The Troublemaker is Gone

The troublemaker that I mentioned in an earlier post will not be returning to the high school. After numerous situations with him, my cooperating teacher gave me a note on the last day I was there that said the troublemaker has now been enrolled in a behavioral school. It' is really a sad situation; he was a very smart student if he would have just applied himself and stopped acting so immature. He was constantly causing scenes and getting in fights with students. This probably is the best option for him and I hope he now realizes how good he had it at his high school. My cooperating teacher was happy about his leaving and I'm sure the students will be too once they find out he's not returning. There are just some students that cannot be helped or changed. They have to realize that they have a problem and they have to want to get help.

Students these days do not try to act their age; they try to make school as bad as possible for their classmates and teachers. This troublemaker has a long road ahead of him now; I feel bad for him because I honestly do not think he had a proper upbringing and that is why he is the way he is. Hopefully this new school helps him and maybe he will even be allowed to return to his old school after a year or so.

This is a Math Lab sheet that hangs in my cooperating teachers classroom. Math Lab is an awesome thing that I never had in high school and I think every high school should offer this. This paper shows the teacher and room that math lab will be held in every period. Math Lab allows the students to go to this particular teachers classroom during their study hall or lunch and get math help. In math lab students can have review sessions with the teacher, work on their math homework and ask questions, work with partners to help each other understand etc. It is just an awesome way to offer extra math help all day long to the students who need it.

On Wednesdays I come into the math lab and help out the students as well. A lot actually show up and its more relaxing for them to be able to do their work at a leisurely pace. My cooperating says he notices an improvement in the grades of those who come to get help. I am very pleased with this system; it allows the students to work with the teacher of their choice (unless class conflicts). I like that it's offered all day long and it's not just one teachers responsiblity; all the math teachers work together to help out. I would recommend this to any school if a lot of the students are doing poorly in math.

Care in Education

Is it right for teachers to care more about the students grades than the students? Should teachers be stressed out when they see a student who doesn't care if they fail the class? I know that today my cooperating teacher was very upset with his students. He only assigned four homework problems which took a matter of five-seven minutes to complete, and most of the class did not even attempt them. He was very frustrated at them and gave them a nice lecture. He actually took a lot out on this one girl who said she did not know what she was doing. He really cares a lot about their education and wants them to do well in his class. When he sees no effort being made, it disappoints him. I think it's sad to see that he cares more about the students education than the students do. Maybe it's just because it's math and the students think they will never use it in a career but it makes me sad also when they do not do their work and get yelled at. I must have went around and answered a million questions that they had today on slope-intercept form. My cooperating teacher actually told the class to ask me questions because I was a lot more friendly today than he was. I really hope my students do their homework and care about their grades because it would be extremely hard to spend time preparing lessons just so everyone decides to put forth no effort and fail all the tests.

Troublemakers

There are a few troublemakers in the 3rd period pre-algebra class I observe. Two students in paticular are the worst; two boys. They always pick on this girl and make her feel bad. I really cannot stand it and usually end up yelling at them if my cooperating teacher doesn't get to it first. My cooperating teacher is absolutely fed up with the class, especially these two boys. They give him a lot of attitude and make a lot of smart remarks. I personally would punish them more than my cooperating teacher does. He is too easy on them and usually just gives them warnings. The boys also are very disruptive to the class and try to get attention from everyone. My cooperating teacher says he feels bad that I have to come in and observe during their class; also he states that he does not want to even teach that class anymore and I don't blame him. I feel bad for him honestly; he is so nice and gets treated so mean in return. These boys mis-behaving is actually a good thing for me to see. I need to know that teaching is not going to be a bed of roses and that I will also have students that are hard to handle. These boys behavior is absolutely uncalled for and is inappropriate. They are not elementary kids and should have enough sense to act their age in the classroom.

Students in the Classroom

The classroom I observe is pretty much arranged the only way it can be; so that all the students can view the board. I wasn't there when seats were assigned but I'm guessing my cooperating teacher let them choose where they wanted to sit; it has not been changed since I've been there. When groups are created it's usually only two people working together on homework or an assignment; groups do not happen often. I definitely notice some students raise their hands often and some students never ever raise their hands. The teacher tries to get everyone involved as much as possible and let everyone have a chance to answer. Males seem to dominate more in the classroom; they usually are the most outspoken in pre-algebra, but I notice in geometry girls seem to dominate more. Students usually pay attention for about 15-20 minutes; the lessons usually last about 30 minutes. The students do listen to each other but do not really talk academically about it. When the students get to talk, they usually talk about their friends or things going on. There is one girl in geometry that is a total attention getter. My cooperating teacher does not really do anything about it; he pays a lot of attention to her and is fine with giving her a lot of attention. Students mostly ask the teacher for help; occasionally they will ask another student but it usually results in them asking the teacher anyways.

Math Matters

The Pre-Algebra class that I observe for uses the text Math Matters 2. The book is organized very well and gives clear examples for the students to follow for their homework. The book is easy to teach from, has a nice layout, and gives a good mix of homework problems ranging from easy to hard for the students to try. My personal experience with the book was teaching slope to the students; the book laid the lesson out in easy steps for me to teach and for the students to follow. My cooperating teacher really likes it and from what I can tell, I would recommend it to teachers also.

Not only is this book excellently outlined, but a computer program comes with it that can be projected onto the board. The program has every page that is in the students book. This allows my cooperating teacher to pull up the homework page really quick and the whole class can view it (good in case a student forgot their book). By using the Mobi, my cooperating teacher can do the problems really efficiently. It is so much easier to look up at the board, where the problems are being done, then to keep looking down at the book to see the problem. This computer program seems to work great for the students and the teacher. It is definitely a good addition to the book.

The School Enviornment

The building that I observe at is one huge building constructed for the elementary school, middle school, and high school. The arrangement of the building is set up fine; it's just two long hallways with classrooms on both sides for the high school part. I believe that my cooperating teacher does do student-centered teaching; he always pays attention to how much the students are learning and will take extra days to make sure they know the material if needed. The buildings windows are in weird places; they are way up high so the students cannot see out them. Administrators and teachers do greet students; my cooperating teacher always goes out in the hall during class changing times and talks to students. The outside appearance of the building is pretty normal; it's all brick, no landscaping, small windows, and weirdly shaped. The building is very clean; there are no papers in the hallway's, the floors are clean, and the desks are clean. The halls are extremely loud during class changing times; the kids are talking to each other and there is a lot of shuffling going on. My cooperating teacher usually greets his students when they walk in, if he does at all. There is definitely teacher-to-teacher interaction; my cooperating teacher is always talking to the teachers next door and I do as well. I have never seen any showcases or bulletin boards except for in the classrooms but it could just be my fault for not looking close enough. Overall it's a normal school with a normal set up.