tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87174681905295904452024-03-13T18:37:52.112-04:00Teacher Got ChalkA year in UPenn's Teacher Education Program, by an aspiring elementary school teacher.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-50134235581260599692014-05-16T23:38:00.001-04:002014-05-16T23:38:26.233-04:00Welcome to Graduation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, I made it.<br />
<br />
In the morning, I walk to campus as I've done so many times this year, but this time I'll keep walking to Franklin Field. Then I'll wait for a long time. Then I'll walk a tiny bit more, and for some reason <i>that </i>time I'll get to hear lots of cheers and applause.<br />
<br />
I guess if people clapped every time I walked, it would lose its meaning. So that's why graduation is special.<br />
<br />
Also this: come tomorrow, I won't just be "Jesse Gottschalk;" I'll be "Jesse Gottschalk, M.S.Ed.," or as I'll demand people refer to me, "Jesse Gottschalk, Master of Science."<br />
<br />
And yeah, I'll be done with grad school, although as I've said before, I've basically been done for weeks now. My last day of student teaching was three weeks ago; my final portfolio was done a couple days later. We had one final seminar ten days ago, which was actually pretty nice: our professor brought in cookies for us, and gave us pretty much the entire time to share our portfolios and classroom takeover experiences with one another. That was pretty awesome -- I have a lot of respect for my classmates, so I was excited to hear more about what they had done.<br />
<br />
The real conclusion of our program was on Monday, when they threw us a nice dinner together with some of our faculty and all of our Penn Mentors.<br />
<a name='more'></a> They all shared brief tributes to us (or rather, they were <i>instructed</i> to be brief, but there was a lot of disregarding of those instructions). Finally, they sent us off with envelopes containing two things: the rubric/feedbacks from our portfolios; and a really nice, personal letter written collaboratively by the faculty, addressed to each of us individually, summarizing our year and saying some really nice things about us. It was pretty sweet and sentimental, and felt like a really nice end to the year.<br />
<br />
Which has now ended. Weird.<br />
<br />Am I glad I did this program? Did I make the right choice for me? I think I did. I honestly do. I think the best explanation I can give for why I feel this way is: because I feel like I have a vision for what I would want my own classroom to look like, and I feel like I know much of what I can do in order to get there. Neither of those statements would have been true a year ago. This is true in a lot of areas -- content instruction (a year ago, I had no idea how to teach someone to read, or to guide a whole-class math discussion, etc.), differentiation methods (the subject of <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2014/05/my-final-portfolio.html" target="_blank">my final portfolio</a>), models of classroom management -- my learning is nowhere near complete, but I'm pretty impressed by how much I feel like this year has taught me.<br />
<br />
Sure, I know that I'll have challenges my first year, and will feel unprepared in a lot of ways (like every single teacher I've ever met says they did their first year). But those two things I mentioned above -- having a vision to work towards, and strategies to get there -- will make a huge difference for me. And I'm really excited to try it.<br />
<br />
What else? Ten months later, I'm even more confident that this is what I want to do -- a major relief, and pretty exciting, to be sure. I've made a lot of awesome connections: classmates whom I'm sure I'll swap first-year stories with this year; faculty whom I really respect and trust, and whom I'll contact to ask advice on a variety of things; mentors whom I'll reach out to for classroom strategies, lesson ideas, and lots of other guidance; as well as non-Penn networks that I've connected into, like the Caucus of Working Educators (which has at least one TEP alum on the steering committee) and teacher discussion groups <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2014/02/itags.html" target="_blank">like iTAGs</a> and the Philadelphia Teacher Learning Cooperative. I've gotten a new entry into and perspective on the city's schools as well, which was another important reason I came to Penn.<br />
<br />
And I wrote a blog. And met a lot of cool prospective students (maybe you, dear reader). Speaking of which...<br />
<br />
Members of the 2014-15 TEP Elementary/Middle Grades cohort: welcome! I'm looking forward to greeting you on your first day, July 1st. See you in six weeks!<br />
<br />
To everyone else: it's been a pleasure writing for you. If you have any questions for me, my GSE email address isn't long for this world, so the best way is to post them in the comments (I'll still get updates when people comment) or to reach out to the admissions office and ask them for my contact info.<br />
<br />
...And, that's a wrap.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-82111728008854298292014-05-16T23:07:00.001-04:002014-05-16T23:07:07.538-04:00My final portfolio<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Curious what a Master's Portfolio for the Teacher Ed Program could look like? I've decided to go ahead and <a href="https://www.blogger.com/The%20assignment,%20basically%20is:%20take%20an%20inquiry%20question%20(some%20fundamental%20question%20about%20the%20practice%20of%20teaching),%20and%20apply%20as%20much%20evidence%20as%20possible%20from%20your%20year%20of%20student%20teaching/grad%20school%20to%20construct%20a%20response." target="_blank">post mine here</a>, to give an example. Note that we get a lot of flexibility and leeway, so I know for a fact that others' portfolios looked totally different. But here's my example.<br />
<br />
The assignment, basically is: take an inquiry question (some fundamental question about the practice of teaching), and apply as much evidence as possible from your year of student teaching/grad school to construct a response.<br />
<br />
Here's what I came up with: <a href="http://teacherjg.weebly.com/final-portfolio-differentiation.html" target="_blank">http://teacherjg.weebly.com/final-portfolio-differentiation.html</a><br />
<br />
As a bonus, you can click around and see my Term III and Term IV assignments, which I blogged about previously:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/12/term-iii-rest-of-recap.html" target="_blank">Term III</a><br />
<a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2014/04/so-about-that-term-iv.html" target="_blank">Term IV</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-2932578776249468832014-05-16T01:04:00.002-04:002014-05-16T01:05:38.630-04:00What does the future hold, Mr. Gottschalk?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As of my second-to-last day of blogging, 5/16, I can officially say...well, I still don't know what I'm doing next year. That's not really unusual or surprising, lots of schools are just getting their hiring processes going. I do have one job prospect that I'm really crossing my fingers for -- it's a school I'd love to work at, and I've had two interviews and a demo lesson, as well as a number of email exchanges. I hope to hear back in the next week, maybe I'll tack on an extra blog post to celebrate if I get that job.<br />
<br />
That's assuming I can still edit this blog after I graduate -- though, since it's run through my Google Account, I don't see how they could stop me. I could go on posting forever, and they probably couldn't do anything about it if they wanted to (the sinister "they," in this case, applying to the Admissions Department, a group with whom I have nothing but positive relationships, but that's beside the point).<br />
<br />
In any event, that's where I stand on the big question -- <b>Where will I teach next year?</b> -- to which I sadly must respond with uncertainty. In no particular order, here are some answers to other questions that no one in particular is asking:<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i>What </i>will I teach next year?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
My certification is in PreK-4. My student teaching was in Kindergarten and 3rd grade, and I'd be really happy with either of those or anything in between. To be completely honest, however, I'd have to say that at the moment I'm more excited about Kindergarten.<br />
<br />
A word to prospective and future members of the elementary program: <i>consider Kindergarten</i>. <br />
<a name='more'></a>I went into the program thinking that Kindergarten was too young for me. This was influenced by a few different factors. My memory of Kindergarten played a big part -- specifically, I remember nap time and macaroni art, and that's about it. My assumptions about the job were probably the most important -- I wanted to work with kids in higher-order inquiry and critical thinking, which I imagined to be impossible with students who can't even recognize letters of the alphabet. Finally, I recognize that I'm not immune to feeling that the societal bias which already exists against early elementary education as a "respectable career" gets a lot stronger with kindergarten.<br />
<br />
I was talked into student teaching in Kindergarten anyway, and as I detailed in a previous blog entry, <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2014/02/field-placement-kindergarten.html" target="_blank">I quickly discovered that I loved</a>. As I wrote at the time:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">...more than with any later grade, in kindergarten you really get to meet each student where she or he is, figure out precisely which skills they need to work on, and teach them the fundamentals they need to get there. It's an incredible challenge - to do it well, you really have to learn a ton about linguistics, for instance, in order to be able to deconstruct individual words and sentences in a thousand ways and match particular lessons to individual student needs - which I find really enjoyable and endlessly fascinating.</span></blockquote>
And regarding my previous (mis)conceptions: Kindergarten (in Philadelphia at least) is quite academic, and totally lacks in nap time and macaroni art (not that macaroni art couldn't happen, I just haven't seen it). Kids at that age absolutely are capable of advanced thinking, and it's really exciting to draw that out because they're only just discovering the value and potential in their own ideas. And as for society...frankly, I'd already decided long ago to take the "societal bias" that I constantly encounter against educated men working in elementary education, and to turn it into a motivating factor for me; given that, it's only reasonable that I should feel the same way about the bias against Kindergarten.<br />
<br />
So there's my defense of Kindergarten. Think about it.<br />
<br />
<b>What am I going to be doing <i>before</i> next school year?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Another uncertain answer, though I have lots of ideas. I'm trying to decide whether to go for a full-time job, or a stringing together of freelance/part-time work. The former obviously helps my wallet, the latter gives me more flexibility, both for personal things and to focus on preparing for the school year. I have some options to be considered in either direction, thankfully.<br />
<br />
There's plenty of other stuff I'll be doing over the summer. A couple of weddings I'll be attending in New York, possibly trips to North Carolina, Vermont, and elsewhere. My brother's trying to lure me to Asia, but at this point I'm in debt and unemployed, so that ain't happening. If I do decide to invest money in something this summer, it'll probably be a GSE class about "Autism, Language, and Reasoning" that alumni of our program are eligible for a substantial scholarship on. I'm also auditioning on Monday to be part of a <u style="font-style: italic;">100-person army</u> -- part of a Shakespeare in Clark Park production of Henry IV - and if that sounds awesome and you're reading this before 5/19, <a href="http://teamsunshineperformance.com/portfolio/henry-iv-your-prince-and-mine/" target="_blank">then you should audition too</a>!<br />
<br />
