Hi Everyone,
Hope you are doing well. This past week has really taken me on a roller coaster ride! The beginning of the week was extremely difficult with my sixth period class I as commented earlier. After having the class from hell, my coop sat me down and told me about a Scrubs episode that he had seen. JD (the main character) is talking with Dr. Cox (his mentor) about the death of three patients in the hospital died. Dr. Cox had gotten them each an organ, and had no clue that the individual who donated them was infected with rabies.
After the transplants they all died and Dr. Cox went into a deep depression. After being out for a while JD went to visit him and told him that "He wishes that he could care so much about those patients when he is in the field that long." This really gave me a confident boost because I learned that teaching is more than just lecturing or preparing lesson plans. It is truly being there for all of your students.
Even if the students are misbehaving you are still there. I have learned that I wouldn't be a good teacher if I didn't let a class get to me like that. Since then, sixth period has truly turned around and have been on top of their work and participation in class.
I will post more this week with updates!
Enjoy,
John
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Past Couple of Days
Hi Everyone,
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. It has been a busy couple of days trying to keep my head above water with PowerPoints, Lesson Plans, APO, and everything else I have!
So yesterday was a good and bad day. Every period, with the exception of one, were absolutely great. They were completely focused and centered on accomplishing everything we needed to do. Period 6 however was absolutely beyond all control. My coop told me that he had never seen them so disrespectful and would have blown it. So last night I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to handle the situation.
So I announced in class, feeling frustrated with them, that they will have a quiz. So today I came in with my plan of action handling sixth period. I stood in the hallway when the bell rang and waited for everyone to arrive. As they did, I handed them a quiz and asked them to enter the room quietly and begin. On the board I explained rules of not talking, etc.
After collecting the quizzes, I began my lesson and was met with one or two issues, so I wrote a pink slip (my first written warning) and that immediately corrected their behavior. The rest of the period they were extremely focused and quiet. So tomorrow when I go into class I'm going to be just as firm with them and make sure that this positive behavior stays around. I will update soon to see if they are still this focused!
Hope all is well!
John
P.S. Happy Birthday Nana Ag!!!!!
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. It has been a busy couple of days trying to keep my head above water with PowerPoints, Lesson Plans, APO, and everything else I have!
So yesterday was a good and bad day. Every period, with the exception of one, were absolutely great. They were completely focused and centered on accomplishing everything we needed to do. Period 6 however was absolutely beyond all control. My coop told me that he had never seen them so disrespectful and would have blown it. So last night I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to handle the situation.
So I announced in class, feeling frustrated with them, that they will have a quiz. So today I came in with my plan of action handling sixth period. I stood in the hallway when the bell rang and waited for everyone to arrive. As they did, I handed them a quiz and asked them to enter the room quietly and begin. On the board I explained rules of not talking, etc.
After collecting the quizzes, I began my lesson and was met with one or two issues, so I wrote a pink slip (my first written warning) and that immediately corrected their behavior. The rest of the period they were extremely focused and quiet. So tomorrow when I go into class I'm going to be just as firm with them and make sure that this positive behavior stays around. I will update soon to see if they are still this focused!
Hope all is well!
John
P.S. Happy Birthday Nana Ag!!!!!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Past Two Days
Hi Everyone,
Sorry I didn't get the chance to update yesterday, it was just nonstop from 6:15am-12:00midnight. So yesterday was my second day and it went a lot better then I thought it would. I taught my first 3 new lessons.
Civics we focused on what it means to be a state and to have a government. In World History we did story time and talked about the early crusades. Economics was fun talking about Feudalism. My sixth period class actually was better then I thought they would be. I tried taking the advice of many people and treat each day as a new day and it worked!
Today I gave quizzes in every class. Only one period did the entire class bomb the quiz (I'm giving a different one tomorrow and I'm going to teach them how to take a quiz). I taught the Byzantine response to the Crusaders from Europe. Finally in economics we talked about mercantilism! Yes mercantilism... I can't believe it either. Believe it or not the students in 7th period understood it!
Tomorrow I'm finishing the first chapter of civics, doing primary source analysis and the current economic situation. Well that's about it!
Check back soon,
John
Sorry I didn't get the chance to update yesterday, it was just nonstop from 6:15am-12:00midnight. So yesterday was my second day and it went a lot better then I thought it would. I taught my first 3 new lessons.
Civics we focused on what it means to be a state and to have a government. In World History we did story time and talked about the early crusades. Economics was fun talking about Feudalism. My sixth period class actually was better then I thought they would be. I tried taking the advice of many people and treat each day as a new day and it worked!
Today I gave quizzes in every class. Only one period did the entire class bomb the quiz (I'm giving a different one tomorrow and I'm going to teach them how to take a quiz). I taught the Byzantine response to the Crusaders from Europe. Finally in economics we talked about mercantilism! Yes mercantilism... I can't believe it either. Believe it or not the students in 7th period understood it!
