Hello everyone! I am sorry that I did not post yesterday. I really wanted to being my first day of the Field Experience and all but I was very busy. So I am excited to tell you about how my first two days went.
I found out that I would be with the Elementary School’s art class. I was happy to hear that because it was my first choice. One thing about the art program at the elementary school is that everyday there will be a different class. This means that I will have three different classes to work with. This makes me happy but a little worried to because I have so many names to learn! However, I think I will do okay.
Yesterday I met my first class. They were pretty small having only thirteen students in all. At the beginning of class my cooperating teacher introduced me and I said hello. Then I sat down and took a few notes on what was going on (what they were doing, procedures, classroom arrangement, etc). After watching and taking notes for a while I went around the classroom and said hello to the students individually and asked them their names. I made sure to write them down so I could remember them and put names with faces. Then I went back to my seat and observed the end of class procedures (cleaning, lining up, exiting the room, etc). When the students left I took a few minutes to ask my cooperating teacher questions about the class, certain students, her thoughts, and what I should expect in the upcoming weeks. The last thing I did was meet the principal. My cooperating teacher took me to her office and we talked for a few minutes. I introduced myself and told her that I was looking forward to my experience in the classroom. She seemed happy to have me there as well as the other Teacher Cadets.
Today was very much like yesterday because I had a different class. The procedures, of course, were the same. However, I had a whole new group of students to introduce myself to. This class consisted of twenty one students. That is a lot compared to the small class I will have on Tuesdays. I think this will be an advantage to me though to see how different sized classes work. I, once again, went around and said hello to all of the students and wrote down their names. I also helped one of the students with some supplies she was having trouble with. I was happy to have done something helpful.
Tomorrow I will have to meet a whole new class. Then I will begin forming some ideas for lessons. My cooperating teacher already wants me to start teaching within the next couple of weeks. I do not mind because I am excited and know what I want to teach. Of course she has already approved the idea and now all we have to do is get some supplies.
A few things that I noticed these past two days are:
1. Both classes were mostly quiet (quieter than I am used to, my cooperating teacher said they are usually quieter, though)
2. All the students know exactly what to do when it comes to classroom procedures
3. Each student learns differently (some knew what to do after having directions explained to them once, while others needed to be told how to do something many times)
4. The teacher goes around and assists, demonstrates, gives advice, and offers more efficient techniques for the students to use.
5. The classes were very orderly (minimal disruptions, outbursts, etc)
Hopefully tomorrow will be just as great as these first two days have been. I have really had a good time so far. I will update tomorrow to round out the week. See ya!
Next week is the beginning of our Teacher Cadet Field Experience. I have my cooperating teacher on board and I’m pretty excited about getting started. Today we wrote Introductory Letters to the teachers we will be working with. I will be in an art class so I am happy I will be able to focus on some of my strengths. Most of my classmates do not seem very excited about getting started but maybe when they get into the classrooms they will feel differently. I sure hope so! I am anticipating a fun time and I hope they get to experience that as well.
The bell is about to ring and I just wanted to give you a little update on what was going on. So, I will post again sometime soon to let you know how the Field Experience goes! Bye! 
I know it has been a while since I’ve posted, but the world of Teacher Cadet has been pretty busy lately. Our class is winding down after our last few weeks of preparing for and attending the Teacher Cadet conference.
My partner and I, as I mentioned in a previous post, worked together to create a display on How to Develop a Lesson Plan. It was very informative and neatly done. We both put a lot of work into it and I was very pleased with the outcome. We also printed up and handed out brochures and candy at the conference. It was a great success!
Our classmates also seemed to do very well with their displays. I think we all had fun working together and helping each other along the way.
Once we got to the conference I was definitely surprised at how fun it was. Truthfully, I was expecting something very boring and formal. I was pleasantly surprised however, to find a pretty casual and friendly setting. We could go and look at different displays as we pleased and were able to talk to other students from the Teacher Cadet program.