And, hopefully, continuing to fight for public education in Philadelphia. I've started working with the <a href="http://www.workingeducators.org/" target="_blank">Caucus of Working Educators</a> (click that link!), and I'm trying to keep advocating in different ways, because, you might have noticed, things are pretty dire in Philadelphia public schools. <a href="http://phillyteachers.org/" target="_blank">Catastrophic. Unconscionable.</a> Today I went to City Council (and was joined by an impressive and diverse group of dozens of teachers, counselors, parents, and principals) to demand more funding for our schools. <b><a href="http://educationvoterspa.blogspot.com/2014/04/sign-our-petition-to-philadelphia-city.html" target="_blank">You should ask the same.</a> </b><br />
<br />
<b>What am I going to be doing before the summer?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Moving backwards, and looking at May/June: as I <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2014/05/endgame.html" target="_blank">alluded in a previous entry</a>, I've begun an internship at a local neighborhood elementary school. I'm working in a Kindergarten class there, which is having a very challenging year; without going into too many details, the previous teacher seems to have struggled with the group and eventually resigned, leaving the classroom in the hands of a long-term substitute. Unsurprisingly, the class is academically suffering -- nearly half of the 29(!) Kindergarteners in the class are at an "A" reading level, which is the minimum for where they were supposed to be in October.<br />
<br />
Therefore, my role in the class is essentially academic support; I began by doing lots of assessments of the students, and now I'm going to begin a lot of targeted small-group and individual lessons, mostly on literacy. My plan over the coming weeks is to focus on reading workshops and guided reading groups, supplemented with word work activities. I'm joined in this by another member of my TEP cohort, and it's great to have a collaborator.<br />
<br />
<b>Okay, but what are you doing <i>right now</i>?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Right now I'm sitting in bed trying to finish this blog post before it gets unreasonably late. I'm taking the day off of school tomorrow (technically today) to meet up with my mother, in town for graduation. Which is Saturday, or technically, tomorrow. We'll probably see a museum or two if her broken toe (ouch!) isn't too much of a problem.<br />
<br />
After graduation, I'm going to see a Phillies game. Sunday, I'm going to see Godzilla.<br />
<br />
And then it's back to work, and probably more job searching. But on my to-do list, I'll be able to strike out two pretty major things:<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Go to graduate school.</li>
<li>Write a totally rad admissions blog.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Check and check.</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-26390775390686822772014-05-12T00:31:00.005-04:002014-05-12T00:31:56.180-04:00Endgame<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Aftermath. Graduation is Saturday, but really it's all over except the formalities.<br />
<br />
Not even a lot of those, really. On Monday, our program has its farewell dinner, some sort of heartwarming affair where we eat with our faculty and our mentors all say nice things about us. On Friday there's another optional dinner, where our program celebrates alumni who have finished five years of teaching. I'm still awaiting feedback on my final portfolio, though I know it was "accepted" without need for revision. My certification paperwork is pending.<br />
<br />
On the "completed" list, alongside my portfolio you can add student teaching, classes, and fixing my flat tire which apparently had a nail in it.<br />
<br />
So am I celebrating yet? I guess you could call it that. I went for a hike in the Wissahickon (one of my favorite parts of Philly, a pretty massive forested area, with plenty of paths, that's big and secluded enough that you can actually forget that you're still well inside the city limits), along with some classmates. I've had nights of porches and parties, I'm reading and cooking more, and I'm doing my laundry <i>before </i>I run out of clean clothes.<br />
<br />
At the same time...I don't exactly feel like I'm out of the woods yet. Three significant obligations remain, regardless of the TEP-sized hole in my schedule.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Finding a job. Future/prospective TEP-ers, I'd love to be able to tell you I'm graduating with a job already lined up, but it hasn't happened yet. Cross your fingers that something changes between now and the conclusion of this blog, but don't hold your breath...</li>
<li>Teaching. I actually left my student teaching a bit early to start up a "teaching internship" at a local neighborhood school. I'll write more about this before I sign off, but the short story is, I'm doing small-group instruction, particularly in literacy, for a kindergarten classroom that is...struggling. Like I said, more soon.</li>
<li>Finishing up my work with admissions. And yes, that means a few more blog posts before I say goodbye to Penn. Stay tuned!</li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-69123702543871020202014-05-04T23:11:00.003-04:002014-05-04T23:11:37.814-04:00So, Jesse, what DID you teach?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2014/04/so-about-that-term-iv.html#more" target="_blank">last blog post </a>was on the extensive, thorough, and thoughtful curricular plans which I then completely disregarded.<br />
<br />
But what <i>did</i> I teach instead?<br />
<br />
Poetry. And Weather. Yes.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned in the previous post, I changed my plans in response to what the rest of the Kindergarten grade group was planning at the time I would be teaching. And frankly, I got really excited about a unit on weather and poetry (I was also doing shapes for math, but that was less exciting to me). My first idea, upon considering the topics, was to focus on observation -- leading up to spending time outside, "observing like a scientist" and "observing like a poet."<br />
<br />
And, because I was the teacher, I went ahead and did it.<br />
<br />
Along the way, we did lots of other things. We made wind gauges, and a cloud in a jar, and a big phony thermometer. We wrote poems about nature, emotions, and ourselves. We read lots of poems and books, we made cotton ball clouds and cut paper collages, and we got to spend time outside<i></i> on several days. It was pretty great.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Not that it all went perfectly. My first couple days were a bit of an adjustment for everybody; while the kids were pretty familiar with my presence, there was definitely some testing going on, and management was a bit more of a challenge on the first two days than later in the weeks. My first Friday started out as a challenge as well -- I got a great idea to add to a planned lesson in the morning, which I made the mistake of tacking on without thoroughly planning it, and as a result we spent too much time sitting in the morning and the students got antsy.<br />
<br />
I certainly felt like I'd recovered by mid-day, but I made the resolution to be even more prepared for the second week, and I feel quite proud of some of the lessons I taught. In perhaps my favorite, I took a book that deals with emotions (<i>When Sophie Gets Angry -- Really, Really Angry</i>, by Molly Bang), and connected it to a previous lesson on similes; we used the symbolic images from the book to construct similes for how Sophie was feeling ("Her anger is like...a volcano/a big, red monster/a breath of flame," etc.), and noticed the ways the author used imagery to share emotions (e.g. the images are outlined in red when Sophie is angry, blue when she is sad, etc.). Finally, we began generating similes for emotions as a class, and finally students independently generated their own emotion similes.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Perhaps the coolest part of it all was the way in which one of my students -- the girl with the lowest reading skills in the class, who often struggles with motivation -- revealed herself to have an innate talent for meter and rhyme. It happened like this:<br />
<br />
I began my poetry lessons by sharing a bunch of children's poetry; modeling my own poetry-writing; and finally doing a shared writing together with my students. My intent was that nothing would be too "good" -- I wanted students to get the message that poetry was something that anybody could write, and that they didn't need any specific skills, they just needed something they wanted to say.<br />
<br />
For our shared writing, the kids decided collectively that they wanted to write about birds. Getting ideas from a few students, we ended up with a title and first line:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Birds of All Kinds </div>
Falcons, sparrows, robins too...</blockquote>
Immediately, the aforementioned girl shoots her hand up. "What do you want to add?" I ask her. Finger on her chin, she recites:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Falcons, sparrows, robins too<br />What comes next? It might be you!</blockquote>
This absolute nailing of catalectic trochaic tetrameter (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trochaic_tetrameter" target="_blank">seriously</a>) wasn't a one-time thing -- here was the very first thing that she wrote independently (with spelling corrected by me):<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Birds Coming</div>
Birds are coming to play with me<br />
Come birds, come birds, what do you see?</blockquote>
I thought that was pretty awesome. I'll share one more favorite poem, before signing off for the night:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
My Sister</div>
My sister yells,<br />
Open the door!<br />
<br />
<b>The door</b><br />
Was already<br />
<b>Open.</b></blockquote>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-8612436504141278612014-04-27T16:53:00.002-04:002014-04-27T16:53:27.548-04:00So about that Term IV...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Term IV was a strange beast. Basically covering the first two months of the spring semester, the Term IV assignment was about creating a multidisciplinary two-week lesson plan. The assignment was due in early March, not long before members of my class began taking over their classes for two weeks at a time. Not a coincidence, to be sure, and a great opportunity to really put a lot of focused effort into planning for our takeovers.<br />
<br />
So why did I end up setting aside my Term IV curriculum from the moment I turned it in, and writing an entirely new plan?<br />
<br />
Some honest talk, pros and cons, about Term IV below.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
The term IV assignment is pretty different from any of the projects before it. Unlike Terms II and III, which were really integrated assignments (meaning they included individual sections due for all of our methods classes as well as seminar), Term IV was much more unified: a series of smaller assignments building to the creation of a two-week multidisciplinary curriculum.<br />
<br />
The phrase "series of smaller assignments" is critical here, and to me is both the biggest strength and the biggest weakness of the assignment.<br />
<br />
The way Term IV works is that your curriculum is gradually built (over about two months), from essential understandings and to learning goals to general plans to specific details. This process is mirrored in the specific assignment tasks, which begin with general brainstorming and overarching construction, and build into eventually writing timelines and sample plans.<br />
<br />
So, for example, we make lots of charts, webs, and analyses...<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQr_Bkm4-dzQyk_ndU11d7RG3xTMYeCujKvhyqtwpeJfjEDiqhiqGA4PPN3mdgYRolFJTNhGfN2WOZlHxv097SweGe4R3jz2ahq76sVrms2vKdcqSuqD3rn9-OsNfhDE8rfao04Pfc_A/s1600/IMG_0160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQr_Bkm4-dzQyk_ndU11d7RG3xTMYeCujKvhyqtwpeJfjEDiqhiqGA4PPN3mdgYRolFJTNhGfN2WOZlHxv097SweGe4R3jz2ahq76sVrms2vKdcqSuqD3rn9-OsNfhDE8rfao04Pfc_A/s1600/IMG_0160.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjlf9O8LQrGaZCMLm3fp1AusRMEaCFt3XbbFelw4pp0yVAqEImoAyfxLLKvMTLtiYn5mOPMUg2UvTC7fv65TalfT4j4ACGO04QbUVsUKBXUbanOfziGdY-bPc6yVysh8ULizDf7uaR-y0/s1600/Convergence+chart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjlf9O8LQrGaZCMLm3fp1AusRMEaCFt3XbbFelw4pp0yVAqEImoAyfxLLKvMTLtiYn5mOPMUg2UvTC7fv65TalfT4j4ACGO04QbUVsUKBXUbanOfziGdY-bPc6yVysh8ULizDf7uaR-y0/s1600/Convergence+chart.png" height="248" width="320" /></a></div>
