a question. I dreaded coming to this particular class, and often dreaded going to school because I knew I would have to go to that class. I guess I forgot about this teacher for a while, until I started reading this book, but it is utterly obvious to say I DO NOT want to become this teacher...
In addition to the concept of "fear" in a classroom, Esquith explains that teachers must establish a trustful classroom- a classroom in which students trust on a reliable, dependable teacher, and teachers trust the hard-working, diligent students. Esquith explains this trust must be discussed in the first day of class, and I plan on talking about this "trustful classroom" with my future students. I find that Esquith's concepts about trust can not only be applied to teaching, but to life in general. Esquith explains that teachers should stick to their word, and once students lose the teacher's trust, it can never be gained a hundred percent back. This past year, I have gone through situations in which trust (or lack of trust) was the reason why a problem was occurring, and have realized that Esquith's words apply to every part of life. I'm sure everyone has faced hardships of someone breaking trust, and I do not want to put my future students through that disappointment. The foundation of a wonderful teacher is trust, ad I plan to establish that with my future students from the get-go.