A Teacher Reborn

Chapter XXXIII: Bang in to the New Year, 2011

2011-01-12T15:53:00.000-08:00

I have just gone through my first week of school and boy, was it a rush. This quarter I have Literacy part II, SCED (which I nicknamed "sked") for Science Education, Practicum III (part 2 at View Ridge), and an online elective course, TESL Introduction to Linguistics for the ESL (English as a Second Language) Teacher (that's a mouthful). It is NOT Teaching English as a Second Language, which is a totally different course despite the acronym. No math as of yet. I was just about to take WWU's Independent Math but decided to save it to help fulfill my fulltime status this spring in regards to financial aid.

Total of four classes this session.

For literacy, instead of doing the EALRS/GLEs in reading, we will be doing writing in EALRS/GLE's. It seems to be a whole lot easier than Literacy1 which was extremely excruciating. The assignments were heavily loaded; this time, it almost as if it is -- in preschool terms -- "free choice" time. Prior to the quarter we ordered books off a list that (professor) C. gave us. It was completely our choice to order as few as one, or as many as the entire list of 10+. Most of us ordered at least 3-4. Not bad at all. Last week, we were put into groups according to the books we bought. It's almost as if we were put into book "clubs". Our assignment for this project is to actually assign our own respective group reading homework any way we want it. I like! Another thing I like about this assignment is that we'll be collaborating a lesson to teach the class ABOUT the book/s we chose. I've been grouped with SP and KA (that's their initials. I'm tired of using pseudonyms....I have a tendency to forget whose name's which. It's a pain to sift through my entire blog to look for names that I've used before). By the end of the class, we were able to assign ourselves our own 'homework'.

(note: GLE = Grade Level Expectations and EALR = Essential Academic Level Requirement are Washington State's student requirements in reference to the NCLBA (No Child Left Behind Act). As a public school teacher, we are all required to teach to these standards and students must meet those standards/requirements. If not, budget is cut from the school and teachers get laid off if they do not teach high quality education).

There are more projects for this class, but they seem to be easy because it has to do with lesson plans and presentations to our real group of kids at our practicum sites (LUV it!). I find this as a surprise to myself because when I first started doing lesson plans and presentations, I was a nervous wreck! You must read my previous blogs regarding my first presentations. I had fun, yes...but I was hella nervous. Now I'm not and I can produce lessons in a blink of an eye and get good (not great) marks by my evaluators (my host teacher and practicum supervisor) for presentations and behavioral management.

There is another tedious project for Literacy: my case study. Last quarter's case study was done on a child for spelling. Spelling did NOT occur with kindergartners yet so it was tough for me to find someone. I did an assessment on the only child who knew her phonetics. She did pretty well. As far as spelling assessment for a group of children, there was no way no how I was going to test it on my group of kindergartners (they didn't know how to write, let alone write their names yet!) Instead, I assessed the 2nd grade kids at my work site. The assessment went really well and so did my entire project (got an A), but like I said, it was tedious.

This quarter's project involves Writing, so I chose a boy in my kindergarten practicum site whose reading level is slightly lower than the highest writers in the class. I started my project yesterday and did my observations/data on him. I think C., my Literacy instructor, will like this one because this time, I'm following instructions in the syllabus to the tee instead of improvising like I did last quarter.

My science class is fun. There are projects/presentations for this class, but I think it'll be okay. My professor, who also wrote and co-authored one of our textbooks, is someone who seemed like he should've retired a long time ago, but his passion for teaching remained in his heart and is very enthusiastic about sharing his talent with us. There was a lot of information that he passed out to us, but I think teaching science is manageable. Plus...I love science :)

For my TESL online course...ALOT of reading, weekly quizzes, and (teacher's random choosing of students to do...) exercises that takes FOREVER to complete. So far, I'm not behind my work...whew! But it did take a lot of highlighting and studying as closely as possible due to the minimal time limit we have on each quiz (15 minutes). There isn't much to say about this course because it's very new to me and routine is much different than when I'm physically sitting down at my desk in a classroom.

Last, but not least....PRACTICUM. I started yesterday and it felt nice to be inside the classroom. Even though I'm not getting paid, my love of teaching older children (as oppose to preschool teaching) is a worthwhile job for me. Time goes by fast and I'm often on the move with my host teacher, CF. She has been such a tremendous positive model for me -- including my host teachers from last year -- that I'm growing to love teaching more and more each day. I hope she doesn't notice, but whenever she teaches, I practically absorb, with admiration and awe, with the way she handles the children with ease. As she's told me time and time again. "It takes YEARS of trial and error and practice..." I've yet to see this as I am in the very beginning stages of my (pre) career. Though I am still learning, I pick up methods and techniques she uses in her class -- it's so much easier doing it this way especially with her children because it's the only way they'll be able to stay consistent with their learning.