Tomorrow I'm finishing the first chapter of civics, doing primary source analysis and the current economic situation. Well that's about it!
Check back soon,
John
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
FIRST DAY TEACHING
Hi Everyone,
So I have officially survived my first day of teaching!
For the most part my day went really well! 6 out of the 7 periods I had a very positive experience!
My supervisor Mr. Cunningham came to observe my 4th period World History Class. He said that I did a really good job!!!!! (That's definitely a plus)
6th period was definitely a rough class. My coop explained that they were attempting to push me to my breaking point to figure out what they can do to annoy me. My coop then told me that I handled myself very well and didn't give in to their games. So hopefully tomorrow I will be able to keep myself composed again!
Well that's it!
John
So I have officially survived my first day of teaching!
For the most part my day went really well! 6 out of the 7 periods I had a very positive experience!
My supervisor Mr. Cunningham came to observe my 4th period World History Class. He said that I did a really good job!!!!! (That's definitely a plus)
6th period was definitely a rough class. My coop explained that they were attempting to push me to my breaking point to figure out what they can do to annoy me. My coop then told me that I handled myself very well and didn't give in to their games. So hopefully tomorrow I will be able to keep myself composed again!
Well that's it!
John
Monday, January 18, 2010
My Classroom
Hi Everyone,
Today we had a faculty in-service. After learning CPR for about the 3rd time in the past 6 months I got some time to work on my classroom. Here are some pictures.
RULE BOARD
DESK NUMBERS
HOMEWORK BOARD
CLASSROOM LAYOUT
ENJOY,
John
Today we had a faculty in-service. After learning CPR for about the 3rd time in the past 6 months I got some time to work on my classroom. Here are some pictures.
RULE BOARD
DESK NUMBERS
HOMEWORK BOARD
CLASSROOM LAYOUT
ENJOY,
John
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Course Websites
Hey Everyone,
Here are the course websites! I think they are self-explanatory.
http://www.mrrocheworldhistory.webs.com
http://www.mrrochecivics.webs.com
http://www.mrrocheeconomics.webs.com
Enjoy,
John
Here are the course websites! I think they are self-explanatory.
http://www.mrrocheworldhistory.webs.com
http://www.mrrochecivics.webs.com
http://www.mrrocheeconomics.webs.com
Enjoy,
John
The First Two Weeks
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to my Student Teaching Blog! I think that this is the easiest way for me to keep everyone up to date with how my Student Teaching experience is going. I just finished up my second week at Bishop Carroll Catholic High School, in Ebensburg, PA.
During my first week (January 4) I spent my time there strictly observing and getting oriented with the daily procedures of how the school operates. I was able to get seating charts of the students and begin to learn their names and figure out their personalities.
My teaching load is: Periods 1, 2, 3 - Freshmen Civics, Periods 4, 6, 9 - Sophomore World History and Period 7 - Junior/Senior Economics. I spent this past week focusing on getting ready to take over the classroom! I put together welcome newsletters for each course and a website for each course as well!
I am beginning to feel like I belong to the "Husky Hill" community. (we are located on top of a large hill overlooking the town of Ebensburg. Tomorrow, January 18, I have my first ACT 80 day. We are going to be going over Middle States Accreditation and CPR training. I will also be able to make last minute changes to the classroom tomorrow because Tuesday is my first full day. New quarter and a new teacher, it's definitely going to be an interesting experience.
Friday I was able to take some time to talk about the change with the students, and although you could tell that there was some resistance to the change in the teacher, I think they are all ok with giving it a shot to see how it goes! I'm really excited to see what lies ahead!
Come back soon for more updates!
John
Welcome to my Student Teaching Blog! I think that this is the easiest way for me to keep everyone up to date with how my Student Teaching experience is going. I just finished up my second week at Bishop Carroll Catholic High School, in Ebensburg, PA.
During my first week (January 4) I spent my time there strictly observing and getting oriented with the daily procedures of how the school operates. I was able to get seating charts of the students and begin to learn their names and figure out their personalities.
My teaching load is: Periods 1, 2, 3 - Freshmen Civics, Periods 4, 6, 9 - Sophomore World History and Period 7 - Junior/Senior Economics. I spent this past week focusing on getting ready to take over the classroom! I put together welcome newsletters for each course and a website for each course as well!
I am beginning to feel like I belong to the "Husky Hill" community. (we are located on top of a large hill overlooking the town of Ebensburg. Tomorrow, January 18, I have my first ACT 80 day. We are going to be going over Middle States Accreditation and CPR training. I will also be able to make last minute changes to the classroom tomorrow because Tuesday is my first full day. New quarter and a new teacher, it's definitely going to be an interesting experience.
Friday I was able to take some time to talk about the change with the students, and although you could tell that there was some resistance to the change in the teacher, I think they are all ok with giving it a shot to see how it goes! I'm really excited to see what lies ahead!
Come back soon for more updates!
John
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