School has started about a couple weeks ago and I'm still trying to settle in. Our schedules are quite different this quarter. Two classes for the first and second weeks, which were music, Essentials of Teaching (part 3, with a different instructor), and a class on lesson planning. Art will be added later on. Starting this week I will have three classes for the next three weeks; four classes for two weeks. I won't go into my entire schedule but you get the picture. If I were to color code each of my classes, it'll look a maze for the next 2 1/2 months.
I'm not complaining - it's just that it's different than what we've been through for the last two sessions. The reason being that many of the teachers felt that it was "too much" for us because many of us work and/or have families. I have observed that many of us would walk into our classes looking like zombies, but as far as what we know, we're the "best" cohort out of 5 cohorts. Guess our "zombie" looks indicated that we worked harder than the others; therefore, the teachers thought it best to stagger our classes this session. I am curious to see how this is going to pan out for us.
It seems that the main theme for teachers to get certified through Western Washington University is "diversity" (e.g. cultural, physical/mental abilities, gender, etc.). This is my third quarter with WWU and, so far, all of my classes have discussed managing our lessons according to diversity. For example, my music class: if there is a child with special needs (physical), then the teacher's lesson will ensure that the child is included in every activity that his classmates are doing. In other words, this child will not be left behind. Another perfect example is culture. If there is a child who is not allowed to be touched on the head -- and there are certain cultures that sees this as taboo -- then it is the teacher's responsibility to make sure that her lessons DO NOT include touching a person's head. The teacher, herself, has to be sure not to pat the child's head.
All of this does sound tedious, that is why we are going through rigorous training in our school. I am not sure about the other schools, like University of Washington, or Seattle Pacific University; but as far as I have heard and researched, Western Wash. Univ. is a tough school. And I am experiencing it firsthand. My GPA did go from a 4.0 to 3.7. I missed a beat by not being thorough in my written classroom observations. I certainly had no idea, nor was there a criteria mentioned on how detailed we should be. Now I know, and I get to do it again.
I will be doing my practicum, part II, with Mrs. Dearly's class again this session, which I am ecstatic about. She has been so supportive and has made my experience a very positive one. Being that she's a WWU grad herself, it's easy to relate to her about my studies; however, she mentioned that there's more work than before. Tedious work. And I most certainly agree with her.
I will also be doing two whole class lessons where she will observe one and my Supervising Practicum Advisor will observe the other. Two different lesson plans. They are difficult to do and very time consuming, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it (I got an "A" for it last quarter).
Another hard core assignment I will be doing is building my own classroom rules/management (YAY!!!!) and creating a curriculum unit. I have decided to do bees and butterflies -- thanks to Spring time. This will be a compilation of math, reading, writing, and science lessons to be demonstrated in front of my cohort. The great thing about this is that we will be sharing so many ideas that with 19 students -- total -- we will have a year's worth of units. I'm really excited about that!
As far as classroom rules and behavioral management, I feel like I'm on cloud nine with that assignment. As long as it (sensibly) meets our state's standards, we have the freedom to create an environment according to what WE believe in when it comes to rules. I have so many ideas up my sleeve that I think I'm ready to burst them out here on this post, but I will not do that. As long as classroom rules are reasonable and does not disrupt learning, then this should be easy to build.
So here comes another session full of excitement and adventure. Public schools resume session tomorrow. Everything will be back to normal. I will be volunteering in my son -- TJ's class -- Monday mornings. Tuesdays , and maybe even on Thursdays, I will be in Mrs. Dearly's class in the afternoons. I will be doing more hands-on inside these classrooms, more so than just teacher-guidance by Mrs. Dearly and Mrs.Windell. More experience and a step closer to my dream of being a classroom teacher.
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