Practicum
Sunday, Feb. 07, 2010, 3:30 pm
Snow, snow, snow, snow, SNOWWWWW!!!!!
I think we've had more snow showers in 2010 than I remember having in any recent winter. There was the snow the first week of January, then there was a little bit a week or so ago on a Tuesday morning, then we got a light dusting last weekend, and another this past Friday night. The forecasters are calling for 3-6 inches more between Monday and Wednesday. It's been pretty crazy.
Life has been going on normally for the most part, though. Classes are in full swing, and, over all, are going smoothly. Of course there is a lot of busy work, which drives me insane. I mean, we're adults...Why should we get bombarded with busy "seat" work? Why should we, as adults, be required to do projects and assignments usually left for elementary students? ...As you can see, my attitude isn't as it should be. I'm so sick of school. I'm so ready to be finished with it all. One more year, and I'll be out in the "real" world. As ready as I am to be out of school, though, that's kind of a scary thought.
We got our practicum placements for math and science the week before last. I'm in a first-grade class, and I have a partner. When we first learned about the practicum, we were told that we would not have a partner, but then they didn't have enough teachers sign up to take the college students; so in my section, there are three classrooms with two college students (in the other section, they only had eight teachers sign up to take college students, so everyone has a partner there).
I was pleased that I got a partner. Our science professor gave us the practicum assignments, and she said that those of us with partners would only turn in one science unit with both our names on it. (The original requirement was for each student to create five science lessons and five math lessons.) We were under the impression that this would also apply to our five math lessons. We were mistaken. Our math teacher thinks it's some kind of sin that we only have to teach five lessons. She isn't a university employee; she's a "real" teacher in a "real" school (the class meets at that school, and that's where we'll be teaching our science and math lessons - the principal of the school told us that the university has been doing the math and science methods practicum there since the '70s). She said she's been trying to convince the School of Ed. to require that we teach at least ten lessons for years.
When we met with our classroom teachers for the first time, they told each of us that they wanted us to teach separate lessons in math and science, because that's what our math teacher had told them. This was the first we'd heard of it. My partner and I just kind of blew it off, thinking that the classroom teacher just didn't understand and that we could still create just five lessons and split them up - one of us would teach three math lessons and two science lessons and vice versa. We were mistaken again. Before the day was out, we had received an e-mail from our math teacher stating that those of us with partners WOULD be required to teach separate topics in math and science.
Those of us with partners were upset, for several reasons. First, it just didn't seem doable. Our time allotment was an hour at most, and we were thinking, how on earth are we going to teach two meaningful, creative lessons in an hour? Also, all of the classes with two teachers are first-grade classes. It seemed to us that teaching two separate math and science lessons back-to-back would be informatoin overload and that we would fry their little brains. Second, we were receiving conflicting information. As I mentioned before, our science professor - who is an employee of the university - specifically told us that we would only be creating one unit; then, our math teacher states that EACH of us MUST create our own five lessons in each subject. There was clearly a lack of communication. Third, never have we been required to teach separate lessons when we have a partner. (OK, so this one may be a little nit-picky, and I admit that I was probably being a baby over this one.) More often than not, we have had partners in our practicums. One set of lessons has always been good enough. We could team teach or split the lessons up and each teach a certain number of lessons from start to finish. I couldn't understand how this math teacher had the authority to go change all of that on us.
Anyway.
At our next math class, the issue was brought up. The math teacher tried to answer our questions. we brought up reason one and everything involved in that (from above), and she just kind of seemed to blow our concerns off and acted like we were being babies and over-reacting. This was at the beginning of the class. Then we had a guest speaker. I was so upset, I couldn't even listen to her presentation. I sat there and wrote a two-page blog about the whole thing and how upset I was. After the guest speaker left, we discussed the issue again. Someone finally brought up the lack of communication issue and that we had been told two totally separate things. The teacher apologized for that, and then made a compromise with us. She said that since there was a lack of communication between her and the science professor, she would accept one set of lessons for math. She wanted us to talk with our classroom teachers, and whatever we came up with - whether that was having one set of lessons and team-teaching or splitting them up or two and teaching two totally different subjects - she would honor that. By the time the discussion was over, I was calmed down and felt like I could handle whatever came my way. So I decided not to type and post the two-page blog I wrote during class.
As far as I have heard, my partner and I will be teaching two separate math lessons - she's going to do the math meeting in the mornings, then I'll do a lesson on measurement - and one science lesson. We'll create the science lessons together and one of us will teach three of them and the other will teach two. Our science topic is the scientific process. I e-mailed the classroom teacher with that information, but haven't heard anything back yet. But she had suggested that, so I'm sure it will work. We will teach the five math lessons first, beginning March 11th. Then we have Spring Break, and after that we'll teach the five science lessons.
We also have a practicum in our Reading Methods II class, which has already begun. We are tutoring third graders (well, there's one second-grader) in reading and writing. Our first session with them was this past Wednesday. My student seems to be a good reader; her reading level is pretty much on-target, as far as I can tell. Our first session was pretty much just a "getting to know you" ordeal...we didn't really do any work. The real "teaching" begins this coming Wednesday. Wednesdays are really hard for me. The reading class is from 3:30-7, and then church starts at 7. Thankfully, the class is right across the street from my church. So as soon as class is over I just walk across the street for church. But I don't have any time to unwind between class and church. My brain is completely fried after class, and usually I'm completely overwhelmed, so it's hard for me to go straight to church and sit for another hour. It's also hard because class is right during supper time. (I hate that about our schedule this semester - on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, class is right during supper time.) Since we've started tutoring, I am not going to have time to go home and eat in between class and church. So I've been coming home - and will be coming home - from church and having supper at 8:30. It's so depressing to me.
Well, I was going to write about other things today, too, but this got really long, so I'm going to stop. I'll try to update again soon, but I'm not making any promises, since things are really starting to pick up with school.
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My Last 5 Updates
Practicum # Sunday, Feb. 07, 2010
Starting New # Monday, Jan. 11, 2010
The Thunderstorm # Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009
No Response # Monday, Nov. 02, 2009
Her Homecoming # Thursday, Oct. 08, 2009