...before we get to figuring out the timelines and tasks.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJW-lurMrO6vct3uGmWNuLjE7kWQ0XoQiJldOq5U3pp94Ht0OSulsKEs8Obr2kMZPeAX91QWNOKAwrQPP1_9xtGanodJykR8az5hGD4Xn4DqDqGZTT11Do458SRgEQrOm8evSXlg3iXk/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJW-lurMrO6vct3uGmWNuLjE7kWQ0XoQiJldOq5U3pp94Ht0OSulsKEs8Obr2kMZPeAX91QWNOKAwrQPP1_9xtGanodJykR8az5hGD4Xn4DqDqGZTT11Do458SRgEQrOm8evSXlg3iXk/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" height="207" width="320" /></a></div>
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By the time we reach the deadline for the final project (like Term III, this one is in the form of a website), we've already done most of the work -- it's mostly a matter of compiling and revising, plus fleshing out some of our statements and justifications.<br />
<br />
There's a pretty strong argument for doing this way: because it mimics the mindset our faculty want us to apply to lesson planning as teachers. Sure, the timeline is wildly unrealistic to the real world, where of course you won't have months to plan curricula -- sometimes it seems like you need to be lucky or extremely well-organized to even have weeks. However, the progression of assignments - beginning with your context and essential understandings, and only later constructing the tasks and assessments you'll use - is pretty a pretty sound simulation of <i>backward design</i>, which I find to be a convincingly strong model for curriculum planning. The Term IV assignment was definitely about building in me strong habits of backward design, and in that regard I think it was valuable.<br />
<br />
At the same time...there's a good reason (aside from lack of time, which is a huge issue for teachers) that teachers often don't do their lesson planning months in advance. After all, my program has done a lot of good work to train me to be aware of context, and to be actively responsive throughout my teaching practice. And yet, here we are, asked to begin in January to plan for a lesson that we'll turn in in March and (for most of us) teach in April. That makes responsiveness difficult, to say the least.<br />
<br />
In my case, for a LOT of reasons (including snow days, collaborative planning with other teachers, and the individual students in my classroom), it became clear by the time I turned in my Term IV assignment that my curriculum was no longer remotely relevant to the curriculum that would be surrounding it -- in terms of what my classroom teacher would be teaching before and after it, and in terms of what the other kindergarten teachers would be teaching at the time. Rather than be extremely disruptive in this way -- and miss out on the opportunity to practice peer collaboration -- I chose to set aside my Term IV curriculum and develop an entirely new one for my takeover weeks (which had to be rescheduled due to snow-delayed testing days anyway), with about two weeks to prepare. <br />
<br />
Was this a huge problem for me? No -- while it added stress and work, it also gave me a much more realistic and collaborative opportunity to plan for my takeover. I also was really excited about the new units I got to teach - weather and poetry, which I'll write more about before this blog is up.<br />
<br />
But, it still was frustrating to have done all that Term IV work not knowing whether it might just be for the sake of an assignment rather than for use in my classroom.<br />
<br />
Oh well. It's done now, both Term IV and the actual takeover, which went well. In fact, just about everything TEP-related is done now. But more on that soon!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-63522133149269310272014-04-22T13:40:00.000-04:002014-04-22T13:40:33.462-04:00Beginning the recap...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, I'm actually reaching the point where some things are wrapping up. I'm finishing work on my portfolio, which means I'm nearly done with grad school. I'm finished with my full takeover weeks in my student teaching classroom, so that's another huge project off my shoulders. The job search is...still ongoing, and probably will be for a while. Still, of the three biggest things I've been working on, having two out of three basically done is a petty big deal.<br />
<br />
So, over the remaining couple weeks of the program, while I might have some new developments come up to write about, it's time to flip the switch and begin the recaps. That's especially necessary now since I haven't blogged in a couple weeks, so you readers don't know much, for instance, about my Term IV assignment, or about my student teaching takeover, or about what it's like applying for jobs in Philly (though it would be nice to be able to hold off on that one until I, you know, get one...).<br />
<br />
I'm officially signing off on May 16th, which means I have just a little over three weeks left here. Got questions you want me to answer online, or topics you'd like me to cover in that time? Email me at gojesse@gse.upenn.edu.<br />
<br />
Oh, and happy Earth Day!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-75242416711197510112014-03-31T23:18:00.001-04:002014-03-31T23:18:46.905-04:00Mathematical Modelling and Adventures in Blogging<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Back in February, <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2014/02/itags.html#more" target="_blank">I blogged about iTAGs</a>, the meet-up groups that aim to help teachers "build community, develop as activists, and link social justice issues with classroom practice." I've joined two of them: "Social Justice Educators on the Path to Cultural Relevancy" and "Locally Relevant Mathematics with the Community Based Mathematics Project."<br />
<br />
For the latter, I was invited to blog about one of our recent sessions, where we discussed practices for "modelling" in mathematics classrooms. I am re-posting my entry below, or you can view it in its <a href="http://cbmpphilly.weebly.com/2/post/2014/03/modeling-mathematics.html" target="_blank">original post on the Community Based Mathematics Project website</a>.<br />
<br />
[Note, since I'm a proofreader by trade and a bit of a perfectionist in my own work: I stuck with the double-L spelling of "modelling" rather than "modeling," even though I like the latter more, because the former was used more consistently in the literature we were drawing upon. However, whoever posted the entry used the single-L version in the title. Please forgive the inconsistency. And please forgive this ridiculous apology.]<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">--</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The Locally Relevant Mathematics iTAG is a place where we discuss ways to make mathematics lessons personally meaningful and culturally responsive -- but we also keep a focus on the way that these responsive practices can help promote particular forms of inquiry and mathematical understanding. For the latest session, we looked at modelling as a great classroom practice to support all of these goals.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">But what actually is modelling?</span><br style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Admittedly, it's not something I could clearly explain before, and even now it's still a bit tricky to define. As we discussed it, modelling is different from traditional problem-solving in that the "problem" is inextricably tied to the context, and students have to engage with a given scenario in order to figure out best how to approach it with mathematics.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Because that seems abstract and not very descriptive (it did to me!), we spent much of our meeting doing an example of a modelling task. We were given a scenario: given a particular set of Philadelphia neighborhoods, we were tasked with determining how many basketball courts would be an ideal number to build in each. Rather than provide us with a particular approach to take, or data to support us, our instructor instead asked us to brainstorm what kinds of data would be most important to help us make that decision. With a whiteboard full of potential data sources, we then discussed and narrowed down the list of desired data. Our instructor then let us know which data he had available for us. Working in small groups, we were free to request data and develop our own approaches and answers. Finally, we shared out with the class, explaining the various methods and responses we had developed.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">While modelling tasks don't have to be this abstract, what mattered about this task was that there was no way for us to strip away the context and say, "oh, this is the formula the teacher wants us to use." We had to deal with the scenario as a real-world challenge, grapple with the data, and determine the approach that would most allow us to be successful.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">While it might be hard to explain exactly what modelling is, it's easier to see how this kind of exercise fits the mission of our iTAG. First, the scenarios and contexts can be carefully chosen to be engagingly relevant to students' lives and experiences. Second, it uses that connection to challenge students to apply their understandings of mathematics in a way that can promote higher-level thinking and deeper understandings. This sort of task is more of a challenge to create, and it requires a lot of trust in one's students to provide them this sort of relatively open exploration; however, I remain convinced that the potential rewards make it entirely worthwhile.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span><br />After our modelling activity, one of the ITAG members shared valuable ideas from an article on "launching complex tasks" in the classroom. The article spelled out ways to get a complex problem started, like 1) Discuss key features of the context, 2) Discuss key mathematical ideas, 3) Use students' ideas to develop common language for the features of the problem, and 4) Avoid giving students a particular solution method. Using these strategies when launching a modelling problem, she said, made the process go smoother.<br /><br />The article is "Launching Complex Tasks" by Kara Jackson, Emily Shahan, Lynsey Gibbons, and Paul Cobb. It was published in <i>Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School</i> (Volume 18, No. 1, August 2012).<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span><span><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-50134496176274891792014-03-26T19:21:00.002-04:002014-04-22T13:18:57.742-04:00Let's talk about silly things<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Okay. Had a frustrating afternoon, and am feeling unmotivated by blogging at the moment. Some things I just really don't feel like writing about at this particular moment:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Job hunting</li>
<li><a href="http://thenotebook.org/blog/147039/hite-suspending-seniority-rules-september-going-supreme-court" target="_blank">Philadelphia schools policy</a></li>
<li>Things that I really need to get done right now (taxes, lesson planning, my final portfolio, etc.)</li>
<li>The weather</li>
<li>The Philadelphia Phillies</li>
</ul>
I'll get back to writing about some of those things soon<span style="color: black;">. In the meantime, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">there's still plenty of things that can cheer me up. For instance, I just stumbled upon a keyboard shortcut that changed my font to red. Didn't know I could do that, doubt I'll ever do it again, but for the moment it's magical.</span><br />
