Part of This Complete Breakfast [Reflection Eleven]

For this post I just wanted to reflect on the teaching experience I had with my group at Rocky Mountain Elementary School yesterday morning. To start off, I just have to say I think I had an extremely real teaching experience in the fact that I had to completely wing my first lesson on marketing right on the spot. I goofed with some preparation issues and suffered because of it. But in a way I was glad it happened because I've heard from my Mom (also a teacher) that most of the time what you planned for class almost always doesn't go exactly the way you want it to.

Overall, I feel like our lesson went great! The kids seemed to be having fun and I was surprised at the knowledge they already have on the subject matter we shared. Our project for them to work on was to design a cereal box for a new cereal we created -- Rice'ms (M&M's and Rice Krispies). They did a great job! I was glad we picked a design-based lesson because that is what I want to teach, and it was neat to see what things worked and what things didn't.

At the end of it all, I was worn out (and we were only there for just over an hour!) I think I more fully realized what exactly I'm getting myself into (haha). A teaching profession is something you put your whole body and soul into, and hope it all turns out in the end. It's not something to take lightly, it's a lot of work. I'm excited for it! This experience helped me get one more little glimpse at why I'm getting this education, and what I have to look forward to in the future!

Here are a few of the cereal box designs the kids did--

(Note the one that says '100% sugar' in one corner and 'Only 100,000 calories!' in the other. :)

Personal Touch [Reflection Ten]

This reflection is going to be a bit more of a personal one than the others I've posted. To be completely honest, this has been the hardest, most time-consuming, physically and emotionally draining semester of school I have had in my entire life. Sure, there are many factors that go into that, including friendships, friends leaving on missions, jobs, money, and other things that come at us in life, but my struggle has quite honestly all come back to my attitude toward this major.

I want to be a teacher. That is something I cannot deny. I want to be a technology teacher. That is also something I cannot deny. But when I saw that I would be taking a lot of classes I'm not interested in, in any way [a wood shop class in particular] in order to reach that goal, I was, well, angry. My first thought was, 'Are you kidding me?' Once I got going into the wood shop projects required of me and then realized how much time I would need to put into my other classes on top of 15 hours in the shop each week, I freaked out. Actually, I'm not even sure 'freaked out' does what I felt justice. Regardless, I have to admit that bit by bit over the past eleven weeks my pessimistic attitude has started to improve.  I think it has really leapt up to more of an optimistic one these past two weeks.

The concluding thought in a lecture we recently had was:
Can you afford to be a teacher?
Can you afford not to be a teacher?

Simply, I think that is very powerful. Its aim was more toward the realities of the financial aspect of teaching, but I look at time in place of money. Can I afford to give up a lot of time to be a teacher? Further, can I afford not to? I guess what I'm saying is that I've realized how amazing this major actually is, because of what we are exposed to, and more what we can do with what we are taught. It is not an easy major in my book. Having a job is a hard thing to balance with it. Having a social life is a hard thing to balance with it. Some days, being mentally sane is a hard thing to balance with it. But really, I think it's all going to be worth it.

Jeff LeBaron - a technology teacher in the Davis School District, came and spoke to us today. I watched him get very emotional about the effect he has been able to have on his students. He told us that as technology teachers we have a rare opportunity to make a difference. I found myself almost getting emotional too. I want to make a difference like he is.

Earlier this week I was talking with my Mom about what a hard time I've been having. She gave me words of comfort but said one thing that really touched me. She said, 'Lindsey, wherever you end up, you will make a difference.' I would like to live up to that.

My attitude has changed. My goals have changed. My purpose in doing the hard things I need to do to become a teacher have changed. I'm building a table in woods to have an amazing piece of work that I did all by myself. But I'm also doing it to become a teacher. I'm staying up until 5 in the morning designing a brochure to make it look just the way I want it and get a good grade. But I'm also doing it to become a teacher. I'm becoming a teacher because it is the most important profession out there. I'm becoming a teacher because I am passionate about it. I am becoming a teacher to make a difference.

A++ [Reflection Nine]

Something I found very interesting today was the topic of what grades actually are. What do they represent? Is there such thing as a fair grade? How am I going to assign a letter grade? As I sit here and think about it, I find myself reflecting back on the grades I've earned in my schooling career so far, especially in high school. I wish I could say that all of those A's represent how much work I put into each class. In reality, there were a few classes (cough, Biology) that I floated through. Don't get me wrong, I did the work in those classes, but really only did it for the grade.
I've brainstormed and brainstormed on another way to do this whole grading thing, but even though it is quite flawed, our grading system isn't going anywhere. Without assigning letter grades, you create problems with the students and parents, as stated in examples in class today.
My solution: I've decided that each year I'm going to have the 'grades' talk with my students. I want to tell them to picture themselves down the road 10 years from where they're at, and think about what they want to be doing. As horrible as it is, grades will get them there career wise. I will address that fact that if you do the work, you'll most likely get a good grade, but I will also push them to go beyond that. Care about what they are learning and earn that good grade. When I have tests the kids will know the information on them because we will study it together and drill it in their minds for a few weeks before. Those students aren't going to forget the information a few weeks later, they are going to learn in my class and push themselves to earn the grades they recieve. How can I say this? Because I am going to help each and every student one on one achieve this, no one will be left behind.