hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, oh my!!!

Actually... there are no hurricanes or earthquakes... just flooding!!  Check out the photo above.  It has been week filled with peculiar weather.  Snow Monday night, leaving us with a 2 hour delay for school on Tuesday.  Pouring down rain yesterday and today... leaving us with insurmountable amount of water on the roads and grounds.  What a week!  The Salem-Keizer School District declared that :

It has been quite the week to be back at the Middle School! On another note I helped out in the ESL Newcomer class, and supported my ESOL cooperating teaching in the ESL II class.  The ESL class has been discussing natural disasters, and it was quite fitting for this weeks turn of events.  Most students wrote about flooding today! haha. 

 I also led the warm-ups for the last two periods of the day (The classes I will be taking over in two weeks!).  The first class had more students and were more willing to volunteer.  They stayed focused and quiet even when my cooperating teacher stepped out for a moment.  The other class had less students because most were picked up by their parents.  Even though it was smaller I had to pick on students to participate for the warm-up, and when my cooperating teacher stepped out they were more talkative.  I will get more classroom management practice with the three classes I will be teaching.  :) I feel that I am ready to start teaching, and I am looking forward to it.  Time to start planning lessons and getting organized with information, grading, papers, lessons, activities, etc.

inter.VIEW

Yes, I had an interview today for a tutoring position. It was a group interview, and it went pretty quick! The organization that I interviewed with came about after the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) Act.  It's designed to raise math & reading levels in Title 1 schools who did not raise the scores that met adequate yearly progress scores. Oh yeah~ there's an incentive for students who participate in the program... a free iPod Touch. Lucky lucky!

Cooperating Teacher Notes for ME!

Today I was feeling a bit sluggish... even with the FRS energy chews! I stayed up last night playing Angry Birds. haha. :) That was my choice... Anyhoo... today in one class period a lot of the students reminded me of some Step Up students I know!! AND I received a message from a student today inviting me to visit the school the student is currently at! What a coincidence!!!  I led two warm-ups today for Math 3. My cooperating teacher gave me some notes from observing me yesterday... here it is.


I also went to the 2nd Period 6th Grade ESL Language Arts class to observe a bit and help out a bit here and there.  There is one student who asked me last week... "Are you Asian?" I said, "Yes!"  He replied, "What kind are you?" haha. He's Asian too, and when I was in the room again today I noticed he is more physical with the other boys and verbally aggressive... AND as he was telling me about his parents and grandparents he was calmer and focused.  Randomly when the teacher was talking he turned around and looked at me and asked, "How old are you?" 


I have just started getting to know the students better and knowing their names!! It'll be hard to fathom that I won't be back in their classes until DECEMBER??? eeeeeesh... There is a volleyball game and football game next week that I will go to. Hopefully, I can stay connected through going to games and tutoring. 

Warm-Ups

Sunflowers!

It was a bit gloomy and rain-Y the past few days... Thank God the sun came back out... because I was certainly feeling the SADness coming into my life.  I don't want that right now.  There is a garden full of sunflowers at Waldo. They are soooo tall and lovely! You just can't help but smile. :)


Today I was able to lead the warm-ups for the four Math 3 classes! It was quite the experience.  I need more practice facilitating the classroom, and I need more time to get to know the students' names. I hope tomorrow goes better, but you just never know what could happen.  Some students could be having a good day today, and then a bad day tomorrow or their mood could vary between periods.  Even though I was in my Cooperating Teacher's class the whole day it went by quick since I was able to lead the warm-ups in the beginning and help circulate around the classroom.  It will be interesting to see how tomorrow goes... stay tuned!

The Door (View from Inside the Classroom)

This picture is just the picture of the door as you leave the classroom. Above the door it says "Working Together, Making Connections, Realizing Dreams."  That's their school motto.  You see it when you enter the front doors to the school.


I got a call today to interview for a tutoring position. I applied somewhat randomly to see what would happen... I am not sure how I will find the time to tutor, and it is something that I really want to do.  I'm sure I mentioned it somewhere in a previous post.  Well, I'll go to the interview tomorrow and see how it goes. I would ideally want to tutor at Waldo, so I hope that works out. :) OH!!! UPDATE: It looks like it's a go for being in the ESL Language Arts class for one period for my Student Teaching experience. I'll have to chat with my Cooperating Teacher what periods he's thinking about having me take over... Things are coming along. alhamdullilah

Elvis MATH

I was at my Pre-Student Teaching Site today, and after school I went to hang out with a friend in my cohort. I returned home around 6, and decided to take a nap... and I woke up at midnight!!! OH MY...