Speaking of which, I have a new practicum supervisor. She lives right here in Everett, which is super convenient for me and her. She's also one of the science (coordinators?) in the school district. I can't say much about her because she's yet to evaluate me and I've yet to get to know her.

In about 1/2 an hour, I'll be heading off to school in the snow-slush roads (ew). It's Literacy...I can't wait to share with my group about what I just read , our "homework". I think I have a lot to say about Writer's Workshop.

Til later...

Chapter XXXII: Goodbye Fall 2010...

2010-12-18T23:06:00.000-08:00

...I won't miss you!

This was th-e most unbearably complicated session I've ever had to go through in my entire academic experience at WWU! I give a triple kudos to Cohort 32, because in addition to what I'm taking, they had to go through an excruciating session in math. I've sat in class sessions where I listened to my cohort describe the difficulties they had while in elem ed math. I'm not so sure if I'll be ready for the elem. ed. math cycle, but at least I now know what to expect.

Instead of math, I was placed in Elem. Ed. Special Ed, a class that I'm required to take because I didn't take it in the beginning of fall 2009. My cohort already had that course. I am a little behind my cohort (I think I might've mentioned that awhile ago) thanks to my math placement tests (ugh!). Now that I'm done with Special Ed in Elem. Eucation, I have math plus elem. ed. psychology to take. This really puts me out of the loop to graduate with my post-bac comrades, but I know I'll get there. They will graduate this spring in 2011, while I have to wait until 2012. The advantage is that I have a lot of time to study for the WEST-E exam -- it's a board exam for teachers -- and I get the inside scoop as to what's on the test. Maybe.

Despite a tough session, and as of yesterday 12/15/2010, I have received straight A's in all five of my classes. Yaaay! Another session of straight A's. I can't say it enough -- it was well worth the ride to go through a horribly difficult session.

On top of my academic difficulties, there were also a lot of personal issues I had to deal with during the semester. To say the least, despite these life challenges, I was able to successfully maintain my grades, my family...my life. All it took was perseverance, patience, and tolerance. Heard of the saying, "With each step towards success comes tougher obstacles"? That's me. This holiday season has been the toughest, but I'm just gonna roll with the punches, take deep breaths, and swim against the current to reach my goal. I may sound like a pessimist right now, but I have a feeling it might get worse next session. I am, however, aware that teaching is in my heart. And as long as I know I have that strength in me to fight what's right, I will continue to look forward and keep moving.

Happy holidays to those who have been keeping up with my blog -- stay warm, be safe, and enjoy your loved ones :)
I am.

Chapter XXXI: Forward and Onward...Success!

2010-12-02T23:57:00.000-08:00

I am proud to announce that my practicum supervisor loved my lesson and explained that I improved dramatically from the last time she observed me (85% from 67% a few months ago). Behavioral management was positive, lesson planning as always is easy for me, executing the lesson plan was a success. There was only one HUGE problem: I taught THREE lessons in 30 minutes! Another problem: it was a lesson totally and completely foreign to the kids. They learned how to spell real words for the first time in their lives. We went from phonics straight to spelling to phonic identification through word sorts in a short amount of time. I think I broke the world record on teaching children how to spell this early in 30 minutes, using three lessons.

What I loved most about my presentation is the behavioral management. They were very engaged and attentive! I almost lost them at the very end -- sitting down for an entire half hour is a long time for five and six year olds. It was at this point that I improvised my lesson at the very last minute and went off track on my lesson plan. The great news is that my practicum supervisor loved the change! I was tremendously relieved when she told me that it was okay to improvise "...because teachers do it all the time..." especially when they feel it's necessary. And it was: the kids were getting antsy.

In its entirety, my practicum supervisor feels that everything I did seem to come naturally to me (yay!). Itt was a positive lesson and I had fun doing today's lesson. In looking back at my videos, which I do review at home, I become more and more aware of how I teach. I think this has allowed me to become a better teacher. I'm glad that I've been recording my lessons because I can now see the difference between the frist time I posted my presentation until now. Just so you know...there is still room for improvement. Little tweaks here and there would make this a perfect lesson.

I did do a video of the PM class. It was a bit more relaxed because my practicum supervisor was already gone (whew! bless her heart -- I love her -- but it was really tense in AM kindergarten. I think the children felt it, too!). I did improvise the lesson at the end and found out that it was too short, but that's okay. I had them add more details to their work just to occupy time.

