This week for my CFE I took over class on Wednesday, had a snow day Thursday and my final evaluation visit on Friday, and overall I would like to say that as stressed out as I am about everything else in my life my CFE still brings me a ton of joy, even when it adds to the stress. Anyway like I said Wednesday I took over class, but not in the way you might be thinking, you see Ms. Rabbitt told me that she was going to be absent so she left me with work to give the students and told me to help them with it because she knew there would be questions. She actually gave me a copy of the packet and I went through it the day before to see what kind of questions they might ask. She also asked me to go and check in on her second hour class as well if my teacher would allow me to because she had no idea who her sub was going to be, so I told her I would try to and it ended up that I could so I finally got to meet the second hour class. As soon as I said hello to them I knew straight off that the class was slightly different, but they seemed to welcome me with open arms once I told them who I was which was very nice. The group was smaller and quieter than the third hour students I am use to, but I was already prepared for that due to switching classes for my CFE, my own school experience as a student and what Ms. Rabbitt told me about the other class. Both groups were exceptional in their own ways. The only bad part was having to lay down the law with the third hour, they kept complaining about the packets and one kid actually was so annoyed with the packet the question of finishing the entire book instead arose, which I replied that if the class wanted to do that I expected an essay summarizing the book in return for not doing the packet, not a very pleasing substitute let me tell you. The day went pretty well though for the most part. Now I would summarize the evaluation, but since you already know there is not much of a point. But one thing about it that I would like to summarize about the experience is that for me the second time around was less nerve racking than the first. Also for this weeks entry I was asked to choose an insane rule at Disney that sticks out to me and if I think they are fair, while shocking fact I actually know all of Disney's insane rules for employees and actually I believe that they are all fair because Disney is not just a company it is a brand and if you don't fit the look it could ruin the experience for customers. Disney is also not the only company that has insane rules, places such as Hollister & Co. and American Eagle have them as well, it is all part of branding. Now that I have said that though I do believe I was asked to choose a rule that stuck out to me so I will. A rule that stuck out to me in the list I was given to choose from was the rule about always being in character. This rule sticks out to me because not only can it be applied to working at Disney or on stage it can also be applied in practically every job there is. Now when I was working for Mr. Gwozdz I remember how he told me that it was important to have two personas, one that you show to your students and one that you have outside of the workplace. When he first told me this I was honestly very confused by what he meant, but the more time I have had to think on this I have started to understand it. You have to have a separate life from your job because if you don't your job will slowly start to consume you and you will no longer have a personal life. You need to keep work and personal things separate. Now this does not mean that they can't intermix this just means you have to know where to draw the line and this is a rule that I am starting to apply in my CFE. Yes I want to have a relationship with the students, but I also need to know where to draw the line.
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This past week my CFE was only two days long due to the winter break on Monday and Tuesday and me leaving for Winterfest in Gatlinburg, Tennessee on Thursday afternoon thus I missed Friday, but let me tell you, those two days were crazy. Due to the tri being over soon and only being halfway through To Kill a Mockingbird Ms. Rabbit and I talked about what to do because they still have to write a paper and do a project. I am not sure if she has come up with anything yet, I know personally I'm still trying to figure out something, but for now we have decided to show the movie and summarize the book. So we started the movie and finished the chapter we were reading. Since we are watching a movie we asked the students to not use their phones, actually we asked the kids to stop using their phones altogether because they have been abusing the phone rules, and I caught them on their phones. That's right I caught them on their phones. We were having a class discussion and some of them that sit in the back of the room thought that it was a good time to use their phones, little did they know that I do know that no one just looks at their desk and just starts poking it. So whilst the discussion was going on I casually walked to the back of the room and they put their phones away. Also later whilst we watched the movie and Ms. Rabbit stepped out to speak with Mr. Frost I noticed all the kids pull out their phones so I made them put them away. I don't know what it is, but it seems like rules are constantly being ignored, so before the class period ended on Thursday and I left to Tennessee I had a few words to share with them. I told them how hurt I was that they disrespected Ms. Rabbit by pulling their phones out the second she left even though I'm still there and although I'm just the TA I had hoped they would still respect me enough to follow all the same rules Ms. Rabbit has when I am left with them. Then I said I was sorry to leave on that note and the bell rang. That was pretty much my week.