EARLIEEEERRR Today... I met the ESL/ELD Teacher and helped/ observed his 3rd period ESL Language Arts class that I could take over next semester.  They were an active group of 6th graders, and it was fun to observe and help a bit.  I also observed another teacher's Math 3 class, and a Math INTENSE (I Need To Employ New Skills Everyday) class.  The day goes by quickly, and there are moments when it goes by slooooowwwly...


In my cooperating teacher's class we did the warm-up, went over some homework, and did Elvis math.  Almost every student asked, "What is Elvis Math??" There were 8 stations around the perimeter of the classroom, and you get one Elvis song at each station to work on the problem.  It was a moving around activity that I think everyone appreciated on a Friday.

My desk on the left... with Elvis behind me

Ms. Leung? Still getting used to that...

Observing.

Today I was back at Waldo, and I observed the same teachers as last week Wednesday.  It was interesting to see how they interacted with the students, especially now that a week has gone by.  I could definitely tell the change between the comfort level of some students in the class compared to last week.


I really enjoy being at the school, and I wish I could have more time there... If time allows I'm thinking about tutoring after school at Waldo.  When??? I'm not sure!!! 


Today I met another teacher where I might be able to teach one of his ELD Language Art classes.  I will talk to him more tomorrow about that... and I also went to talk to someone in the Literacy Center for ELL students.  There are some great resources at Waldo, which I am grateful to be a part of.


I explored the library after school today! It was not too small and not too big. It still had a great selection of books... I didn't browse too much because I didn't want to be a weird creepy adult in a middle school library without any reason. Even though that's probably what it seemed... oy... BUT I had a reason! I need to observe the resources available at the school for my Pre-Student Teaching Observations. :)

Waldo Library (Biblioteca)

First Day of School!!! Part 2

Second day of First Day of School with 6th, 7th, & 8th graders!!!
*School starts at 7:40 and ends at 2:20.

Period 1: Math 4 (8th Gr.) w/ W.

Period 2: 7th & 8th Grade Assembly in the gym 

Period 3: Math 3 (7th & 8th Gr.) w/ W.

Period 4: Language Arts (7th Gr.) w/ C.

LUNCH BREAK (~30 min.)

Period 5: Math 1 (6th Gr.) w/ S.

Period 6: Math 3 (7th & 8th Gr.) w/ W

Debrief from Classes - Observed 3 teachers (1 female, 2 males) in two subject areas (math 1, 3, 4 & Language Arts) differing in all grade levels (6-8th Grade).  Every teacher has his/her style of teaching, and his/her personality comes out in the teaching and classroom management.  Each room layout is completely different from each other.  My take away from the day is to do what fits me as a teacher, and don't be afraid to try new things out.  Learning to teach is a process, and it won't be perfect.

After school I went to the Salem-Keizer office, which wasn't too far from Waldo. And it turns out to be right next to McKay High School. Waldo feeds into McKay, and there are several people in my cohort placed at McKay.  Here's my fancy new badge:

I'm official now!

And of course I had to grab boba! My favorite bubble tea is Taro with Lychee jelly. yuuuummm!!! It hit the stop today, since it got up to 95˚F. 

TARO

Overall feelings... after the School Partner Workshop in the evening... I am feeling a bit more comfortable with the idea of Student-Teaching next February. I am planning to be out at the school as much as possible... depending on my schedule... so that the students are still familiar with me, and won't be in total shock when I go to teach the class!  The next day I'll be at Waldo will be NEXT Thursday! I may start leading the warm-up in some classes. :) I'm ready to go right now...

"Learning the Ropes"

My first day at Waldo!!!


5:00AM - Jumped out of bed and got ready for my first day at Waldo Middle School!!
6:45AM - Arrived at the school, and it was pretty much empty...
7:00AM - Met my Site Supervisor (Drew Withers) and walked to his room (Rm. 309)
7:30AM - All staff meeting in the Cafeteria
11:30AM - Staff meeting ended & then I helped set up the room
12:00PM - LUNCH at Red Robin's w/ Site Supervisor & 2 other teachers
13:00-15:00 - Continued setting up the room... then I walked around the school to get oriented better.


Overall feelings: 

"Done with Day one!"

• Enthusiastic
• Intimidated
• Optimistic
• Curious
• Eager

Main Entrance

Front Lobby