I will say, however, that the guest speaker was the highlight of the day. Teacher of the Year, 2008, Ann Marie Taylor came and spoke to us about having a passion about teaching and building relationships in order to be a successful teacher. I was amazed at the enthusiasm she had as soon as she walked in front of us. She told us stories about her class and her Teacher of the Year banquet. If you did not want to be a teacher walking in there, you would when you walked out. I was filled with a new energy and outlook after listening to her speak. It made me want to start my career in teaching even sooner. Mrs. Taylor really was inspiring and uplifting. I hope that I will be able to do some of the things that she has done as her time as a teacher when I start teaching.
As I said she talked a lot about having a passion for teaching and building relationships. I agreed completely when she told us that if you are not passionate about what you are doing, then your students won’t be either. It makes perfect sense. If you don’t care, how do you think you can get anyone else to care? She also shared with us how building relationships with the people you come in contact with is important. She told us that it was not her spectacular lesson plans, or her creative ideas that made her a good teacher; it was the relationships she built with the students, the parents, and any other person that walked through her door.
Everything she said stuck with me after leaving the conference. It made me want to be a teacher even more. Now that we are moving even closer (I know I’ve been saying that for a while). to the Field Experience I feel geared up and ready to go! Thank you so much Mrs. Taylor for your truly inspiring words!
Today we are finishing up our display boards for the Teacher Cadet conference on Friday. I think we are all going to do pretty well. I have a few extra minutes so I thought I would write a little.
The Field Experience is coming up, but before I do that I think I want to use my Job Shadowing opportunity to take a day to spend with my field experience teacher. Hopefully that way we can go ahead and communicate about some things before I actually get started. I am really excited about this but I’m not sure how I’m going to do.
Well I would write some more but my teacher cadet teacher wants us to get to know our partners right now. She wants me to find out her favorite color so I better go ask her. Bye!
Today we got together with our partners for a display we will have to create and present at an event in a couple of weeks. I believe there will be about six or seven schools attending. The displays with be in sort of a science fair type of set up and groups will come around and view our board.
My partner and I plan to create a board that explains how to effectively develop a lesson plan. As I said in an earlier post, we all had to teach our own lesson to the Teacher Cadet class. We want to use some samples from our lesson to better explain how a lesson plan works. I think it will be a very successful display and I am looking forward to seeing what all of the other schools have to offer.
The time for our Filed Experience is still a little ways away, but, I am getting even more excited. I am hoping to get the opportunity to work in the elementary school’s art class. Art is one of my favorite things and I would love to learn more about the teaching aspect of it. I would also love to share some of my ideas with a teacher and a class. I even have a few ideas for how to incorporate the SAY, MAY, and FLAY requirements. I just really want to get started and I cannot wait for my experience to begin!
I just turned in an assignment for Teacher Cadet that I would like to recreate for you right here.
A Little About Me
- I love art.
- I really enjoy watching movies.
- I love listening to what other people have to say.
- I want to be a teacher.
- I want to accomplish something big with my life.
Highlights of 2011
- I entered my senior year of high school.
- I got accepted to USCA.
- I started teaching Children’s Church.
- I went to GATEWAY.
- I learned a lot.
Looking Forward to in 2012
- I will graduate high school.
- I will learn a lot of new skills.
- I will (hopefully) get a job.
- I will make art and possibly have an art show.
- I will go to college.
As you can see it was a list of different things concerning my life. It actually took me a little while to think of some of these things. Hopefully you learned a little more about me. I think that I might post every once in a while about myself (just random facts about myself that I think are important). Well, it is almost time for the bell to ring so I think I’ll head out! Bye!
Yesterday in Teacher Cadet we were given our Field Experience packets. It was kind of exciting to get started. This just makes it all more real. I cannot wait until I finally get into the classroom.