I apologize for the muffled sound, but if you turn up the volume you might be able to hear the lesson a little clearly. Also...that thing sticking out of my back pocket? That's my pen. I carry it around as a stress reliever (don't ask, lol!)

AM Kindergarten: Practicum Supervisor's observation (you can't see her -- she's in the back of the classroom with her clipboard in hand):

PM Kindergarten lesson...slightly different and a little longer. No practicum supervisor as you can tell by my relaxed demeanor :)

Soon after this was done, I picked up my son, who goes to the same school and worked on more homework that was done today. I made it in time to turn in my practicum experiences. By 30 minutes. Now that I have all those nitty gritty assignments taken care of, I can now concentrate on more (easy, less work) assignments.

Chapter XXX: Improvement!

2010-11-30T21:30:00.000-08:00

(Sroll down to the video if you so choose)

Happy day. My lesson was a success. I've met more than 85% of my criteria during evaluations. The person who evaluated me is also a teacher who came from Western Washington University. She's a substititute teacher but she knows her stuff as well as much as my host teacher. My host teacher was busy evaluating students in preparation for conferences, hence, the substitute teacher.

I did not fumble through this lesson. Classroom management was much -- waaaay better than the last one. Alhough you may see children's heads moving around, they were still very attentive and answered questions because in the beginning I talked about keeping their eyes and ears on me while I'm talking. You can hear children going in and out of the bathroom. This is typical during a transition. Transition times are always the hardest for any teacher. In layman's terms: chaos usually happens when switching from one activity to another. In my case, the classroom teacher and I switched places; that in itself, is a (minor) transition, but resulted in some chaos. It wasn't as chaotic as it was before -- it doesn't look as bad as it sounds/looks -- but the teacher and I managed to keep the class under control after too many children decided to excuse themselves to go to the restroom.

There were two things that I did not include during this lesson, which was part of the criteria: praising positive behavior and checking for understanding. This lesson occurred during the morning part of kindergarten (i.e. AM Kindergarten). After my first evaluation by the teacher, I read it and took note of those missing items. So, the second time around was much better -- way better as I became aware of what I needed to do. The substitute teacher evaluated both sessions and told me that there was a significant difference between the two. I met 98% of the presenation's criteria the second time. I wish I could have recorded that session, but I was low on batteries by the time I wanted to record my second presentation. I utilized the same presentation in both sessions

What I love about both sessions is the way I handled behavioral management. Because I was able to control both classes through wait-time, "do as I do" games, and choral responses, the children were attentive and engaged. I was tickled pink at the end of the day. It was a successful teaching experience. I can't wait until this Thursday when my practicum supervisor comes in to observe me. :)

Chapter XXIX: Classroom Behavioral Mgm't. Vs. Lesson Quality

2010-11-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

Note: Pre-certs = pre-certified teachers; teachers-in-training; student teachers; practicum students and interns

Here, you will see that I have already lost some of the children during this lesson as I was in tuned on presenting a quality lesson than being attentive to problem behaviors. There were many "blurt outs" or "shout outs", children using the restroom (you can hear the door open/close), and there was a child in the front row who couldn't stop playing with the velcro on his shoes (you can't see/hear it). A few children started wandering and not really paying attention. Had I not been oblivious to their behaviors and nipped it in the bud, then they would have been more alert on the lesson. The person's voice you hear at the very beginning is my supervising teacher or "host" teacher. A little sidenote: the video is "mirrored" or reversed. I apologize for this silly error. Teachers: I'm still working on the summative assessment (thumbs up/down). Overall, this lesson went okay. It could have been better.

And on the other end of the spectrum...behavioral management was perfect. At the very beginning, transition -- in this case from the teacher to myself -- was a challenge as there were children being dismissed during "specialist" time. It was a bit disruptive because prior to the specialists walking in unannounced, the children were already settled and ready to learn. Right away, I caught a couple of children who were being disruptive -- there was a child who took too long washing her hands, and the teacher caught it, too, so she managed to help out with that part. As soon as I gave my little schpiel on why they should be listening, I had their 100% attention throughout the entire lesson. In this video, you will see that I fumbled through my lesson because I was keeping an eye out on specific children who might be disruptive. They were, in fact, disruptive, but only for a very short time because I caught their behaviors right away and called them on it.

Chapter XXVIII: Assessment Drives Instruction

2010-11-16T22:58:00.000-08:00

About last chapter. I was angry and I'm leaving that post as is. It's part of my life and part of my challenge in going through this program. Everything is fine now -- or is it. But I am gonna keep on going and not let anyone or anything stop me. Teaching inside a classroom has always been a dream of mine. ..By quitting, I am showing my children to give up when the going gets tough. Right now, I'm showing them that when the going gets tough, get tougher and you will succeed.

