2nd (and a half) Week

So this blog post is a bit delayed, mainly due to the regular craziness of life.

The students in both of my classrooms had their Chapter 1 tests on Friday. As I was helping on Thursday, I couldn't help but notice additional focus and effort on the part of the students, as well as a mix of frustration (that some of them still didn't understand some things), and gratification (appreciating the effort of the ones who did). I had the opportunity to help grade some quizzes on Tuesday and see just how large the difference is between some students.

This week, it became much more obvious that the students have started to trust me. I make myself available to everyone, but several of them are much more likely to pull me aside for help. After being called "Miss DeFauw" by most of the students last week, this week I decided to just go by Megan. I'm more comfortable with this, and they seem to be too.

I met with both Mr. Lancaster and Miss Porter during lunch on Thursday to evaluate my role in the classroom - both seem pleased with the help I am giving. We agreed that it is not time yet for me to run a class or module, mainly because I am still getting to know the students. I talked to them about getting copies of the textbooks so I can see what is coming and perhaps think of relevant modules. I really want to show how the math they learn helps in real life, because one students last Tuesday told me that his mom told him he will never need to know this kind of math.

Today, the start of week 3, was an interesting day. Some thoughts I have on it:

1. I wish I had a better understanding of athlete study hall, how it works, and who is required to go. Several of the football players in my class say they don't want to work during class because they would have nothing to do in study hall. I am struggling to convince them that they should work in class anyway.

2. I am unable to attend the open house tonight, although I wish I could. Some teachers were remarking that attendance tends to be low, and I would like to get to know the parents who are committed to their children's education.

3. The beginning of the school year seems very hectic - I hope students are done figuring their schedules out, because it seems that some of the faces in class change everyday!

1st Week

So last week was my first week as a TA at YHS. I am helping in Mr. Lancaster's 4th hour Accelerated Algebra I class, and Ms. Porter's 5th Hour Algebra 1. The two classes use a different text book - the Accelerated Algebra course actually uses the same textbook I had when I took algebra. In Mr. Lancaster's class, we were working on inequalities and number lines this week (with variables), while in Ms. Porter's class, we worked on substituting values for variables as well as the order of operations. After just one week, I think that helping in the high school is too late to be of much good for many of the kids. I would classify the students I saw into 3 groups - those who don't need help, those who are bright but unmotivated, and those who have a hard time with the material in spite of their best efforts. Its the latter two groups we are interested in, and I think 9th grade is too late to motivate someone, and definitely too late to catch someone up who has a hard time with school.

Mr. Lancaster and Ms. Porter have different teaching styles, which I hope to be able to learn from this semester. Ms. Porter's classroom is very quiet and very structured - the students each have a folder to track their work. In Mr. Lancaster's classroom, the students sit in pairs so they can work together - this makes for a louder classroom and for some getting off topic, but probably also has benefits for the students. Maybe if I run a class later in the semester, I can see which way I prefer.