Latest posts from Greater Newark

Apr 19 2013

Well, that went quickly.

I had intended to post here about my experience student teaching at least once a week. My last post was a rather depressing one, regarding my questioning my effectiveness as a teacher and wondering what I could do to reach my students.  Weeks later, I sit here at my desk knowing that today is my…

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Apr 07 2013

Spring Break, or, Why I Worked All Break

Tonight is the last night of my spring break, and the last day I will have off (besides weekends, which barely count ) until June 28.  There is much to be said. First off, the short answer to the question “Srta. D, why did you work over your spring break?” is because I needed some…

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Feb 23 2013

Have I failed them already?

Two weeks. I’ve been teaching them for only two weeks, and I’m terrified that I’m doing something dreadfully wrong. Today they took their unit exam for The Canterbury Tales.  The average score on the objective portion of the test (25 questions, multiple choice and matching) was 63%.  At our school, 70% is the cutoff for…

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Feb 08 2013

Introductions

My observation days are over. It was an interesting day to start teaching, but I’m trying to go with the flow.  It’s spirit week, 2nd block was a pep rally, and we got out early today because of the projected snow coming with Nemo.  In the midst of all that, though, I finally got to…

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Jan 25 2013

First Full Week

Mr. T taught this week.  He chose the role of the disciplinarian in establishing the classroom expectations.  I know he is doing this so the students will welcome me more readily, but the hostile classroom atmosphere worries me a little.  Students openly discuss their dislike of him.  At the same time, he reminds me of…

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Jan 21 2013

MLK Day

My food for thought today: “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. ” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Jan 20 2013

What Has Been Happening?

Well, I am still teaching Spanish For America.  I am now considered a fully certified K-12 Spanish teacher.  And, in line with my 2-year commitment, I am still teaching at the same school.  Year 2 is much better, overall, and I’ll explain some reasons why. When I walked into my school at the beginning of last…

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Jan 15 2013

Department Meetings

The high school I am student teaching at has block scheduling and works on a semester schedule, so the students are taking finals this week.  Because Mr. T teaches AP Language and most students take the AP test, only one student was in yesterday to take a final.  His 12th grade classes took their finals…

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Jan 11 2013

Student Teacher Orientation

I had my student teacher orientation today.  I wish I had more to say about it, but I found it disappointingly unspecific.  It was great to meet the supervisor who will be guiding me from my university’s end of things, and I had some of my questions answered, but some of the bigger things we…

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Dec 20 2012

First Encounter

As I mentioned in my introductory post, I will be student teaching this coming semester as a requirement of my graduate degree and certification process.  I just returned home from meeting my mentor teacher for the first time.  He will henceforth be referred to as Mr. T. I should start by mentioning how nervous I…

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