<div style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: black;">Some nerdy things can cheer me up too; for instance, earlier this month, I held my annual Pi(e) day celebration (naturally on March 14th - AKA 3.14), where a bunch of my friends, including a sizeable number from my TEP cohort, came together and baked a LOT of pies. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">I'm also enthusiastic at the moment about some events (okay, why is it doing it NOW???)</span><span style="color: black;"> about some events coming up, like <a href="http://www.gse.upenn.edu/rsvp" target="_blank">Gloria Ladson-Billings coming to speak here</a> next week, or <a href="http://teamsunshineperformance.com/join-the-army/" target="_blank">trying out for this</a> the following weekend. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">And then, of course, there's the thing that constantly lifts my spirits: the ridiculous, ridiculous, tiny human beings I'm surrounded by each day as I student teach.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Some of the strangest highlights:</span></span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">There's some questions you don't really want to answer as a Kindergarten teacher...so it's nice when kids have their own answers:</span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Student A: (Reading a book about pandas) Mr. Gottschalk, what does "mating" mean?</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Me: ...</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">A: Does it mean, making really good friends with someone?</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Me: ...</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Me: ...Kinda! <a name='more'></a></span></span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">You never know which kids are going to have the most random expertise:</span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Student B (last name Pearson): My last name is named after a President.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Me: ...</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Student A: 14th President. Zachary Pearson.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Me: ...</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Me: ...Wow! </span></span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">And you never know what subjects could be completely baffling to children: </span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"> Student C: Mr. Gottschalk, when you were a kid, was your name just "Gott?"</span></span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Sometimes students take things much more seriously than you'd expect:</span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Mrs. T: On this last page, you're going to draw what you think you'll look like in 100 years.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Student D: Oh my <i>goodness</i>!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Student C: (Gasping) You'll die!</span></span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">And sometimes, you just can't take the things they give you seriously at all:</span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Student E: Mr. Gottschalk, we made this for you!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Me: Oh wow, that's so nice!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">E: Yeah, but we accidentally put Ms. Trusty's name on it, but it's for you.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Me: Well if her name is on it, why don't you give it to her?</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Student F: We did, but she didn't want it.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">They don't always give you the answers you're expecting:</span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Student G: I like looking out the window.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Me: Why?</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">G: Because sometimes you get to see dinosaurs!</span></span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">But at least they know how to be encouraging:</span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Mrs. T: (Trying to draw a spider) Oops!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Student H: Guys! It's okay! That's the best Mrs. T can do.</span></span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"> Moral of the story: Kids are awesome.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">And I still don't have any idea why I'm writing in red</span><span style="color: black;">.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-45222998665506965452014-03-17T22:19:00.001-04:002014-03-17T22:19:09.651-04:00...And then there was only Term V<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
To recap, for those of you just joining us:<br />
<br />
Although we're studying a lot of different things at once in the Teacher Education Program, our year is generally divided into five thematic terms.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Term I was the summer. It focused on the <i>context</i> for teaching. We studied "School and Society," among other things, and our final product was a study of the neighborhood where we would be student teaching. </li>
<li><a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/10/learning-from-child-and-some-rambling.html" target="_blank">Term II</a> was the first half of the fall. It focused on getting to know students as individual learners, as well as theoretical approaches to teaching and basic assessment & instructional strategies. Our Term II assignment was a study of a specific student from our classroom.</li>
<li><a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/12/term-iii-rest-of-recap.html#more" target="_blank">Term III</a> was the remainder of the fall. We focused on lesson planning, ultimately developing and teaching small-group lessons in each of the major subjects.</li>
<li>Term IV is the beginning of the spring semester, and focuses on curriculum planning and working towards enduring understandings. Over the course of Term IV, we develop a full, cross-curricular lesson plan for a two-week full takeover.</li>
</ul>
<div>
And those are all now officially DONE! I'll write a recap about Term IV soon, but for now, I just wanted to report that I have finally reached...</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Term V: Praxis. Term V is different from the other terms -- we're only taking one class a week (one session of seminar, rather than two), but we're student teaching full-time now, ultimately building up to a two-week full-responsibility teaching takeover. There's not technically a "Term V assignment" -- but instead, we're working on finalizing our Master's Portfolios. We'll be going over more of the details tomorrow, but the TEP website describes this assignment as a "web-based portfolio addressing a critical issue that rises from their teaching and supporting their arguments with artifacts from their teaching experience." </li>
</ul>
<div>
And that's really it. At this point in the year, "Classwork" has frankly subsided to Priority #3 -- behind "Student Teaching" and "Finding a Job," but still ahead of "Cleaning My Kitchen" and "Updating My Blog."</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-36298892365074887532014-03-05T22:21:00.000-05:002014-03-05T22:21:07.664-05:00100th Day of School!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I don't recall the 100th day of school being a big deal. I vaguely remember one of my classrooms having a 180-day timeline around the top of the walls, but otherwise I don't have any memory of knowing, or caring about, what day it was. It was early in the year, and a lot of school remained. It was late in the year, and summer was approaching. I liked school a lot, but come on - summer vacation! The calendar was all about counting down, not counting up.<br />
<br />
Well, I don't know if times have changed, if Philadelphia is different from Charlottesville, or what, but the 100th Day seems to be a big deal in a lot of schools here. I'd been hearing about the 100th day since the beginning of the school year - watching teachers counting on days, telling students excitedly that they would have a big celebration when they counted up to 100 - but I didn't really know what to expect.<br />
<br />
Well, today was the 100th Day, and it was a Big Deal.<br />
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My classroom teacher went all out, as you can begin to see by the streamers, signs, and table decorations. At each student's seat was a $100 bill with their own face printed on it, and a colorful pencil. Students came dressed in 100-related clothing (one kid had a shirt that said in huge letters: "100th day!!! and Mom's birthday"). And yes, I got in on the action:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddM7o6fsbgJGfGn4qiGbdN2FZay4QY-w48HRNu55PMDjYfGIHbe9hS7H04AydqTmREWl0jBe7sBva_LAXp3OqUGpe_CK4XNCHR4g0yUeUeVt2slBPLOyY6RCK6mKniI9g-RYyF8gY9V8/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddM7o6fsbgJGfGn4qiGbdN2FZay4QY-w48HRNu55PMDjYfGIHbe9hS7H04AydqTmREWl0jBe7sBva_LAXp3OqUGpe_CK4XNCHR4g0yUeUeVt2slBPLOyY6RCK6mKniI9g-RYyF8gY9V8/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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We had 100th Day books, a 100th Day song, and made 100th Day hats. I led a 100th Day workout (10 jumping jacks, 10 squats, 10 calf raises, etc.). Kids made 100th Day booklets, where they had 10 pages to put 10 stamps, stickers, pictures, etc.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpT48eDSyHUwDVrPuLqdnBh9RaPtnbryZ0D3MRLYV3Ncr6mpgBBBS05qqJOHj0ldA-2CwadoL4QtJHtas5fg7L2egmGXG68RTZlP9vm0bkkUZaYijFIhOjy5F_eDAVdFKIKIHTYRyiAeA/s1600/IMG_0064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpT48eDSyHUwDVrPuLqdnBh9RaPtnbryZ0D3MRLYV3Ncr6mpgBBBS05qqJOHj0ldA-2CwadoL4QtJHtas5fg7L2egmGXG68RTZlP9vm0bkkUZaYijFIhOjy5F_eDAVdFKIKIHTYRyiAeA/s1600/IMG_0064.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In case you can't read the bottom: this is "A set of ten stamp werd (words)." Clever, right??</td></tr>
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In addition, each kid brought in a bag with 100...somethings in them. We got bags with legos, baseball cards, arcade tokens, Q-tips, magnets, beads. If you know anything about Rainbow Loom, you're probably not surprised that several students brought bags of tiny rubber bands (which are otherwise banned at our school. With good reason. In my last classroom, a student stopped paying attention in class because she realized she could sell bracelets at recess for a dollar each. We banned them in our classroom too, but when you're an 8-year-old raking in $14 a day, you do what you can). With our 100-item bags, students got to practice using a scale and comparing their bags with one another, so we had that math content in addition to all the counting.<br />
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Did I mention counting yet? There was a lot of counting. Counting up, counting on, counting back, counting by 5s and counting by 10s. <br />
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I think the 100th Day is a pretty awesome holiday. For one thing, it's obviously really easy to integrate math: for the Kindergarteners it's all about counting and number sense, but I can easily imagine adapting for higher-level math in upper grades (e.g. what numbers can you combine to get to 100? If you have 100 noodles and __ students, how many noodles can each student get? Also, why are you handing out noodles? Gross). It's also a great way to have students looking forward to something all year long - and by the time they reach there, the year is more than halfway done. It feels like an accomplishment. (And yes, there's plenty of 100th Day themed books that reinforce that, like the one pictured with me above).<br />
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Well, speaking of progress and accomplishments: my Term IV assignment is due this weekend. After that, I've just got my 2-week takeover and my Master's Portfolio. In two months, I'm done.<br />
