Curriculum Planning
I would consider the last nine weeks of my first year, the second summer at Holly Springs, and the first nine weeks of my second year the "Golden Age" of my MTC experience. That being said, the unit I designed that I am most proud of occurred during the end of my first year of teaching while reviewing for the state test. We were reviewing standard 9 at that point of the year, which is my favorite because it deals with text comparison--specifically historical fiction and history. I love both subjects, and so I designed a week-long unit using various historical and literary selections on the topic of the Dust Bowl. I gave them a short poem one day, a play which they enjoyed reading another day, a short historical account, and a couple paragraphs from "The Grapes of Wrath," a book which is actually a more intense version of this exact standard in the way which it is structured. I showed them pictures and short informational videos on both the Dust Bowl, as well as the Great Depression, which was also happening at the same time in history. I showed them a video of "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover" from "Annie" and was able to explain how verbal irony was used in it, since the song is heavily sarcastic. Many of the kids were fascinated with the idea of a part of the country being covered in dust, and even the boys were interested to know how similar the Dust Bowl was to the Sugar Bowl or the Super Bowl or something similar. I had explained to the students that the border of Oklahoma was only five hours away from us, so they realized that the topic could have been relevant to them. During most of the year I did not have as much flexibility to be creative, but I had the opportunity to design something at that point in the year. I enjoyed the experience of creating the project, and was glad that it was fairly well-received by the students, as well.
Writing
The other fun part of my MTC experience was the first nine weeks of my second year. During my second year, I have taught the "English" class, which has included Writing and Informational standards. The first nine weeks was the only time that I was able to focus on writing, as during the later quarters I needed to emphasize the reading standards instead. I saw a lot of growth in my students' performance during this time, since we focused on writing every other week. We dealt with narrative writing that quarter, which is just a fun topic, anyway. I was able to give the students immediate feedback on their work, and was able to see many students understand how to structure paragraphs, indent, and utilize proper punctuation for things like dialogue during that time. The feedback was helpful to them, as was the time we were able to spend on it. I regret that I was not able to spend as much time on the other types of writing, but am glad that we have at least somewhat mastered this one type.
Technology
Although there are certainly more ways that I could be using technology in my classroom, I use some form of it daily, and there are some days that I utilize it even more frequently in class. I create a power point every day with all of the content for the day. I occasionally use videos (either for sets or to give the students background information). I think that one of the most helpful videos I showed was a five minute informational clip on predicted driverless cars. The students had been reading a Pro's/Con's article about these cars so as to write argumentative essays, but I personally was wondering about the visual logistics of what this would look like. If I was wondering, I knew that my students were also wondering. The video was upbeat with music, interesting speakers, and plenty of images and diagrams to keep the viewer engaged throughout the duration of the video. It enhanced a topic that was already interesting, and it gave the students a better context for what they were reading and analyzing.
North Panola Junior High invested in more Chrome Books during my second year, which enabled me to utilize technology more often than I had before. Although I have not taken advantage of this new installment very often, I have had some positive experiences with it. Twice I was able to have the students take standard-related tutorials on one of the programs the school has purchased. Previously, I had tried to have the entire class participate in the tutorial at the same time on the Promethean Board, but they were much more engaged when they were able to take their time on their own personal computers. I gave them worksheets to keep the accountable for paying attention to the content, and it seemed to work well. They were excited to have a different kind of class, and the system forced them to be engaged and to keep up with the questions and content being addressed. A larger percentage of students completed their classwork on those days than normal, which showed me that even the ones who complained were actually secretly ok with the change.
Writing
The other fun part of my MTC experience was the first nine weeks of my second year. During my second year, I have taught the "English" class, which has included Writing and Informational standards. The first nine weeks was the only time that I was able to focus on writing, as during the later quarters I needed to emphasize the reading standards instead. I saw a lot of growth in my students' performance during this time, since we focused on writing every other week. We dealt with narrative writing that quarter, which is just a fun topic, anyway. I was able to give the students immediate feedback on their work, and was able to see many students understand how to structure paragraphs, indent, and utilize proper punctuation for things like dialogue during that time. The feedback was helpful to them, as was the time we were able to spend on it. I regret that I was not able to spend as much time on the other types of writing, but am glad that we have at least somewhat mastered this one type.
Technology
Although there are certainly more ways that I could be using technology in my classroom, I use some form of it daily, and there are some days that I utilize it even more frequently in class. I create a power point every day with all of the content for the day. I occasionally use videos (either for sets or to give the students background information). I think that one of the most helpful videos I showed was a five minute informational clip on predicted driverless cars. The students had been reading a Pro's/Con's article about these cars so as to write argumentative essays, but I personally was wondering about the visual logistics of what this would look like. If I was wondering, I knew that my students were also wondering. The video was upbeat with music, interesting speakers, and plenty of images and diagrams to keep the viewer engaged throughout the duration of the video. It enhanced a topic that was already interesting, and it gave the students a better context for what they were reading and analyzing.
North Panola Junior High invested in more Chrome Books during my second year, which enabled me to utilize technology more often than I had before. Although I have not taken advantage of this new installment very often, I have had some positive experiences with it. Twice I was able to have the students take standard-related tutorials on one of the programs the school has purchased. Previously, I had tried to have the entire class participate in the tutorial at the same time on the Promethean Board, but they were much more engaged when they were able to take their time on their own personal computers. I gave them worksheets to keep the accountable for paying attention to the content, and it seemed to work well. They were excited to have a different kind of class, and the system forced them to be engaged and to keep up with the questions and content being addressed. A larger percentage of students completed their classwork on those days than normal, which showed me that even the ones who complained were actually secretly ok with the change.