Going into the peer teaching, I was extremely nervous. The main part of the nervousness came from the fact that I felt somewhat unprepared for the presentation. I like to be prepared as much as a situation allows, and I felt like I had not reached that potential for this presentation. For one, I had no idea what I needed to put on my slides for my part. I went with my gut and just put the basic information (what the disability was and the symptoms). I had realized that day that I had forgotten on how to accommodate for the disability. The combination of this just made me feel really uncomfortable with the presentation. The other part of the nervousness came from the fact I was doing in front of my peers. For some reason, I get really nervous about doing things I know how to do in front of people I know. I do not know the cause, but it is something that happens all the time. All in all, the experience was something that I was not looking forward to.
During the peer teaching, I was nervous at the start of it, but I started to become less nervous. Once I was in the swing of things, I was comfortable with what I was doing and started to wing it if that was needed. When we did the second teaching, I definitely felt more comfortable and a little more flexible. That allowed me to shorten my information and get the point across clearer and a bit faster. In the end, the second teaching was a lot better than the first.
After the whole experience, I definitely felt relieved. I was glad that it was over and ready to move on. Yet, I was also in a state of reflection. I reflected on the things that went well and the things that did not go well. I also started making a mental list of things that would help me out in my next peer teaching assignment. All in all, I felt good after the experience was over and am ready to do another one.
Looking back at this current moment, I am glad that we were able to do this experience. It definitely helped make things I have previously learned click a little bit better. Also, it allowed me to get an experience of what teachers actually do from lesson to lesson. It was really cool for me, and it is something that I can’t wait to do again. It definitely showed me that there are times when it is ok to change things that I have planned. In the end, it is something I am happy to do again.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
School Differences
So, I am suppose to write a reflection on what differences were accepted and not accepted while I was in high school, and to be honest, I really don't remember. I had a good time in high school when it came to things academic wise, but socially, things were a bust. The reason for this was the fact that my differences were not really accepted.
When I was in high school, I was a somewhat stereotypical geek. I was smart, quiet, and kept to myself. I was also starting to come into my love of musical theatre. All in all, I was definitely different, and there were times when it was not something that was accepted. A good example of a time when my persona was not accepted was when I was friends with a boy named Scott. He was nerdy, quiet, and kept to himself. Everyone made fun of him, and because of that, I tried to lay low when it came to being smart. In other words, I tried to fit in as much as possible. Much of the time it worked, but there were times when I did get made fun of. In the end, I guess you can say that being smart was not something that was accepted.
Now, something that was accepted that I do remember now were the students who had some kind of sever learning or physical disability. Towards the end of my high school career, I remember people actually being really supportive to those who had severe handicaps. There was one kid who had a physical handicap, and a lot of people liked him. It seemed that these people were able to look past the physical handicap and get to know the actual guy.
As I said, the rest of high school is kind of a blur right now, but I do know the list of differences that were accepted and not accepted extends way beyond the two examples that I mentioned. I just wish I could remember them right now. Maybe I will in a couple days time.
When I was in high school, I was a somewhat stereotypical geek. I was smart, quiet, and kept to myself. I was also starting to come into my love of musical theatre. All in all, I was definitely different, and there were times when it was not something that was accepted. A good example of a time when my persona was not accepted was when I was friends with a boy named Scott. He was nerdy, quiet, and kept to himself. Everyone made fun of him, and because of that, I tried to lay low when it came to being smart. In other words, I tried to fit in as much as possible. Much of the time it worked, but there were times when I did get made fun of. In the end, I guess you can say that being smart was not something that was accepted.
Now, something that was accepted that I do remember now were the students who had some kind of sever learning or physical disability. Towards the end of my high school career, I remember people actually being really supportive to those who had severe handicaps. There was one kid who had a physical handicap, and a lot of people liked him. It seemed that these people were able to look past the physical handicap and get to know the actual guy.