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But, I'll start the countdown tomorrow. Today was all about counting up. Happy 100th Day!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-32450300703288408942014-02-13T18:24:00.005-05:002014-02-13T18:24:52.653-05:00iTAGs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Something I haven't written much about in this blog, but which has been a big part of driving my interest in teaching in Philly, is the city's wealth of activism and advocacy around school reform. Community organizing in the city involves <a href="http://phillystudentunion.org/" target="_blank">student </a><a href="http://youthunitedforchange.org/" target="_blank">groups</a>, <a href="http://actionunited.org/issues/education" target="_blank">parent</a> <a href="http://parentsunitedphila.com/" target="_blank">groups</a>, <a href="http://www.powerphiladelphia.org/" target="_blank">religious and</a> <a href="http://www.vamosjuntos.org/" target="_blank">ethnic groups</a>, <a href="http://pft.org/" target="_blank">unions</a>, <a href="http://wearepcaps.org/" target="_blank">and coalitions that </a><a href="http://www.ourcity-ourschools.org/" target="_blank">bring them all together</a>. And that's on top of some really amazing school-focused <a href="http://thenotebook.org/" target="_blank">journalism</a>, <a href="http://researchforaction.org/" target="_blank">research</a>, <a href="http://www.elc-pa.org/%E2%80%8E" target="_blank">legal</a>, <a href="http://tomhanksimals.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">and other </a><a href="http://www.educationvoterspa.org/" target="_blank">advocacy</a> <a href="http://www.philaedfund.org/" target="_blank">groups</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thecoolgadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/The-UFO-Cap-Umbrella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The-UFO-Cap-Umbrella" border="0" src="http://thecoolgadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/The-UFO-Cap-Umbrella.jpg" height="320" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(I may or may not have thrown a wildcard somewhere into that list, just to see if anyone paying attention.)</span></span></td></tr>
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I'm bringing this up not just because it's awesome and important -- it's also because, if I am able to get hired in the city after leaving this program, then there's definitely some awesome organizations out there that I'll want to be connected with, not to mention some great resources to take advantage of.<br />
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Last night, I took a step in that direction, going to an event hosted by the <a href="http://www.tagphilly.com/" target="_blank">Teacher Action Group (TAG)</a>, a coalition of educators in the city who do advocacy, teacher education, and more.<br />
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I went with a few other students from my TEP cohort (TEP was actually quite well represented, with at least a half dozen alums also present). The event was an information session and kickoff event for "iTAGs," which are small teacher groups that meet weekly to discuss topics related to education. Some of the topics for this next round include: "Leveraging Student and Faculty Voice to Improve Your School;" "Social Justice Unionism;" "Black Music as Rebellion;" "Philadelphia as Classroom;" "Social Justice Educators on the Path to Cultural Relevancy;" "Locally Relevant Mathematics;" and more (including various content area teacher meet-ups). If you're anything like me (and if you're considering this program, you're at least <i>slightly</i> like me), then you might find that a pretty cool list.<br />
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I'm excited to take part in these (I'm joining two) for a lot of reasons. Yes, the topics are interesting, but there's more to it than that. For one thing, it's a way to begin the whole "ongoing education" that I hope will be a part of my career as a teacher. For another, some of these topics are ones that we've touched on in our Penn classrooms -- and that I'm eager to move into real-world, practice-grounded, ongoing conversations. The final reason is more personal: when I'm an actual teacher, I know that I'm going to want to have friends who are teachers. Look, I'm not saying my regular friends aren't great. But I'm pretty sure there will be #<a href="https://twitter.com/TeacherProbs" target="_blank">teacherproblems</a> aplenty that will be great to be able to chat with teachers about -- for the sake of both advice and commiseration. And, while I've been lucky to have some awesome people in my life to discuss pretty weighty issues and ideas with, it'll mean something different to be able to have that kind of experience grounded in shared practice.<br />
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Prospective students keep asking me, by the way, what I think of TEP's "cohort model." The above is a big part of my answer -- I believe that it's always great to have a group of peers whom you respect, who are all going through a closely shared set of experiences and challenges. Now if only some of us can get jobs in the area to keep that network going...</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-57051166621868111012014-02-09T16:31:00.000-05:002014-02-09T16:31:06.957-05:00Field placement: Kindergarten<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I wrote a bit in the fall about my student teaching placement experience, but I haven't yet written about my placement for the spring. Short version: I'm working in kindergarten, with an amazing teacher, at a very privileged school. Long version: let's dissect!<br />
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<b>1. I'm working in kindergarten...</b><br />
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Going into student teaching, I was pretty clear about my preferred age range for teaching: mostly interested in 3rd grade, still very interested in 2nd or 4th, open to 1st grade, and probably not so much in kindergarten. So why did I accept a placement in kindergarten - and my <i>spring </i>placement, the one where I'm teaching five days a week and doing my full-responsibility two-week takeover?<br />
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First, a reminder of how the placement process works. Under new PA regulations, people getting elementary or middle grades certification must do multiple fieldwork placements, to ensure that they are getting broad experience within their certification range. So, in the elementary program, we had a pre-K placement in the summer, and then one semester in K-2 and one semester in 2-4. Since I did my fall in 3rd grade, I was supposed to do my spring in K-2. <br />
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We got a <i>lot </i>of input into our spring placements, and while I didn't rule out kindergarten, I wasn't exactly communicating enthusiasm. Over the course of multiple meetings with NancyLee, our program coordinator, though, we ran in what felt like circles discussing my general preferences, and it wasn't until fairly late in the process that I saw a lightbulb illuminate over NancyLee's head. It was a kindergarten classroom, she explained, but if I was open to that, she thought it would be a great match for me. An opportunity to see in practice many of the methods we'd studied, particularly for literacy instruction. To watch an extremely experienced and respected teacher manage a classroom. To work as part of a relatively collaborative team of teachers. I was sold. I was going to kindergarten.<br />
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And, to my (partial) surprise - I've loved it.<br />
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I think this is what I've liked most about kindergarten: more than with any later grade, in kindergarten you really get to meet each student where she or he is, figure out precisely which skills they need to work on, and teach them the fundamentals they need to get there. It's an incredible challenge - to do it well, you really have to learn a ton about linguistics, for instance, in order to be able to deconstruct individual words and sentences in a thousand ways and match particular lessons to individual student needs - which I find really enjoyable and endlessly fascinating.<br />
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Not to mention the joy of working with the students - maybe I'll devote a blog entry in the future to ridiculous things said or written by the kids in my class.<br />
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<b>...with an amazing teacher...</b><br />
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As I had hoped, I'm really getting to see some phenomenal practices, which I hope to adopt in my own classroom someday. Even something as simple as a read-aloud - trying to follow my classroom teacher's example, when I do a read-aloud now, I: 1) fill the book with sticky notes reminding me what questions I want to ask or things I want to point out on every page; 2) write a couple vocab words from the book on note cards, and review them with the students before opening the book, incorporating some sort of activity (e.g. asking questions, developing corresponding physical motions & sound effects, etc.) to help them build their associations with these words; 3) do an extensive review with students of relevant background knowledge, making connections with things from students' lives as well as previous classroom lessons, often allowing students to talk with partners before sharing with the class; 4) carefully analyze the book's cover together, looking for clues regarding the book's content and making connections to any previous or future discussion topics. And that's just the stuff that I do before we even open the book!<br />
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I'm also learning a lot about data gathering. I haven't always been an especially organized person, but I've learned a ton in this classroom about collecting and storing data on student skills and progress in order to better tailor and structure future lessons and one-on-one discussions.<br />
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She's also been really great about pulling me aside between lessons and explaining to me precisely what the thinking have been behind that lesson and the one coming next, and answering any questions I may have. Come to think of it, that's something that my cooperating teachers have been phenomenal about all year.<br />
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<b>...at a very privileged school.</b><br />
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The school where I am working has a lot going for it, compared to most other public schools in the city: more experienced teachers, smaller class sizes, more resources and better facilities, tons of parental support (in the form of both volunteers and resources), not to mention substantially lower poverty rates and higher parental education rates than the District as a whole.<br />
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Setting aside any sociopolitical conversations about the school, here was a major concern I had about working at this school: assuming that things in the classroom functioned well (i.e. no major behavior disruptions, high student motivation, etc.), how could I determine whether it was because my teacher was doing a good job or because of other factors within the school? As they say in statistics - correlation or causation?<br />
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Well, that's obviously not a question I'll be able to answer. But, there's two reasons that's beside the point. First, there are enough differences among students and among classrooms that I can still see how the teacher responds to challenges in ways that are clearly effective, so I'm definitely learning in that sense. More importantly, I now (for the first time, really) have a vision of what I'd want my own classroom to look like someday, in the ideal sense. As a first-year teacher, I'm sure I'll have plenty of challenges, but knowing what I'm aiming for and having a large bag of tricks to draw upon to get there - well, I'm not sure there's any other way to feel "prepared."</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-71477755601772068022014-02-03T17:46:00.004-05:002014-02-03T17:47:09.156-05:00Trolley Tour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This weekend was PhD Weekend - which meant it was all hands on deck in the Admissions department, from arrival to departure. Some of that time I was legitimately helpful - I handed out at least a dozen name tags! - and some of that time I was basically getting to take part in the events of the prospective PhD students, and/or do homework.<br />