So...back to the subject at stake: my practicum...

I am trying something different. This is much easier to do. Pardon the delay -- it must be a blogging-thing.

I did not record the children as planned due to photo restrictions. Here's how my day went:

Chapter XXVII: School Fall 2010

2010-10-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

With my heart set on becoming a teacher and my tenacity to get what I want -- that certificate -- I can't describe the bittersweet feeling of going through a program which requires a lot of dedication, sacrifice, and practice. Practice. What an odd word to stick into a sentence for a teacher-in-training. In my younger days, I played the piano, and with lots of practice, I perfected the skill to recognize music and play it. I'm not a professional at the art, but I know that in due time, with lots of practice I could play the long version of Moonlight Sonata without any effort (I'm at intermediate level, by the way). Just like teaching. Have you come across a teacher and he became your "favorite" teacher? Now I know why: that teacher had a lot of practice and eventually became good at what he does. I want that feeling to come from my students.

This is what the program does: it gives you 2-3 years to practice, over and over again at every session, the skills that are taught inside WWU's TEOP, until you are comfortable doing it. The skill must be perfected due to an important reason and one reason only: we must NOT LEAVE ANY CHILD BEHIND. With Washington's requirement to hire highly qualified teachers (HQT as it is solely nicknamed), it is the University's responsibility -- as well as any Educational Program -- to ensure that we meet the needs of every child inside a classroom. Every single one of them. And that means a lot of practice.

The pressure in school has been a tremendous weight on every one of us in Cohort 32 that it was difficult to figure which way was up and which way was down. It's the very reason I didn't update my blog: I felt the pressure, too. In looking over my syllabi for Special Education, PE, Literacy I, and my practicum, there was too much to sink in. That was on the week of Sept 20th - the week school started. I'm still trying to sink it all in. BUT...and I say this with a big BUT...after doing my homework for these classes, it wasn't all that bad. Just trying to take that first step forward was difficult; but afterwards, it was okay. The amount of work seems to have tripled this session.

I am writing this blog only because I am done with all of my homework. It's amazing how much I can get done in between breaks with housework, kids, and errands on a weekend. I am still feeling a bit overwhelmed, but as long as I keep up with the assignments -- I hate procrastinating -- I think I'll do fine this session. As for my teachers, I have one online class whose class I missed at the start of the ELED cycle; she has been kind enough to accept me inside her classroom. I have one teacher who we had two sessions ago. Her enthusiasm about teaching is contagious and she makes learning engaging and fun. She's my Literacy (Part I) teacher.

Then there is my PE teacher. I was never a huge fan of PE because of my young mind's stereotype on jocks. Jocks loved PE -- they always WIN at everything. Why did I hate it? I got picked on and harassed by some of the boys in my high school PE class which made my high school experience a nightmare. I won't go into details. This teacher, however, delved into the educational part of physical education, hence, the word "education" after "physical. What a tremendous difference he's made on my view about PE. He's made me understand what PE is and SHOULD be all about: teamwork. I never had that experience growing up in my PE classes. Old school, I guess. There are a lot of activities and ideas that he's giving us to practice so we can use them in our classrooms. Many of them are teamwork-type of activities, many are self-challenges (I'm currently working on learning how to juggle -- extra 5 points if I can do it!). None of the games/activities allow a child or group of children to say "neener-neener-neener, in your face!" to another child/group. This teacher is good -- really good. He gives physical education a whole new perspective and it makes everyone feel good about it. I can't wait to use the games we practiced in school.

My other class -- my practicum -- will be at my son's school: View Ridge Elementary. It has been my "dream" school for a long time and I'm officially they're practicum student there. I have met with Mr. "L" (he is really called by that name because his last name is difficult to pronounce) and is hoping that I get to be their intern, too. If you have kept up with my blogs...I was an art docent at View Ridge when my son was in kindergarten (he's now in the 2nd grade). The tremendous PTA support was overwhelming that during meeting times, there is standing room only in their library. I'm not joining the PTA this year for obvious reasons. Anyway, my practicum supervisor, or overseer, will observe me in my practicum classroom again. I will be working under "Cynthia" who is an AM/PM kindergarten teacher. Starting Tuesday, my homework will pile up a little more as I am to write and document observations for the entire school day!

But...I won't think about it right now. I have other obligations as we speak and it's time to put my fingers to rest (for now).

Keep you posted...

