Using Technology in the Classroom

I decided to add to my original introductory lesson for The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963, by creating my very own video using Windows Movie Maker. I put together clips from the 1960s race riots and social injustice, hoping to construct an idea of the time period with my students. You can view my video at this link: Watsons Introduction.

Luckily, my classroom is equipped with a working projector and computer, so I can integrate technology into my lessons. I try not to let the technology run my lessons; rather, I use technology to enhance my lessons.

For example, when I completed a mini nonfiction unit with my students, I used the computer in my room as a means of projecting nonfiction articles onto the screen, so my students could follow along as we dissected characteristics of nonfiction texts. I will continue to integrate technology into my classroom during my next unit as well.

Planning Meaningful Assessments

At this point in the semester, I am eight weeks into my student teaching experience--with a mere seven weeks remaining. Thus far we have read stories by O. Henry and Poe, and we have practiced "Talking to the Text," which reinforces reading strategies the students learned in sixth grade. I cannot help but wonder:

• Have I made an impact in my students' lives?
• Will they remember what I've taught them?
• Will they take information from my class and apply it elsewhere?

One of the best ways to help students retain information is by providing them with meaningful assessments--assessments in which they can create, analyze, and synthesize. Meaningful assessments give students a purpose for completing an assignment. Rather than simply completing the task for a grade, students make the task purposeful.

In my attempts at helping students discover a purpose f

or each unit, I have developed assessments that move beyond basic recall questions. For example, at the end of the O. Henry short story unit the students created their own short stories using similar plot structure. The following units that I will

be completing with the students revolve around the following texts: The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 and To Kill a Mockingbird.

At the end of the Watson Unit, I was thinking of having the students create a journal for one of the characters, in which they describe the various settings, conflicts, and characters of the text, building upon the elements of fiction that we p

reviously discussed during our short story units.

As for the TKAM Unit, I am still unsure as to how I want to assess the students, yet make it meaningful at the same time. Any suggestions?

Photo courtesy of scholastic.com

Learning Stations

I have found that the most successful activity I have implemented during student teaching thus far have been my Edgar Allan Poe Learning Stations. The following is how I structured my lessons:

1. In their journals, students created a KWL chart about Poe, filling in the "K" column (what they know). Then, as a class, we shared answers and filled in the "W" column (what they want to know). I have a computer and projector in my room so I was able to project this chart onto the board while we added to it.

2. Then, we read a short biography about Poe and filled in parts of the "L" column (what they learned about Poe).

3. Separating the students into six groups, I then presented an overview of each station to the students:

- "The Black Cat" station = theme

- "The Fall of the House of Usher" station = setting

- "The Raven" station = tone and mood

- "The Tell-Tale Heart" station = talking to the text (using reading strategies)

- "The Cask of Amontillado" station = characterization

- "The Pit and the Pendulum" station = plot development

The students would rotate every 25 minutes, and I think they really enjoyed moving around from station to station. This is only my second time experimenting with Learning Stations in the classroom, but the students seem to be responding to it well.

Stay tuned for more to come from the secondary ed English classroom!

Student Teaching Saga Part 1

Photograph courtesy of the South Brunswick School District website.

Earlier this week I began my student teaching experience at Crossroads North Middle School in the South Brunswick School District.

Beyond excited, I made my way down the wide tiled hallways of the school, reflecting on my own experiences as a middle school student. Not surprisingly, it felt weird to stand in the front of the classroom, teacher identification card hanging around my neck, looking out at the place where I sat a mere eight years ago.

The first unit I am teaching is a short story unit, in which I get to teach short stories by great authors--Edgar Allan Poe, O. Henry, Mark Twain. The material seems difficult for seventh and eighth grade students to handle, but my cooperating teacher assured me that the students are used to learning difficult material. The school itself is a Blue Ribbon School and expects a lot from its students. I'm sure the school expects a lot out of me as well.

Join me as I chronicle my student teaching experience in this ongoing Blog Saga.

Taking the Praxis

Taking the Praxis 2 English exam is one of those wonderful rites of passage. In fact, it's right up there with taking the SAT and AP Exams. Trouble is, I haven't taken a standardized test like that since I last took an AP test back in 2006. The good news, however, is that I absolutely love taking standardized tests! Call me crazy, but I actually think they're quite fun. Maybe it's because I have a history with performing well on standardized tests, but I always looked at them as I would a fun puzzle. Soduko...crossword puzzles...SAT. They're all in the same boat as far as I'm concerned. Now I'm sure you definitely think I'm crazy.

This evening, I pulled my big clunky Praxis 2 review book onto my lap, while sitting on the front porch of my house. A nice breeze was blowing--just enough to cool down the high-80 degree temperatures from this afternoon. The practice book states that you're supposed to simulate "actual" test conditions, but it was so nice out that I couldn't resist.

I raced my way through all 120 questions in 57 minutes. The actual test is 2 hours long, and the practice book kept stressing that I would be pressed for time. Turns out, I didn't need the full 2 hours anyway. I went back into the house, excited to score my test, but was disappointed to discover that the practice book doesn't actual provide a way for me to score my test. I can calculate my raw score, but I have no way of knowing if my performance on the practice test is up to par to pass the NJ state standards, which is an adjusted score of 162.

I tried looking up scoring guidelines online, and apparently if a person manages to get 55-75% of the questions correct, they have a chance at passing. Hopefully this holds true for the actual exam. Wish me luck!

*Update* Passed the Praxis with flying colors!

NJCH Internship

Doesn't it feel good when you know that all of the hard work you're putting into something is going to pay off and turn into a spectacular final product?

That's kind of what it feels like to have my internship with the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. Right now I'm planning their summer Teacher Institute, which is basically five 1-week residential seminars where teachers can earn 45 professional development hours and learn new content to help them in the classroom. You can go to www.njch.org/teacher_seminars.html for more information about the program. It seems really worthwhile, and I definitely want to attend a seminar one day now that I've seen all the planning that goes into it.

Thus far, I have contacted publishing companies to order bulk quantities of all the free textbooks and novels that the teachers will receive. Each teacher receives about $80 worth of free materials, which is just amazing, since it only costs each teacher $100 to attend the seminar. I think that contacting the publishing companies has been my favorite activity so far. Right now I'm in the process of assembling other shorter reading packets, as well as planning the individual field trips for each seminar. I'm looking forward to my next project when I go back to work after Memorial Day.

Hyphen-Dash--Exclamation Point!

This semester I have experimented with punctuation in my writing. I never thought that at age 20, after more than 15 years of writing, I would be able to change my writing so significantly with such simple moves--punctuation marks! It's amazing how much power can be added to a sentence simply by rearranging the words--or even by adding a dash to off-set a phrase. Now, that's some powerful stuff!

All joking aside, I even incorporated unique punctuation style into my final paper for my LIT 499 class (see previous entry). Hopefully, by experimenting with punctuation--and by trying new punctuating techniques--my writing will sound more sophiscated. Imagine that! More sophiscated writing just by adding a few marks.

After this semester I will be sure to continue to include interesting punctuation into my writing--and you can bet that next semester while I'm student teaching, I will teach minilessons on using punctuation with my middle school students. Who knows what the future will have in store for punctuation in my life???