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And on Sunday, that put me on a trolley for a tour of the city.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv0tkpXmee7ds3JXJgOGwdfqTyNfTYqvc0olzcfHqfr3a4Kq5WTK5Dyw76wk08ctvZM7-URwdfD1e4EgReuTdgTBYxnoFFq2M9AS87MjLM5b4jxYpdN-6goyP87cTcFSUrF9XSkZ_VS6A/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv0tkpXmee7ds3JXJgOGwdfqTyNfTYqvc0olzcfHqfr3a4Kq5WTK5Dyw76wk08ctvZM7-URwdfD1e4EgReuTdgTBYxnoFFq2M9AS87MjLM5b4jxYpdN-6goyP87cTcFSUrF9XSkZ_VS6A/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured with fellow GSE student bloggers <a href="http://rebeccastefaniak.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Rebecca</a> and <a href="http://andreainsidegrad.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Andrea</a> </td></tr>
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Now, I've lived in the city for almost five years, but there's always something new to be learned. Especially when your tour guide is both seasoned and eccentric. Here are some of the most notable things I learned during the tour:<br />
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<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Bassett's Ice Cream - oldest in the U.S. - originally served only the flavor "Yellow Tomato."</li>
<li>Pennsylvania is NOT named for William Penn, the founder of Philadelphia, but for his father, who acquired the state as payment for debts owed by King Charles II.</li>
<li>Driving on the cobblestone roads in Old City is known (among tour bus drivers) as "The Philadelphia Massage."</li>
<li>Independence Mall: "Smaller than the Grand Canyon, but mighty by human deed."</li>
<li>The top floors of the the Comcast Center - the part that undeniably looks like a <a href="http://www.phillychitchat.com/2009/11/comcast-center-holiday-light-show-in-3.html" target="_blank">USB flash drive</a> - house a giant water tank that keeps the building from swaying too much (<a href="http://articles.philly.com/2007-04-15/news/24993416_1_tallest-building-water-tanks-tame-wind" target="_blank">300,000 gallons!</a>).</li>
<li>"Camden, New Jersey, the Home of Campbell's Soup."</li>
<li>The Society Hill Towers - which I've always just thought of as "those tall cement towers in Old City" - were designed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.M._Pei" target="_blank">I.M. Pei</a>.</li>
<li>Thomas Jefferson had a friend once who lived somewhere on South Street.</li>
<li>"The Wyndham Hotel: Ben Franklin never slept there."</li>
<li>Okay, those were the silly things I wrote down because they amused or surprised me, but in all seriousness, it's amazing how much history is in this city. Pick a random subway stop ("built on the site of Ben Franklin's first print shop"), building ("part of the Underground Railroad"), or notable landmark ("America's oldest hospital/music hall/farmer's market/theatre"), and you can find out some pretty amazing things. I think that's pretty great.</li>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-26083644335973061452014-01-24T22:00:00.000-05:002014-01-25T14:27:22.676-05:00Weird week, good week<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Let's recap what a normal week is supposed to look like for a TEP - Elementary student in January:<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Monday: Student teaching</li>
<li>Tuesday: Student teaching, evening Seminar</li>
<li>Wednesday: Student teaching</li>
<li>Thursday: Student teaching</li>
<li>Friday: Morning Seminar, afternoon Teaching Diverse Learners (every other week)</li>
</ul>
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Now let's look at what this week has looked like:</div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Monday: MLK Day </li>
<li>Tuesday: Early dismissal (due to snow), Seminar cancelled</li>
<li>Wednesday: Snow day </li>
<li>Thursday: Student teaching</li>
<li>Friday: Student teaching (field trip!)</li>
</ul>
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Sliiiiiiiiiiiightly different. But not really complaining!</div>
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First, about MLK Day. In Philadelphia, it's a pretty big deal -- it's the MLK Day of Service, something that's catching on nationally but which I had never heard of before I moved to Philadelphia. Then again, I grew up in Virginia, a state whose relationship with the holiday has been, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee%E2%80%93Jackson%E2%80%93King_Day" target="_blank">shall we say, troubled</a>. I live with an organizer who was recruiting volunteers to help out at Jackson Elementary in South Philly, so I joined in to help with a massive library inventory project. It was great to work with so many people in helping with such an important project -- but I can't help but feel morally conflicted about volunteering to do work that I unequivocally believe should be funded by the state. Schools need libraries; how is that even a question? And yet, in Philadelphia, many schools lack functioning libraries, and many of those that operate libraries part-time (like Lea, where I taught in the fall) do so with volunteers (something plenty of schools don't have access to). Also -- there were SO many volunteers at Jackson (from some VERY highly connected organizations, in areas of the city nowhere near Jackson) that I could only wonder how many schools could have better used some of them. Not to knock volunteerism, but in the spirit of a day celebrating Dr. King, let's remember that we should be conscious of, and fighting against, <i>structural </i>injustice.<br />
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Anyway.<br />
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The snow days were great - managed to knock a lot of items off my to-do list that I should have tackled over the long weekend. Including (drum roll, please): some of the first steps of the job hunt process. I've said elsewhere that my top priority is to try to find a job in a Philadelphia public school, but that's a <i>very</i> difficult road (due to massive recent layoffs, seniority rules, declining and uncertain enrollment due to charter school expansion, teacher turnover, etc.). So I'm looking at alternatives, and that includes signing up with some headhunter agencies (Carney Sandoe and Southern Teachers Agency) which will hopefully start connecting me with a potpourri of far-flung job possibilities. I'll keep you posted on that process as the spring progresses.<br />
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Also, I didn't really mention: it snowed! A lot, actually - the 10th largest single-day snowfall in Philadelphia history (13.5 inches, so that those of you from Minnesota can smirk and those of you from Houston can shudder). I felt terrible for all the teachers who came in on Tuesday thinking the snow would start in the afternoon, only to have to drive home in the 3-4 inches that had already fallen by the time students dismissed. Still, walking around in the snow was pretty great.<br />
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[A note on Philadelphia winters, for people who aren't native to the Mid-Atlantic: there's not really such a thing as a "standard" winter here, so good luck preparing for it. Winter 2009-10 was the snowiest on record, winter 2011-12 was one of the warmest on record, and winter 2013-14 is shaping up as one of the coldest (or at least well below average).]<br />
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I got back to student teaching on Thursday (more on student teaching in my next blog post, promise), and Friday I got permission to skip seminar to go to my first field trip as a student teacher. We went to PAFA, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and it was lovely.<br />
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Also in the week: saw a movie, played some games, cooked some amazing green beans (out of the <a href="http://tablematters.com/2013/09/23/vedge-out/" target="_blank">Vedge cookbook</a>), took my second martial arts class of the new year at <a href="http://zhangsah.org/" target="_blank">Zhang Sah</a> (after months of being too busy/lazy to make it), ate a <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/10/west-philly-vegetarian-favorites-for-5.html" target="_blank">tofu hoagie</a>, and failed to do laundry. And now I'm blogging.<br />
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Grateful for a weird week; now I'm ready to get some consistency back.</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-37139761846107806882014-01-15T22:13:00.003-05:002014-01-15T22:22:13.924-05:00I wrote a book!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A little while ago, I cryptically mentioned a project I was working on - well here's the big reveal:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvcsw_R2luWU6YjRQeljlhkHn8iSePShJZmhqEOn3XjqJZmY2WRIL0lGjgsTkgp0zOnb1lIxVkoi2lAa0GzNsoChrk1fUp_NXIbraHFwO_H5QfqJvgGDJW5APzE5H51W0XqUOaINSmAg/s1600/IMG_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvcsw_R2luWU6YjRQeljlhkHn8iSePShJZmhqEOn3XjqJZmY2WRIL0lGjgsTkgp0zOnb1lIxVkoi2lAa0GzNsoChrk1fUp_NXIbraHFwO_H5QfqJvgGDJW5APzE5H51W0XqUOaINSmAg/s1600/IMG_0004.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've always had a dream of someday writing a book of some sort. When my Literacy Methods class made an assignment of it (specifically: "write a children's book"), I decided to take it really, really seriously. In spite of the demands of the semester, I ended up investing probably 50 hours on this. And I'm actually really proud of it.<br />
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<i>(Note to prospective TEP students - this was NOT necessary. We were basically graded on completion rather than quality, so most people didn't put nearly as much time into it as I did. That's not to say that there weren't some spectacular books in there - I actually really, really loved some of the books made by my classmates. It was a great assignment. We ended our semester with a book-sharing party, with our Penn Mentors and professors invited as well!)</i><br />
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As you can see above, mine was called <i>The Normal Book</i>. I tried to combine some of my personal thoughts with some of the things we had discussed in both my Literacy class and the Literature for Children and Adolescents class I took in the summer. So, from Literature, I took inspiration to [<i>academic language advisory</i>] slot it into the genre of postmodern children's literature, framing the book as essentially a metatextual deconstruction of cliched storybook conventions and phrasing, with an emphasis on page-turns as narrative device [<i>I'm almost positive I know what all of those words and phrases meant</i>]. From Literacy, I took a focus on welcoming diverse voices and on literature to promote particular writing lessons. And then I used a ton of colored paper and knives and Photoshop.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fENqDpX1tdjDcNsyKUTQSdpphXLhU0FT34UMFou5Dvt5OE_tArQXokYfj7p6nIacfjGEvuROmKZ4lOpAsLQ-eOf37TtmqmQ5DYCGOo-Oxpnh5U8E1SynWu1KL4mjrLS1ul7yPkyB_-4/s1600/IMG_4891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fENqDpX1tdjDcNsyKUTQSdpphXLhU0FT34UMFou5Dvt5OE_tArQXokYfj7p6nIacfjGEvuROmKZ4lOpAsLQ-eOf37TtmqmQ5DYCGOo-Oxpnh5U8E1SynWu1KL4mjrLS1ul7yPkyB_-4/s1600/IMG_4891.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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And I have to say, I'm pretty proud of the results!<br />
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<br />
I got it printed through Shutterfly, but I gave that copy away and had another printed at Walgreens. I've gotten some really positive responses, so I'm thinking of continuing to work on it. Anybody know anything about publishing?</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-76795828785118221672014-01-15T19:45:00.001-05:002014-01-15T22:21:46.287-05:00Welcome back, me!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, after a nice long blog vacation (I seriously considered writing "blog-cation," but wouldn't have been able to forgive myself), I'm back in action for 2014!<br />
<br />
My actual vacation, of course, wasn't quite so long. But I managed to do a lot - both of the "lots of fun" and the "this is a vacation" variety?<br />
<br />
<b>The timeline: </b><br />
