MDT Day One Reflection

My first day of teaching is out of the way.  I thought it went extremely well, all things considered.  Gods, was I a mess this morning.  I was nervous about how the students would react to me, my observers, and the video camera.  I was afraid of forgetting handouts or not making enough copies or not being able to get the Smart Board to work for me.  I was worried about completely drawing a blank when I went to define terms or talk about passages or that I’d completely screw up when I was reading aloud and make a hugely obvious Freudian slip or something similar.  I was scared I stand up at the front of the room and just vomit and my dreams of teaching would be done for.  I ran out the door, and hopped into my freezing car, and ate my breakfast (of a sensible ham sandwich) on the way to school during my 25-minute drive.  About halfway there, it occurred to me to breathe.  I decided to mildly meditate (as much as one can while driving) in order to calm down a bit, and once I had regained a normal-ish heart rate, I prayed to both Dionysus and Apollo: for support and calm, and to help me to think quick on my feet while I was teaching.  When I got to school I offered up the last of my sandwich that I’d saved for them, took a deep breath, gathered my things, and went it.

I got all my copies made in the morning, and talked to Deb, telling her I was observing two of my peers first and second period, but then I’d be down 3^rd period to set up and ready to teach 4^th period.  I was pretty calm by this point, because now that I’d started doing things, I was beginning to lose my nerves simply because I was finally acting, and no longer just thinking of every single little thing that could possibly go wrong.  I watched Eileen first period (wow, was her class quiet and somewhat non-engaged).  She seemed super calm, though she confided to me before she began that she’d had uber-amounts of caffeine and she was all jittery, and told me afterwards that though she didn’t feel particularly nervous while she was teaching, she did notice that her legs were shaking throughout her lesson.  I went to go watch John next.  He had a really, really small class, only 15 kids or so.  I felt entirely lost during his lesson, but I got the sense that the disorganization that seemed to be there was the norm for the class.  It seemed to be a very casual environment, and I got the sense that it was more laid-back and easy going about assignments because a lot of the kids were on IEPs.  I’m not sure if that’s the case, but it seemed to be for me.  His kids seemed to be pretty quiet too though, even though he did steal from Frank’s favorite movie (Mona Lisa Smile), and ask them what is art and what makes it good.

After watching the two calm and quiet classes 1^st and 2^nd period I was starting to get nervous again.  My class was not quiet and calm for me, knowing this from the previous lesson I’d taught.  It’s good in a way: my kids seem to want to participate and want to contribute, but this lesson I’m teaching is for a grade for me.  I was afraid I’d be judged on how I handled them in a classroom management sense.  I got a couple minutes to talk with them before the bell rang, and told them that I was teaching today, and it was a grade for me, so could they please be the wonderful students I know are in there somewhere for me.  Most of them seemed to understand this sentiment and go with it for me.  Even Trey, who I was actually the most worried about, thanks to his outrageous response to the last prompt I’d given them during a previous lesson.

During 3^rd period I got the Smart Board all set up and set out my copies of handouts in order.  I was ready to go!  And the lesson went swimmingly from there…

My lesson is on Tone Words and parody.  Today we just covered tone words: what they are, how they’re used, and why they’re used.  I started out with an example about how when I was a teenager, and I got home past my curfew and when I tried to explain it to my mom, she just said “Now don’t take that tone of voice with me!”  I asked students if they’d had similar experiences and what they though tone meant.  I used this example to segue into asking them what they thought the definition of tone was.  They gave me examples (body language, voice, word choice, adjectives, etc) and I wrote them down on the Smart Board PowerPoint I’d made.  I then pulled down the cover shape and showed them the dictionary definition.  I’d already handed out their guided notes sheets, so I directed them to write it down on there.  We then went on to talk about how and why tone is used, and they once again gave me a few examples (to persuade, to make writing & reading more interesting, etc.), which I wrote down on the Smart Board.  Then I pulled down the cover shape again, to show them the summarized version that I’d come up with.  We talked about where they thought the lesson was going, and why they need to learn this.  I brought up the point that it makes writing more interesting, and they wouldn’t want to read something that is all bland and boring, and neither do Mrs. Cornelius or I.  So they need to learn to write descriptively in order to make their writing worth reading for us and others, and because it’ll help them meet that elusive word count.  I think the latter reason interested them more.