This week I also got my letter of recommendation back from Ms. Rabbit and I got to say I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful boss. Both of my bosses have been wonderful, but things have really changed this tri. The one thing that I think changed the most is me. I am more outgoing than I was and I get to work with the students more. I am really enjoying my CFE despite the hard days, I love the students and Ms. Rabbit, they are all super. This week for my CFE I did something a little different. Well not only one thing, but a few different things. This week Ms. Rabbit had to leave early for a meeting so I was left in charge for the last few minutes of class, which has happened before so that is not new. However this time when I was left with them to make sure they followed the rules and did their work until the bell rang I noticed that a couple of the students were cheating off of each other so I talked to the students, told them how disappointed I was and that I would be reporting the situation to Ms. Rabbit who would then handle the situation however she seemed fit because I am just the T.A. not the teacher. So I had my first cheating situation, I also had my first one on one with a student. Recently a student has been sick so Ms. Rabbit asked me to take them to take the quiz they missed outside of the classroom so that they weren't distracted by the rest of the class, so I took the student and gave them the quiz. I also got to talk the students this week about my personal life a little bit so that they could understand what a court reporter is and the importance of their job. You see we are reading To Kill a Mockingbird and right before break we just started the trial and in the trial a court reporter is referenced, so I mentioned to Ms. Rabbit how I personally connected with the court reporter since my own mother is a transcriptionist and she asked me to talk the students about what one is due to my personal connection. It was great getting to talk the students like how Ms. Rabbit does trying to show the students how literature can relate to everyone. This week was a great week for my CFE. So for this weeks blog post I was asked to watch a video and tell you 8 things that make me happy. This is not an easy request for me to fulfill because happiness is hard for me, but none the less I will strive my best.
So these are the 8 things that make me happy. Strange? Yes. But I don't care they make me happy. P.S. My S.O. counts in the friend section before you ask. This week during my CFE I had my first phone call with a parent...oh yeah and we watched a movie. But for me the truly exciting part was my first phone call with a parent. The story as to why I was on the phone is long one so I will skip over it and just summarize the event as truly interesting. I was in the commons with the student and the parent wanted to talk to me and I thought I had completely butchered the conversation, but according to Ms. Leslie the wonderful lady that works in the commons and overheard the phone call I did a great job of handling the situation. It was so nice to hear I did a great job because the past few weeks for me have not been going super well outside of my CFE and I really try to keep my CFE life and personal life apart, so if someone outside of my CFE says that I am doing a great job I must be. All of that only makes me more excited to become a teacher. So along with everything else going on I have been asked to write yet another letter to my employer to thank them, which is something I will very gladly do because Ms. Rabbit is amazing (as was Mr. Gwozdz. I haven't forgotten all he has taught me.), but before I can finish my letter and hand it to my employer I have a few questions. What date should I ask to have a reply by? Do I have to get my letter proof read before I hand it to my employer? These are just some questions that have been running through my mind. If you could answer these that would be great. Thanks. This week during my CFE things ran normally, except for one small detail, and that one small detail was that I was tired more than usual. But things for my CFE were normal, the class finished reading part one of To Kill a Mockingbird and started watching the first part of the book unfold on the screen. On Thursday I actually was called out of my classes on school business to rehearse for my last high school musical so I was not in my CFE, but rehearsing for my last opening night. The musical was actually a huge part of the reason why I was tired. Despite my tiredness though the CFE was great and so was every single performance of Rogers and Hammersteins Cinderella, especially the opening night. This week for my CFE we had to watch a video about a young man with autism who ended up winning a basketball game for his team which was something he dreamed of that ended up becoming reality. Now for me something that I have dreamed of that became a reality, and one that I still can't believe is over, is my senior musical. Growing up I have always loved the theater and my father use to tell me of his old theater days all the time so I dreamed of one day being able to be in my school musicals. Thanks to Mr. Smith, a teacher at Lake Shore, and his wonderful wife reviving the theater program at Lake Shore and opening up the program to all the Lake Shore students during my tenth grade year at Lake Shore I got to live out my dream. For three years I got to be in the chorus of my schools musicals and have experiences similar to the ones my father had. All of them were truly experiences I will never forget and now sadly my dream has officially become a reality so now I have to find a new dream...I think I have an idea of what it might be. I am not quite sure yet, but I do know that I am very thankful to the Smiths for helping turn my dreams into a reality with Anything Goes 2014, Footloose 2015 and Cinderella 2016. This week in my CFE things ran as normal as usual. We had Monday off for MLK day, well for classes for my students, I was at school for musical rehearsal, but that is besides the point. So Tuesday was our first official day back for classes. On that day back Ms. Rabbit accidentally broke something that was on the teachers desk in the room third hour is in. She felt very bad, but come to find out it was already broken before so no harm done. On Friday I had my evaluation and I like to believe everything went well even though I didn't teach a lesson or anything. Overall a nice week. For this week for my CFE I was asked what I would do with the winnings from the recent big drawing if I had been the lucky winner and whether or not I would still work if I had it. Personally I know what I would have done with it. I would have gone to college got my degree and gotten a teaching job because to me teaching is very important. No matter how much money I have I will always work because I love it. Of course I would change a few things. With the money I would set my parents up with whatever they want, I'd give a sizable sum to my sister (as long as she kept a job as well), I'd buy myself a house, I'd buy myself new archery equipment, I'd go to Disney Paris, Disney World and Disney Land, and along with paying for the things to live I'd leave all the money I have left when I pass to Lake Shores Media Center, Auditorium and Technology. Obviously I'd also consider leaving some to my kids, the place I am teaching and to some friends, but that is honestly what I'd do with the winnings. This past week in my CFE things ran like normal. We continued reading To Kill a Mockingbird and doing work to go along with the book. The only slightly different thing was that Ms. Rabbitt had an unexpected absence so we had a sub again. The sub we had actually was the same one from the week prior and they were so inspired by the reading previous that they had decided to check out their own copy. Also due to the fact that we had no sub plans and the sub was so excited to talk to others about the book I let them know where we were in the book and they read aloud to the class. All in all a great week.