My Term III assignment was due on December 13th; my first day back in the classroom was January 2nd. That gave me just under three weeks - much better than the absurd 8 days (12/24-1/1) that the public schools had off, but much less than my grad school colleagues who are just returning to class today.<br />
<br />
So what did I do with that time?<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Took (and passed!) my certification exams. FYI: Pennsylvania has a new test (the PECT, or Pennsylvania Educator Certification Test), and it is MUCH harder than previous certification assessments. The reputation of the old exams was that they were a breeze, but the PECT was actually pretty tough. Some of the challenging questions were pedagogy or psychology questions that we perhaps could have been better prepared for by our classes (although I doubt that would have been worthwhile from a "learning" standpoint, only from a "make sure you can identify this concept by name so you can answer standardized test questions" standpoint. Hmm, that dilemma sounds familiar...). Other questions were of the sort that you really couldn't possibly study for - pointed content questions, sometimes about strangely specific facts about health, literature, music, etc. Oof. Like I said, I passed - cutting it quite close on one of the modules, comfortably on the other two - so I don't have to worry about retaking it. Now all I have to do is graduate!</li>
<li>I also went ahead and took the Praxis exam for Social Studies content area certification. I don't expect to end up using it, but if I wasn't seeking elementary certification I would probably have gone for secondary SS; by passing the exam (which I did), I'm now set up so that I can add-on Secondary Social Studies certification once I get my Elementary certificate. In other words, I'll be qualified to teach Pre-K - 4th & 7th - 12th. And unqualified to teach 5th and 6th grade. Education policy is confusing sometimes.</li>
<li>Student teaching - I had my final day in my fall student teaching classroom, which was a bit sad; I also had my first day in my winter/spring student teaching classroom, which was very exciting! (Since then, of course, I've begun student teaching in earnest in my new classroom - I'll have a report on that soon).</li>
<li>Work (get paid) - did some work in admissions, and also did some freelance copyediting work for a company I used to work for. For all the people who ask (I'll probably reiterate this later): it IS possible to work during the program, it IS extremely hard to pull off during the fall semester, however. I know one member of my cohort managed it; for my part, I've been lucky enough to be able to do contract-based work, which I did a bit in the summer, stopped entirely for the fall, then resumed over the break. Not sure yet whether I'll do some during the spring, but it seems possible so far... (P.S. if you're looking for a freelance copyeditor/proofreader for hire...you know how to reach me.)</li>
<li>Travel (a bit) - went to visit my mother in Charlottesville, Virginia; had a relatively quiet couple days with music, games, and beginning to deal with my monster backlog of emails. <i>If you've ever emailed me and I haven't replied -- now's the time to try again, I'll do better I swear!</i></li>
<li>Saw some movies - among them, American Hustle, Anchorman II, Dallas Buyer's Club, and The Hobbit, not to mention Clue, X-Men, and the first episode of Sherlock. Yeah...eclectic.</li>
<li>Social life started to get back into gear! Dinner with friends! Football watching with friends! Board games with friends! Hiking, singing, cooking -- doing things that were NOT study parties, which were frankly my primary means of socializing in the fall. We even threw an epic New Years party at my place. Awesome.</li>
<li>Cleaned my room. Guys, I did it. I really did it.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Bring the Spring.</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-16643108476842656192014-01-15T17:20:00.000-05:002014-01-18T11:08:02.318-05:00And the results of the poll say...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
...That nobody responds to survey responses. Or, perhaps, visits this blog. But traffic stats claim otherwise!<br />
<br />
Well, in case you are reading this, and you are a real person, and you'd like to influence the content of this blog, please fill out this survey:<br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<br />
Or email me with questions or thoughts: gojesse@gse.upenn.edu<br />
<br />
Or just read and do nothing, and I'll keep writing anyway, because I'll love you anyway, and also I get paid by the hour.<br />
<br />
Happy New Year!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-72019502875007063832013-12-18T17:33:00.000-05:002013-12-17T18:51:45.196-05:00Help me help you!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi friends,<br />
<br />
I write this blog in a bit of a vacuum; I've met some prospective students who have told me they "appreciate" the blog, but that's about all the feedback I've gotten. But I want to make sure that this blog is actually valuable to you. So, if you please, take just one minute to fill out this poll. It'll help me make sure that my posts are actually relevant to you.<br />
<br />
Please answer this if you care about this blog being, you know, useful.<br />
<br />
Thanks!<br />
Jesse<br />
<br />
P.S. You can always email me if you have specific questions you'd like me to address - gojesse@gse.upenn.edu.<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-6271209478778844792013-12-17T18:34:00.002-05:002013-12-17T18:34:33.672-05:00Term III - the rest of the recap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A few weeks ago, <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/11/term-iii-whats-this-about.html" target="_blank">I described the Term III assignment</a>, a few days ago, I finished it. In between was a LOT of writing, but the most interesting and valuable part was definitely getting to develop and teach a lesson for each of the core subject areas.<br />
<br />
I gave <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/11/happy-thanksgiving-happy-chanukah-and.html" target="_blank">a brief summary</a> a couple weeks ago, and a more <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/11/first-lesson-done.html" target="_blank">detailed description of my Science lesson</a> a couple weeks before that, but I thought I would go ahead and do something in between, providing a short description of each of the lessons I taught to my third graders: <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Science: My lesson focused on Rocks and Minerals, since that was the science unit that the school wanted my class to be working on, and because the school owns a pretty sweet Rocks and Minerals kit. I wanted to use the lesson as an introductory activity, getting them looking at rocks closely while building observation and classification skills. Students observed and recorded observations of individual rocks, then compared their rocks with their partners' rocks, then practiced classifying piles of rocks based on observed characteristics. To assess and apply their classification skills, we then played a 20 Questions-like game, where I had a hidden rock that matched one of the rocks from their pile, and the students had to take turns asking yes-or-no questions until they found the right one. </li>
<li>Literacy: My lesson focused on giving students a chance to practice approaching informational texts with particular questions in mind. Since they were reading about food chains in class, we did a guided practice with their readers trying to answer the question, "What food chains can you find in different settings," using a list of words that students had generated to skim for. Then, students broke into pairs and dug through piles of books to see what other food chains they could find. Finally, we reconvened, shared some findings, and generated new questions that we could ask if we were to return to these books. </li>
<li>Math: My lesson <i>was </i>focused on measurements, but I quickly learned that students' understandings of measurements were much more basic than I had anticipated, and thus much of my lesson was inappropriate for their level of understanding. I ended up improvising a new set of activities aimed to promote some fundamental concepts, such as the idea that an object doesn't change size even when you measure it wrong. It's amazing how much of early elementary education is about psychology and figuring out basic understandings and conceptions - that's at once one of the most challenging and fascinating parts of the job.</li>
<li>Social Studies: My lesson focused on the idea of fairness - what does it actually mean? I wanted students to begin to see fairness as something nuanced, contextual, and subjective, because I think understanding and developing one's opinions about equity is really essential to almost any area of public policy or historical understanding. For this lesson, I had students define "fairness," then I did activities to challenge them on that: first, the 4 students had to evenly distribute 8 marbles...but then I asked why <i>I </i>wasn't included, and challenged them to come up with a "fair" division; next, I gave pencils to everybody who needed one, then asked if that was fair even though I didn't give pencils to everyone. Finally, I gave the students a lot of scenarios on sticky notes, and had them (in pairs) rank them physically on the wall according to how fair they thought they were. They seemed surprised by how differently their peers ranked things, and the concluding discussion introduced a lot of more complex concepts related to equity (equality of access, of opportunity, of treatment, of participation, etc.).</li>
</ul>
Tying all of these together, my guiding question was about the use of partner work as a tool for differentiation - having students at different levels of proficiency with a different topic or skill work together in ways that support both.<br />
<br />
Take all those ingredients, add some observer feedback and extensive video evidence, and apply an exorbitant amount of analysis and commentary. Lay it out in a website, submit to five instructors, and take a very, <i>very </i>deep breath.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-1714143931868438592013-12-15T23:46:00.001-05:002013-12-15T23:46:10.211-05:00Finished with Term III!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Wooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!<br />
<br />
Well that feels good.<br />
<br />
For those of you new to the <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/11/term-iii-whats-this-about.html" target="_blank">Term III assignment</a>...it's kind of a big deal. And it means, aside from a few scattered things, that I'm done with the fall semester.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
TEP is a 10-month program, divided into 5 terms - one in the summer, two in the fall, two in the spring. As the overall program was described to me, the summer is tough, the fall is intense, and the spring is busy but smooth. So to be able to say that I'm done with the fall is prettttty exciting!<br />
<br />
And classes are done, so I'm kinda sorta on vacation now. Excellent! But I'm not quite ready to relax yet.<br />
<br />
In no particular order, here's 10 things on deck for me before the new year:<br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>A couple more odds and ends assignments - a brief reflection for math and a short paper for Teaching Diverse Learners.</li>
<li>My last day in my fall student teaching classroom (postponed from Thursday when my teacher was out), and my first visit to my spring classroom.</li>
<li>Cooking - like the kind where it takes a long time and I'm really enthusiastic about the finished products - a whole bunch. And doing those other things I enjoy doing when I have time to do them - guitar, board games, maybe some writing. </li>
<li>Exams - one to get certified for elementary grades in PA, and the other so that I can add on Social Studies secondary certification once I'm certified.</li>
<li>Finding some way to start working exercise back into my life (I do martial arts, but the school I train at is going through renovations the next few weeks).</li>