As I said, the rest of high school is kind of a blur right now, but I do know the list of differences that were accepted and not accepted extends way beyond the two examples that I mentioned. I just wish I could remember them right now. Maybe I will in a couple days time.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
School Autobiography
For preschool through Kindergarten, I attended St. Luke’s. It is still thriving today and is located on the same campus as my home church, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. I do not remember much about it except for two things. One I was apparently held back a year. I think this was a decision made by both my parents and the leading educator at the school, but I really don’t know. Second, it had to be a pretty good school because both my sisters went there before me.
For Elementary school, I ended up attending three different schools. For first through second grade, I attended Southwest Elementary School. It was a pretty good school, but not very racially diverse. Most of the students came from Hope Valley Farms or Woodcroft neighborhoods, which at the time were primarily made up of middle class, white families. There were very few African-American kids. For third grade, I attended a school up in Hendersonville, North Carolina for a brief time. At that time, my parents were divorced, and I was staying with my mom. A few weeks into the year, I came back to Durham and ended back up at Southwest Elementary for third grade. For fourth and fifth grade, I ended up attending Hope Valley Elementary School. It was a new school at the time, and the district decided to do some redrawing of the district maps. This lumped many of my friends from Southwest into Hope Valley. I believe my dad ended up transferring me to Hope Valley so I could stay with my friends.
After elementary school, my dad decided that it was time to move me to a middle school that was a little closer to home. When my parents had separated and my mom had moved to Hendersonville, my dad decided to allow my sisters and me to finish up at the schools where we were at. Since my sisters were in high school, he decided to just move me to Brogden Middle School.
Brogden Middle School was much more racially diverse than my previous schools. This school was located very close to Downtown Durham, and of the total population, 33% were white, 45% were Black, and the rest was Hispanic/other. According to the school’s report card, the school did ok on the EOG tests and the EOC tests that were offered. Most of the scores were still below state averages, but they still had really good growth. The results can be seen through this link http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/schDetails.jspPage=2&pSchCode=306&pLEACode=320&pYear=2003-2004
When I went to high school, I attended Riverside High School, which was a little more than five minutes from my house. These four years I will never forget. Part of the reason was the fact that it was in the first two that I finally decided what subject I wanted to teach. I had already decided in eighth grade that I wanted to teach after I taught a short lesson in my Algebra I class, but I still had no idea what I wanted to teach. After going through Geometry and Algebra II, I knew that I wanted to teach math. I was also heavily involved with the Site-Based Decision Making Committee. My membership on this committee came about when I decided that I wanted to do something like SGA. I went to the head of SGA and basically asked if there was anything I could do that was like SGA, but not run. She recommended the committee. I went to the first meeting and was hooked. The committee is a vital part of the school and is made up of parents, teachers, students, faculty, and the principal. The job of the committee is to decide on important matters including things like implementing block scheduling, the school improvement plan, and finding a principal. I was on this committee for my four years of high school and held the positions of vice-chair and chair. By the end of my four years, I had developed a really good relationship with my principal.
I was also involved with National Honors Society, Spanish Club, and History Club. I was able to take my first steps into teacher education through the Teacher Cadet program. It was this program that helped strongly solidify my passion to teach math. I was placed in an English classroom for my equivalent to student teaching and did not like that. So, I knew that I did not want to teach English. At that time, I liked many aspects of English, but that class showed me that it was something that I didn’t want to teach. When that class was done, I was ready for my four years of teacher education.
Now, it is time to move the serious stuff about Riverside. My membership on the Site-Based committee allowed me to get a glance into the all the requirements the state has for all the schools. So, I was up to date on everything. I do not remember much. To help me, the following is a link to the performance of the school from the year I graduated: http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/schDetails.jsp?Page=2&pSchCode=365&pLEACode=320&pYear=2007-2008
From what I remember and from what this link gives, Riverside had always done fairly well on the EOCs (End of Course Tests). When I mean fairly well, I mean they were above the district average and sometimes the state average. Yet, we knew that there were several areas that needed vast improvement. These included raising proficiency rates for African Americans and Hispanics, raising the graduation rate, raising the number of participants in AP courses, and much more. By the end of my four years, I think we did a lot of this because Riverside became a school of progress, which is a good recognition. I hope this has and will continue.