This week for my CFE I had to watch an Ellen DeGeneres video on procrastination and how it is a huge problem. Funnily enough it is not the first time I have actually seen this video. I actually own the movie which it is in. Also if it isn't clear by the fact that I just wrote about owning the movie and this post is later than usual, than let me clear this up for you, I have a huge problem with procrastination. The blog post being late is actually due to sickness not procrastination though. I constantly struggle with procrastination which actually leads to stress and I don't really do anything to combat the struggle I just do my best to try and time manage. Although I do struggle with procrastination I always do manage to get stuff done on time due to my amazing skills for time managing procrastination. I mainly procrastinate by picking up small side projects that potentially involve art and crafts, decorating my room(not cleaning it though, cause then I would lose everything.) and by watching videos either on YouTube or ones I have in my collection that were either gifts or ones I have picked up from the dollar store, which is actually how I came across the Ellen one a.k.a. one of the prized pieces in my collection. This week was the first week back after the Holiday Break, but for me it was a little different. Over the break I unfortunately got sick and had to see the doctor on Monday so my first day back was actually Tuesday, and on Friday I went on field trip to the DIA with my AP Literature class, so technically I was only in my CFE for three days. But it was a very exciting week even though it was only three days. During one of the days, Wednesday, Ms. Rabbit was late to class due to having a meeting so another teacher came into sub and there were no sub plans because Ms. Rabbit hadn't planned on being so late. So since there were no sub plans and the teacher knew that I was the student teacher he just let me run the class because I at least knew what they were going over. I know if I don't say what they were doing I will get a comment about it so I will tell you what they were doing, the students have started to read To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. So far they are only a chapter in. On Tuesday they started listening to the audio and on Wednesday, the day Ms. Rabbit was running late, I took time for the kids to ask questions about the book before I continued to read the rest of chapter one aloud to them. Also this week for my CFE I had to read an article about time management. Now I haven't asked my employer about the time management policy due to two facts, 1. My CFE is my third hour and the third hour at Lake Shore is also the lunch period, I am doing my CFE in the same building I am going to school in. And 2. I am naturally a very timely person. I actually hate being late, I am a strict believer in the concept of the article I had to read where early is on time, on time is late and late is unacceptable. This past week of my CFE the kids wrote letters to people that have taught them empathy to thank them and also to prepare for the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. My personal definition of Empathy is the ability to see how someone else is feeling and connect with them. Empathy is something that we are taught as we grow up, it seems to be a built in part of all of us. When we see someone else hurt we empathize with them because we know just how they feel. As I have mentioned before my goal for this trimester is to have a relationship with all of my students and I believe empathy is something that I can use to help me achieve this goal.
This week for this blog I had to read an article on 15 Things You Must Give Up To Be Happy and one thing on the list I really connect with is #10. Recently I have been really struggling with a lot of things and a big cause of most of the issues is myself. I constantly have negative thoughts about myself and if I don't stop and realize that I truly am wonderful I'm never going to be the teacher I want to be. So I really connect with the idea of #10, I need to give up negative self talk and maybe just maybe I will be a little happier. Who wants a teacher that feels like they are not good enough to teach? Certainly not me. I know I won't be the best teacher, but I need to stop telling myself I am going to be the worst and start telling myself that I can do anything. This week I continued on with my CFE, but not with Mr. Gwozdz, no I started with a brand new teacher and class and I have to say they are all lovely. My new supervisor is Miss. Rabbitt who is teaching a small class of ninth graders. Her email is [email protected] if you would like to contact her. I have only been with her for a week and I have to say as much as I miss my class with Mr. Gwozdz, Miss. Rabbitt and the new class are already proving to be just as wonderful. Everyday I go into class Miss. Rabbit gives me a low down on what we are doing so that I can interject in the lesson. I actually got to draw up an example of something they were going to be doing and present it to them and on Friday Miss. Rabbitt was out so the sub just let me take over and teach the class. Only a week in and I have taken over a day of class and gave them an example of what they were going to do. It has been a great week and I am excited for the rest of the tri. Due to the fact that this is a new passage in my CFE journey though and I did accomplish my previous goal from last tri of figuring out if whether or not I want to be a teacher, I believe it is time for me to come up with a new goal. My new goal for the trimester is to try and have a connection with every single student. Last tri I had some connections with the students, but I feel like I should try and connect with every student that way I can help them to the best of my abilities. This goal is slightly based off of something that the students are learning, but I believe that it is a very important thing to do. The students are learning about empathy and the power of connections and I want to see what I can learn from my students by trying to create these connections with all of them. My new goal is to be able to know more about my students than just their names. |
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May 2016
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