Chapter XXVI: The TEACH Grant

2010-08-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

I just received an email which turned me down for a TEACH grant -- a grant that I depended on financially for when I graduate. It claimed that the institution I attend -- Western Washington University -- does not participate in the program. I just visited TEACH's website and it DOES list WWU as one of its participants. I will call WWU this Monday and demand clarification.

I can not believe the complete turmoil I have gotten myself into in this program. I have maintained a 4.0 GPA ever since Fall 2009 and it's still difficult to become a public school teacher in this state. If there is such a high demand for highly qualified teachers, why is it difficult for those who possess exemplary academics skills to become one? This program is more than I bargained for, but I am not giving up. By far -- and for reasons I have not explained it in my blog thus far -- there were far too many obstacles preventing me from successfully completing the program. And by far, I've beaten them. Every....single...one....of...them. I will not give up and I don't care what others say. I've come this far and although there are others who question "Why?" there are people who double those numbers that have said, "Just do it!" I have listened to the latter -- my "cheerleaders", my TRUE friends, my supporters ever since I STARTED TO APPLY AT WWU.

So...come Monday, I hope to hear something positive from WWU and that I am given a (financial) chance to continue to train as a highly qualified teacher. For those who have already heard about this other tiny obstacle regarding the TEACH program -- we'll see and I'll keep you posted.

Sept. 01, 2010
I contacted the office and evidently, they can alter the exceptions at their discretion. They said that they do not accept Post-Bacs into the TEACH program. I am in total disbelief. What a great way to discourage highly qualified teachers into the program -- or are they looking at those who are upper middle class? Who knows. I don't know where to go from here except to apply for scholarships like mad.

Chapter XXV: Beating the Economic Slump

2010-08-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

I've been contemplating whether I should have written about my hunt for a job within the past few months, but decided not to -- I'm superstitious. Our economy has taken a downfall in the last year or so and of course, if you've been following my blog, I so happen to be one of those laid-off victims (maybe it wasn't a layoff, but I digress...). Ever since then, I've been looking for job after job after job. I was either over-qualified or I did not have the skills they're looking for. I tried everything in my usual charismatic power to convince employers that I could do the job to no avail. Just for kicks, and to satisfy the ones who dared me, I even tried McDonald's! Yikes! Tried temp agencies, like Volt -- nada. Tried dep't stores -- didn't want me: "Ma'am we're afraid you could get bored with the skills and education you posses." She sounded like she was joking, but...Hello?! They'd rather hire someone who is shallow? One of my friends told me that they're probably intimidated by my experience and are afraid that I'm going to take over their company and run for president. She also suggested that it's probably because I'm a "little" headstrong and too ambitious. Really? hmmm...I'm gonna have to do a personality-check on that.

Even as I am experienced inside a preschool classroom, I will not dare touch a lead position again.  It seriously took a lot out of me physically and emotionally. When I observed and helped out in my son's classroom and at Roosevelt Elem., there was a tremendous difference in the kind of work that was done. It was mostly administrative and that's more my forte'. I love to write and talk , or in this case, teach. Once in a while there will be hands-on projects, but at least with older children - even kindergartners - they are much more self-sufficient and natural problem-solvers. All I have to do is teach. I know I'm glamourizing elementary teaching, but it's exactly how I feel when working with older children. Someone told me, "You've passed the baby-hunger stage because your kids are older." I think she may be right.

Having said that, I decided to look under "education" in Craigslist to see if there were any openings in a teaching field involving K-6th grade children. I was a bit disappointed at first as there were a lot of listings in childcare. It's typical because the turn over rate is really high. I think, too, that the pay isn't attractive: to be physically/emotionally overworked is probably not worth it to most. It's intimidating. One ad caught my eye in which they were seeking elementary school teachers, and it was way at the bottom. This ad listed the part-time hours, and the pay. It was just right. Only problem is, it's a 30-40 min. drive from where I live. It's actually not bad. The pay's even pretty good. Everything I saw on there fits my needs perfectly. So I jumped on the wagon and applied. Hoping that it is NOT childcare -- babysitting older children, I took a deep breath and sent off my resume/cover letter.

Within two weeks, I get a call from "Mary Gerald". She was impressed with my experience (finally!) and wanted to meet with me; so I rushed and got dressed and got there within one hour after she called. The area literally looks like a summer camp for kids; in fact, summer camp was in session when I arrived. I met her right away at the front door and she invited me to sit in her office.

She reminds me so much of my advisor at WWU -- she seems "motherly" and very down to earth.  After a few minutes of small talk, I offered her to view my portfolio that I brought with me. The portfolio gives detailed accounts of my past and present experience in working with K-6th graders. A lot of it were lesson plans and my in-class experience from the last two sessions.  As I love photography, there were pictures that I included in my port.  She was really impressed to the point that she wanted to keep it with her to look over and give her and her staff ideas on building a portfolio. I, personaly, did not feel comfortable with that. Private information is not something I wanted to expose to complete and total strangers, such as my SS# which is included on my transcripts. I politely told her that I needed to look over my portfolio to take out certain items and that I could give it to her at a later time. She agreed.