For Elementary school, I ended up attending three different schools. For first through second grade, I attended Southwest Elementary School. It was a pretty good school, but not very racially diverse. Most of the students came from Hope Valley Farms or Woodcroft neighborhoods, which at the time were primarily made up of middle class, white families. There were very few African-American kids. For third grade, I attended a school up in Hendersonville, North Carolina for a brief time. At that time, my parents were divorced, and I was staying with my mom. A few weeks into the year, I came back to Durham and ended back up at Southwest Elementary for third grade. For fourth and fifth grade, I ended up attending Hope Valley Elementary School. It was a new school at the time, and the district decided to do some redrawing of the district maps. This lumped many of my friends from Southwest into Hope Valley. I believe my dad ended up transferring me to Hope Valley so I could stay with my friends.
After elementary school, my dad decided that it was time to move me to a middle school that was a little closer to home. When my parents had separated and my mom had moved to Hendersonville, my dad decided to allow my sisters and me to finish up at the schools where we were at. Since my sisters were in high school, he decided to just move me to Brogden Middle School.
Brogden Middle School was much more racially diverse than my previous schools. This school was located very close to Downtown Durham, and of the total population, 33% were white, 45% were Black, and the rest was Hispanic/other. According to the school’s report card, the school did ok on the EOG tests and the EOC tests that were offered. Most of the scores were still below state averages, but they still had really good growth. The results can be seen through this link http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/schDetails.jspPage=2&pSchCode=306&pLEACode=320&pYear=2003-2004
When I went to high school, I attended Riverside High School, which was a little more than five minutes from my house. These four years I will never forget. Part of the reason was the fact that it was in the first two that I finally decided what subject I wanted to teach. I had already decided in eighth grade that I wanted to teach after I taught a short lesson in my Algebra I class, but I still had no idea what I wanted to teach. After going through Geometry and Algebra II, I knew that I wanted to teach math. I was also heavily involved with the Site-Based Decision Making Committee. My membership on this committee came about when I decided that I wanted to do something like SGA. I went to the head of SGA and basically asked if there was anything I could do that was like SGA, but not run. She recommended the committee. I went to the first meeting and was hooked. The committee is a vital part of the school and is made up of parents, teachers, students, faculty, and the principal. The job of the committee is to decide on important matters including things like implementing block scheduling, the school improvement plan, and finding a principal. I was on this committee for my four years of high school and held the positions of vice-chair and chair. By the end of my four years, I had developed a really good relationship with my principal.
I was also involved with National Honors Society, Spanish Club, and History Club. I was able to take my first steps into teacher education through the Teacher Cadet program. It was this program that helped strongly solidify my passion to teach math. I was placed in an English classroom for my equivalent to student teaching and did not like that. So, I knew that I did not want to teach English. At that time, I liked many aspects of English, but that class showed me that it was something that I didn’t want to teach. When that class was done, I was ready for my four years of teacher education.
Now, it is time to move the serious stuff about Riverside. My membership on the Site-Based committee allowed me to get a glance into the all the requirements the state has for all the schools. So, I was up to date on everything. I do not remember much. To help me, the following is a link to the performance of the school from the year I graduated: http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/schDetails.jsp?Page=2&pSchCode=365&pLEACode=320&pYear=2007-2008
From what I remember and from what this link gives, Riverside had always done fairly well on the EOCs (End of Course Tests). When I mean fairly well, I mean they were above the district average and sometimes the state average. Yet, we knew that there were several areas that needed vast improvement. These included raising proficiency rates for African Americans and Hispanics, raising the graduation rate, raising the number of participants in AP courses, and much more. By the end of my four years, I think we did a lot of this because Riverside became a school of progress, which is a good recognition. I hope this has and will continue.
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