<li>Watching lots of movies - I don't go to a lot of movies in theaters, but this month I want to see Inside Llewyn Davis, American Hustle, The Hobbit, The Wolf of Wall Street, Anchorman 2, Dallas Buyers Club (and I'd also go see Oldboy, Philomena, Nebraska, All is Lost, Her, August: Osage County, or probably Thor). I won't actually see most of these, but I'm pretty amazed how many movies there are that I'm legitimately interested in. And I'm not even looking at Netflix yet...</li>
<li>Earning some money - I freelance edit/proofread for a research company I used to work for, and although I haven't taken any work with them since the summer, they've got a report coming up for me this week.</li>
<li>Cleaning. Cleaning everything I haven't cleaned in months. AKA cleaning everything.</li>
<li>Probably a couple days in Virginia, with my mother, her dog (Zola) and her cat (Trouble)</li>
<li>And, of course...blogging! </li>
</ol>
<div>
Prepare yourself.</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-87842722153811852802013-12-05T14:08:00.002-05:002013-12-05T14:08:38.029-05:00RSVP: GSE VIPs @ NYC & CHI(cago)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If you prefer words, see the announcement below for details:<br />
<br />
(Short version: GSE deans and our new Admissions Director are travelling to New York and Chicago next week!)<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;">We are planning to have Holiday Reception/Meet the Dean events in both Chicago and NYC. It will be a great opportunity to meet leaders from GSE, find out more about our degrees and programs, network, and enjoy some delicious food. You can register/RSVP for these events by visiting our events page: </span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.gse.upenn.edu/admissions_financial/events#off_campus" style="color: #969696; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.gse.upenn.edu/<wbr></wbr>admissions_financial/events#<wbr></wbr>off_campus</a></span><br style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;"></span><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;">Here are the details for each event: </span><br style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;"></span><b style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Chicago</span></b><br style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1688400226" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Tuesday, December 10th, 6-8PM</span></span></span><br style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;">Gleacher Center at the University of Chicago</span><br style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;">450 North Cityfront Plaza Drive</span><br style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;">Room 420 (South Lounge)</span><br style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;"></span><b style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">New York City</span></b><br style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1688400227" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Thursday, December 12th, 6-8PM</span></span></span><br style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;">Grand Hyatt New York</span><br style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;">Park Avenue at Grand Central</span><br style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #616161; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;">Uris Room</span></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-24948649371603001272013-12-04T22:12:00.000-05:002013-12-04T22:41:12.482-05:00Back to work, for now...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, I got well-rested in Virginia, then proceeded to quickly fall back off the horse with long hours in DC (fun) and then some late nights back in Philly (less so). Still, I'm a bit recharged and ready to plow into the last days of the fall semester.*<br />
<br />
Some notes on the fall's penultimate week (i.e., this one):<br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Today was my "Descriptive Review" meeting, where my Penn Mentor and my Classroom Mentor (<a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/09/mid-september-report-they-call-me-mr.html" target="_blank">who? I mentioned the distinction briefly back in September</a>) sat down with me for a fairly comprehensive discussion of my teaching practice so far. <a name='more'></a>[Note: the following is my present understanding, which might be slightly incomplete or askew] This originates with PA's teacher certification requirements, where my formal observer (in TEP, the Penn Mentor) must submit a "Statewide Evaluation Form for Student Professional Knowledge & Practice." The form requires a review of my teaching in a few categories (planning & evaluation, classroom community, knowledge of students/content/pedagogy, professionalism). As part of the TEP program, that review becomes a bit more of an inclusive process. The two required observations that go into the review are tied to our <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/11/term-iii-whats-this-about.html" target="_blank">Term III lessons</a>. Prior to submitting the form, my Penn Mentor convenes a meeting with me and my Classroom Mentor to openly share all of our thoughts on these topics (strengths, vulnerabilities, & recommendations). In theory (and as I experienced it), the meeting is a great opportunity for thorough debrief & reflection on the fall's fieldwork (as well as helping provide the Penn Mentor with other thoughts and perspectives before finalizing her evaluation). </li>
<li>District schools have report card conferences, which makes for some weird half-days (today we had students from 8:30-9:30, a prep period until 10:15, and early lunch from 10:30-11:00, then dismissal at 12:00). Especially frustrating coming just off a Thanksgiving holiday. Still, it's great to get the opportunity to sit in on those conferences - seeing a more formal side of teacher-parent interactions than I'd previously been part of, as well as meeting some parents & grandparents I hadn't yet met.</li>
<li>On a non-academic note - I ended up with an absolute treasure-hoard of holiday leftovers, so I'm feeling pleasantly stuffed around the clock. I've unloaded pie at an impressive rate, bringing an entire pie to class, setting out an open invitation for free pie and studying, and encouraging housemates and friends to take their fill - yet somehow the leftovers persist. Want any pie?</li>
<li>Finished that <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/11/happy-thanksgiving-happy-chanukah-and.html" target="_blank">cryptic project I teased last week</a> - now just waiting for a delivery, and then maybe I'll spill the beans.</li>
<li>Getting ready for that <a href="http://teachergotchalk.blogspot.com/2013/11/want-to-learn-about-tep-want-to-meet-me.html" target="_blank">TEP event on Saturday</a> - will I see you there?</li>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Yeah I'm aware that this whole paragraph mixes metaphors pretty clumsily, but hey, wouldn't it be weirder if I made the effort to focus the entire paragraph on just one metaphor? Then you'd say, "Hey Jesse, what's with all the metaphors about plows?" The only way to win is not to play, and that's just boring. Okay, I'm done.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-9776556836442907002013-11-29T17:40:00.002-05:002013-11-29T17:40:27.509-05:00Want to learn about TEP? Want to meet ME? Now's your chance!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Whether you're reading this blog because you want to learn more about the Teacher Education Program, or because you just think I'm pretty groovy, take heed!<br />
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On Saturday, December 7th, there's a TEP Information Session on campus from 10 to noon. Come meet people involved in the program, ask any questions you may have, etc., etc.<br />
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The complete announcement is below. Hope to see you there!<br />
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Teacher Education Information Session!</h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Interested in becoming a teacher? Join us for an on-campus information session!</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">Whether you want to teach </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">pre-kindergarteners or 12th graders, our</span><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Teacher Education Program</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;"> (TEP) can get you on track to certification. </span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">Through a commitment to social justice and urban education, TEP prepares prospective teachers to transform students and schools. You can read more about the program on their extensive website: </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www2.gse.upenn.edu/tep/" style="color: #006633; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">http://www2.gse.upenn.edu/tep/</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Read through the website and want to learn more in-person?</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Join the Urban Teacher Education program for an on-campus information session on </span><span style="color: red;">Saturday, December 7 from 10am-noon ET</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span> <a href="https://register.applyyourself.com/?id=UPENN-ED&pid=1391&eID=45327&rid=1" style="color: #006633; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">RSVP </a><a href="https://register.applyyourself.com/?id=UPENN-ED&pid=1391&eID=45327&rid=1" style="color: #006633; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-weight: normal;">. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">(Please note only the Teacher Education Program will be represented and discussed at this event.)</span></h2>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717468190529590445.post-21463022682739613692013-11-29T17:35:00.000-05:002013-11-29T17:35:46.534-05:00Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Chanukah, and Happy Late-November Respite (if you get one)!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I’ve been a bit occupied, so no posts lately – but when I
look back over what I’ve gotten done since the last entry, I’m not ashamed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Accomplishments </b><span style="font-size: x-small;">other than writing blog posts</span><b> since 11/14:</b></div>
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<li>Wrote and taught all my other Term III lessons! This included a math lesson on measurement that went awry (in terms of planning more than execution, it went alright overall), a literacy lesson on reading to answer questions that went <i>really</i> well (definitely the best I've felt about anything I've done in the classroom so far), and a social studies lesson on fairness that went surprisingly okay given I did it the morning before Thanksgiving when their classmates were playing games. Phew! Now on to the reflection and writing!</li>
<li>Did most of the work for another project for my literacy class. I'll reveal more details in a later blog post, but here's a little teaser:<a name='more'></a></li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exciting things are happening!</td></tr>
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<li>Got over having a cold. Okay, so that one also involved me having to<i> get</i> a cold and then be sick with a cold, which isn't so exciting, but as far as colds go, this one wasn't so bad...</li>
<li>Met a couple prospective students, gave a couple tours, did a web chat -- in other words, got to do all the other parts of my admissions job that are usually incompatible with my schedule...</li>
<li>Went to a training for Project WET and Project Learning Tree (two awesome resources for science educators) at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge - if you're in Philly and haven't been there (it's right near the airport), I <i>highly</i> recommend checking the area out.</li>
<li>Saw the new Hunger Games movie. Statistically speaking, so did you.</li>
<li>Drove down to Virginia (during that ugly Wednesday afternoon rain and snow) to have Thanksgiving with my mother, play some music and games, and catch up, at long last, on my blogging for you, dear readers. All for you.</li>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0