After being with her for almost 45 minutes, she hired me on the spot. My heart practically leaped. She also gave me an orientation around the school (camp) grounds. I think this is going to be interesting. Their environment is rich in vegetation and foliage. It's definitely the epitome of the Emerald State. There are pine trees everywhere, ferns, alders, etc.  And the air - so fresh! I am a little worried about what this place is like during the winter months. I think it might be tough. Then I remembered: I'll be working with older kids -- they DO NOT have to play outside. When I was in childcare, the little ones were required to go outside, rain, snow, or shine just to get their energy out. It was never my favorite part as Washington state has extreme weather patterns. The toughest part was putting on/taking off thick winter coats from the children because they do not how to do it themselves.  Obviously, with older children, I'd expect them to do these things by themselves.

After I got home, my phone rings. Mary just got a hold of all three of my references and told me that she really liked what they told her. One of my colleagues called and she panicked thinking that she thought she didn't do well on that call. I reassured her that if she didn't do well, I wouldn't have been hired.  Right when I said those words, she screamed with delight. I'm so fortunate to have such good friends from school.

I have been assigned to work with the 1st and 2nd graders with another teacher starting Sept 1. Because this is only an assistant job (I'm not qualified to legitimately teach older children, yet), I will not be doing any planning :(. One thing that Mary noticed about my personality is that I am indeed a leader - that's why she paired me up with someone who is very experienced than the other one who is new (certified teacher) to the program. I knew what she meant so I assured her that I'm there to pick up more techniques from a (lead) teacher and not step on anyone's toes. This will be a whole new learning experience for me. I hope that I will walk out of there with more tricks up my sleeve when working with school-aged children. I think this will be fun.

So not only did I get hired into a position that I wanted, but it took me practically seven months to find a job that will help me (and my kids) be financially stable. And that's what's much more important.

Chapter XXIV: Mid-Summer...

2010-08-01T20:17:00.000-07:00

One class down two more to go and I'm done for the summer. Classes aren't as tough as expected, but there is a lot of projects more than paperwork. That's good...I love using the right side of my brain once in a while. In IT class -- we've been learning to use programs such as Inspiration (graphic organizer) which is really cool, but we're only allowed to use it for free for 30 days. That program cost approximately $800. Then there's a video project; fun, but super time consuming. The assignment calls for using pictures on the web and crediting them at the end. Voila! I got pictures -- tons of them -- and they're my personal ones that I used for my project. It's simple, but heart warming in my opinion. If interpretation is needed, it is about seeing the world in different colors, both literally and metaphorically. (Oh...that reminds me...I have another blog connected to this one: it's just for testing my stuff.) It took me a lot longer to figure out how to post it on here than creating the video. But eventually -- and obviously, I figured it out.

(Note: I removed the video for safety reasons. I will post a different one up later)

This is rather a short posting. Nothing really exciting happening in any of my classes except for projects and lesson plans. If I was inside a classroom with children and working with them, that would be a different story -- I'd be super chatty. But lucky you -- who ever's eyes are here -- it'll be easy on your eyes.

I hope you enjoyed the video as much as I enjoyed making it.

==================================

August 2, 2010

I am adding a tid bit here. That above video? Not due until the end of the quarter. I'm quietly doing cartwheels in my head -- I am DONE with it! Dr. J saw it and approves of it. Lucky me, he told me that I may stay for only half of his class next Monday (woohoo!!).

Remember how I said above that there's really nothing going on, hence, my short posting? Well....heehee....last night in class, I got to do an impromptu presentation in front of my cohort. Per Dr. J's request for a demo on Second Life, I showed my classmates what it's like to be in-world. I was hoping and praying that there would be no stupid idiot -- aka "griefer" -- pop up on the screen naked with anything resembling phallicious objects which happens occasionally. I spoke briefly about what to find inside this virtual world and also the pros and cons (see "ITT Article Reviews"). Because I've been on it for three years, I really had no idea where to start on a professiona/educational level. Well...I tried. There's just too much to discuss about what goes on in SL. If anyone wants to know, download the program, and you will experience something that may be worthwhile (or not).