I think that we are going to actually going to start our Field Experiences in March. That gives me plenty of time to prepare. I hope that I will be able to do my internship in the art class. I really love art and I think I can incorporate some great things into my ideas. This post is going to be a short one because I have some more things I want to research before writing more about my upcoming Field Experience. I will let you guys know more whenever I get some new information! BYE!!! 
Yesterday during Teacher Cadet we had a discussion on both desirable and undesirable qualities in teachers. Each of us made a chart with three sections listing one good, one bad, and one “ugly” characteristic that we have experienced with a teacher. I think that this is a very important topic to talk about.
I wrote “knowlegable” for my good quality. One of the most important qualities for a teacher to have is knowledge about what they are teaching. I have had a few teachers who did not know what they were teaching. If I were to ask them how to do something or where to find information they did not know what to tell me and I would have to figure it out myself. Then again, I have also had teachers who knew their subject like the back of their hand and could explain the material in a way that I also understood. That is when I find a class to be fun and interesting; when the teacher is passionate about what they are doing.
For the bad quality I put down, “Blames a student for disruptions without actually knowing who is responsible.” This one is a little tricky. It is true that there are instances where a teacher thinks they know who it was and made a mistake. That is understandable. However, when they do not try to get the facts and really find out what went on, that is when there is a problem. I have only experienced an instance similar to this once. A teacher (from a long time ago) accused me of eating in class because there was a chip bag in my desk. It is totally possible that the bag was mine, but there were five other people who sat there during the day. How could this teacher automatically assume it was me? I had never broken any other rules in her class. I was respectful and turned in all my work in on time. I did not talk in her class and I always did what was asked of me. Why would I eat in her class if I had not done anything wrong before? She never did believe me and made me clean the trash out of the desk. It was not a big deal because it was not like I got punished, but I was still kind of angry that she did not trust me when I had not given her any reason in the past not to.
For the ugly category I chose to put “insults students”. This one is very rare but I have seen it happen a few times. I think that if a teacher is constantly (and intentionally trying to) making a student feel bad they should not teach. Students should feel safe and welcome at school. When a teacher is calling you names or making you feel like you do not belong, it does the complete opposite of that. I am thankful to have never been a victim of this, but I know a lot of kids who have and I know it does not feel good.
Sadly, there are many teachers out there that do not really care about teaching at all and only come in to earn a paycheck. Thankfully I have only encountered a few of these in my school career. However, there are also teachers who really want to do well but do not have the right qualities in order to run and connect with a classroom. Some of the nicest and most patient teachers that I have had still cannot seem to reach the students. That is when it is really hard to watch them go through everything they do on a daily basis.
One of my fellow Teacher Cadet classmates suggested that the teachers have access to counseling services similar to the ones that the students have. She said that teachers have problems, just like students and should be able to talk about them. I thought this was a great idea.
When it comes down to it we are all people with similar issues and we all make mistakes, teachers included. Thankfully I have some pretty awesome teachers who try their best everyday to make me a better person.
Hello everyone! It’s my second day back at school and I am excited for this semester in Teacher Cadet. That is because we are getting started on making plans for our classroom experiences. I am really looking forward to seeing the classroom through an experienced teacher’s eyes.
One thing that I really want to do is observe an elementary class. This is because I have not actually been in one for a long time. I have heard about how much the classes have changed in the past few years and I am interested to learn about those changes. Another reason I want to do my internship in an elementary class is because that is the area I am currently interested in. I like to be very creative and active when I work with children. I think the elementary age group definitely fits my style of connecting with students.
Teacher Cadet has been a very rewarding class so far this year. I think that the rest of the year will be even better which is why I am so excited to get started.
I am kind of nervous about actually being in front of the class though. Not because of the students, but because of a teacher. I get extremely nervous around adults but I am pretty relaxed around my owns peers and those younger than me. I am not sure how I will do but I hope that I will learn as much as possible through the experience.
I cannot wait to update you on my final plans for my classroom internship!