After talking about what tone is, why and how to use it, we moved onto identifying tone words.  I planned on modeling finding tone words first, but the kids jumped in by identifying them for me, and so I took it, and ran with it.  First we looked for tone words in an Endymion Spring passage, and then in a passage from Oliver Twist.  They did a pretty good job of finding tone words, though I had the same problem with them just kind of shouting out words as I’m trying to keep up with them.  I think it’s just the way the class seems to engage best, though it makes me feel like I flying by the seat of my pants trying to ride a wild horse.  I’m so glad I have improv theater training.  I’d say I have no idea what I’d do or what would happen if I didn’t, but after observing my mentor teacher and some of my peers, I’ve seen what it looks like when you feel tied down and unable to deviate from your plan.  Towards the end of the activity they started just yelling out random words, and I had to slow them down and prompt them to think about whether or not the word they said was really a descriptive tone word.  After finding the tone words, we determined what the overall tone of the piece was, or if it shifted.  I think Nikki got frustrated with the boys in the back shouting out random words because towards the end of that section she spoke up loud and clear with definitive tones using an extensive vocabulary.

After the more presentational section it was time to move into the activity section.  I told the kids this and then shifted into my dialect I use with my friends and said “Yay happy fun times!”  The kids seem to like that.  I think it let them relate to me a little bit more.  I had them count off into groups of six.  They wanted to choose their own groups, but I just countered that request with “Nope” and a smile, and they didn’t argue, or even seem to really mind.  I’ve seen how them choosing their own groups goes: they get off task and just chat with their friends.  I get the sense that they’re way to comfortable working in the same groups every time, and that one person seem to end up doing all the work.

The activity we did was “Poem Strips” where I wrote a bland 12- line poem and gave each group 4 lines to make super descriptive.  I had groups 1-3 make their poem happy, excited and bouncy, and groups 4-6 make their poem sad, dull and gloomy.  I gave them 10 minutes or so to work on creating their poems.  I told them to have one person write and at least two people looking for descriptive words in their tone word packet.  When they were done with their 4 lines I had them write their stanza up on the board so we could read them at the end of class.  Some groups finished a lot faster than others, and I had a hard time redirecting them to try improving their poem rather than just chatting and losing focus.  I realized when I got home I forgot to assign them the homework.  I’d wanted them to bring in a song or poem that they like that shows a specific tone for tomorrow so we could use it for their writing assignment.  Maybe I’ll just ask Deb if they can use the poem they brought in for Poetry Out Loud on Friday.  That may work.  Anyways, the poems they created turned out awesome!

Original:

I walked through the grass and saw a bird

He looked at me and flew away

I remembered my lover and sat down

And thought about her.

She had dark hair and eyes.

She was tall and wore a dress.

There was a dog she owned

Just like my heart.

I stood up and walked home

My lover wasn’t at the house anymore

The bird made noises at me as I left

To get a present for my lover.

Happy, Excited, Bouncy:

I galloped through the magnificent grass and saw an extravagant bird.

He glanced at me and exuberantly flew away.

I reminisced about my lover, and contentedly sat down

And thought smiling, about her enchantment.

She had graceful hair and twinkling eyes.

She was towering and gracefully wore a magnificent dress.

There a jubilant dog she pleasantly owned

Coinciding to the behemoth of my heart.

I bounced up and galloped home.

My devoted lover left our joyful place of slumber.

The bird enthusiastically sang a magnificent song as I glided away

To retrieve a lovely present for my affectionate lover

Sad, Dull, Gloomy:

I slumped through the nappy grass and saw a grotesque bird.

He glanced through me and flew lethargically away.

I reminisce nauseated darling and quietly slump down

And pondered gloomily about her.

She had dark hair and despairing eyes.

She was tall and wore a gloomy blue dress

There was an unloved, homeless dog she owned

Dreadful, just like my tired heart.

I stood up dejected and walked home by my lonesome.

My wicked lover wasn’t at the dreadful house anymore.

The miserable bird made scornful noises at me as I left hopeless

To get a nauseated present for my repulsive lover.