Anyway, I was so glad that at least one person registered on SL. I hope Lindsey will friend me on there and we can explore the world together. I am preparing my Second Life land as a learning environment for teachers worldwide. It is a small piece of land that I purchased on the game, but right now it's more for couples to dance on. I also put up some vendor stalls to rent for potential designers; however, because I'm hardly active on there (darn PC -- need an upgrade), I'm unable to bring in any business. I'm not sure, yet, but I may have to destruct my stalls and just use the land for leisurely and educational purposes.

Chapter XXIII: Summer Session

2010-07-03T23:23:00.000-07:00

The pizza party was on the 22nd of June and I actually did a pretty good job at hiding my emotions. The entire class touched me with a booklet of thank you cards. Prior to that day, I received thank you notes from each of my son's classmates for being their parent volunteer. That's two in one week. The students, teachers, and staff have been superbly supportive of my training and I can't wait to utilize it as a professional educator in a public school. But first, my internship. This is where the nitty-gritty is at and I certainly can't wait to experience that one. I am hoping that my "residence" will be at a school where I've always wanted to train at -- and hopefully, eventually work there as a teacher. Unfortunately, that won't be until 2012.

This is a superbly tough program and it's not easy to become a "real" teacher. Even though I feel ready to tackle my skills inside a classroom, I still have to wait. There are so many things to wait for in life and it takes a lot of patience and perseverance to get there. This so happens to be one of those things. I hope I don't sound discouraging. This is a long program if you're not prepared for basic educational skills. Like Intermediate Algebra. I don't want to go there because I'm still heartbroken by it. There are options and whenever I hear "options", I go for it. For now, I do intend to wait for my residency. And that's fine by me.

I started my summer session classes and as always, they seem to be easy. There's Instructional Technology part II, Assessment part II, and Social Studies. These are classes that will teach me HOW to teach technology and Social Studies. Assessment teaches me how to test, assess, and evaluate students. The entire session runs through August and then we get about a month off until Fall session. By then, we will have completed a year's worth of our studies. Whew!

My classes have been fun and interesting (as always). I enjoy learning about how to build a rubric in Assessment class, how to use Inspiration in technology, and that Social Studies parallels Assessment and Essentials of Teaching classes (my poor teacher!). In Technology, we are to create a blog; I am thinking of linking it to this one because they both deal with Education anyway.

July 3, 2010
Yes...I've posted this later than the actual date. It has been an emotionally exhausting week and I'm still trying to recover. I will not go there as it DOES NOT pertain to education. But I do have to say this: I have just started a research blog linked to this blog. I am really excited to share what I know in that other one and do more educational research in relation to technology.

I was so excited that I already started it without my teacher's green light (Dr. J, if you're reading this, I'm terribly sorry! I had itchy fingers). I am a blogger and love, love, love to write :). I guess the assignment hit me hard in my weakest spot, so I couldn't keep my fingers off the keyboard. I haven't looked over the entire syllabus, because if I ever find "photography" on there, I'll be headed there FIRST (just kidding, Dr. J!). Promise, I'll listen this time.

Anyway, the first blogging assignment I chose was on Second Life. And guess what? I am an active member on that virtual world. So I haaaaaad to do it. I take that back -- I waaaaanted to do it. If you want to read up on it, I wrote a brief summary on my other blog.

I am ready to post now.

Til then.

Non-Chapter: Update

2010-06-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I posted on here. With so many life changing experiences, school being one of them, I prioritized my and my family's needs over my wants. Blogging has been a want, so I set myself back for a bit to prioritize my responsibilities.

I love to write and it's a favorite past time of mine (can you tell?). I used to be my high school's newspaper writer and photographer. The latter is something I do as well. On sunny days, or even dry days, I take my Sony DSLR with me and click away. I actually improved on my skills and have geared my heart toward photography art, albeit abstract or camera "painting".

As an educator, I would love to invest in simple point and shoot cameras to hand out to children and have a go at it. Although I use a DSLR camera, point and shoots work just fine and it is very easy to do something like what I just did on the above example. Ssshhh...that's a TV commercial -- upside down. I call it "Valley Rain". Photography has been my latest hobby and I've been lugging my camera around with me -- even to my classes -- to catch any opportunity regarding education. I would post pictures of my classmates and other children on here -- they are quite beautiful -- but because this is public domain, I would rather not.

So...school's out for summer. At least for the time being. I won't return until June 21st for the summer session. Spring session has been quite a ride for me. Loaded with classes and more visits to my practicum site AND to my son's school, I completely feel optimistic about my future as a teacher. Only time (and experience!) will tell. The most exciting part about Spring Session 2010 was my unit on the butterflies. I co-taught one lesson with Mrs. Dearly and did a unit presentation with Cohort 32. When I did the presentation, I passed out live Painted Lady caterpillars to each one. I kept the extra ones at home and passed those out to my children. Watching the transformation was the most incredible and exciting thing to observe! It was also nice to hear about what's been happening to my cohorts' caterpillars. My favorite part was when they -- my cohort and children -- asked questions and I had the (pre) knowledge to answer them all! Perfect teaching moments for me. And I cherished every second of it.

Another exciting moment for me was when my Practicum Supervisor (PS) came in to observe me. I so needed a professional opinion on how I did as a teacher. Although the lesson took about 40 minutes, the evaluation took about one and half hours. She noted that I can be oblivious to those who need behavior intervention. Blame it on my preschool mode. I've been used to children walking/running around the classroom and having "free choice" to anything in the classroom. So when two boys continuously drank out of the water fountain (there is one in the classroom), I didn't do anything about it. My PS was very concerned about how "...when a teacher speaks, those are very important teaching/learning moments...." and that I must have every child's undivided attention (unless they desparately need to go to the restroom/healthroom). So, yes...duly noted and will practice at next session. My PS really liked how the children got along really well with me. She was also impressed at how many students were actually paying attention and very engrossed in the lesson and activitites I provided. I did tell her that these are very smart/bright and motivated kids.

I will miss this class when I move on to my internship come fall 2010. But that's for my Advisors to decide. Something about my math exam that I had to re-take. I won't go there -- it was quite a traumatic experience and now I'm ready to face the consequences. Nontheless, I am going to finish this program no matter what obstacles -- either academic, personal, or business -- will come my way.

On a brighter note -- public schools are getting ready to end the school year loaded with field trips, field-day, field-whatever. As a little treat to end the year, Mrs. Dearly and her class will be going to The Pacific Science Center in Seattle tomorrow. She invited me to go and I can't wait. It's not about the PSC -- I want to see how a field trip is handled, especially one that's far away and out of their school district. Another observation, but probably my last (yay!). The next time I'm with a class, hence, my internship, I will be doing the "actual" teacher-responsibilities. Anyway, one step at a time.

What the class do not know, except Mrs. Dearly, is that toward the last day of school, I will provide a pizza party for the class :). What a great way to end the year. My cohorts have already ended theirs when the last Elementary Ed. class was in session. I think I'm the only one finishing off the school year with my practice-site. I wanted to. It's my choice. I was in the class ever since the beginning of the Winter session, now I'm gonna end it with them. And pizza that is.

More to come...

Chapter XXII: Practicum Preparation

2010-04-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks was all about preparation. We, teachers, can never get enough it. For pre-certs, like myself, sometimes two weeks of preparation isn't enough, most especially after it was PLANNED. I write really well, my ideas are creative, and I was ready to present it; but when it comes to the actual event -- teaching -- things do not always go as planned.

Bless my teachers' hearts -- theyve been very helpful in educating us what to expect out there. They spend countless hours each week teaching us one thing: preparation. But when it comes down to it, they haven't taught us that no matter how prepared we are, plans can go flat, kaput, zilch.

I know that right now I sound extremely bleak. but in reality, I am not. I feel just the opposite. Because what I planned, what I prepared for, went uphill and the practice was a success. Let me explain:

The unit that my Mrs. Dearly's working on with the children is on butterflies -- painted lady butterflies to be exact. In the unit there are chapters -- aka pre-written lessons -- that we can pull out of this binder and talk about with the children. I decided to do it on how and why a caterpillar makes silk. Simple protocol for this practicum is to put that lesson into Western Washington University's template, called "WWU Instructional Plan". I had to "translate" everything in there into a language that public school educators would understand: the curriculum context and long/short term objectives, the assessment plans, instructional sequence (it's like a script that I made up to which I must follow to the tee), and management expectations/instructions. It's tedious work, but it was one thing I was really good at -- planning on paper.

What I love about the planning process is that it's totally and completely my idea. They're exactly what I want to see work inside MY classroom in MY own way. I have total control. This does not mean that I'm treating students like puppets. If you have kept up with my blog until now, you would understand that in my most recent career, I was a puppet and told what and how to teach things. It was not my comfort zone. The reality is this -- put your kids in school and teachers teach what they want to teach and how to teach it as long as it meets district/state standards. We are held accountable to not leave a child behind.

So goes the subject at hand -- making sure that I do not leave any information out to ensure that every second grader in that classroom is learning something new and interesting. And that it's something that they will carry onto their next grade level or higher.

To my surprise, even though things did not go as planned -- per my lesson plan -- the presentation and lesson was a success! What I did not expect was the time...there is NOT ENOUGH time to teach an entire lesson. I had too many ideas on paper and mis-calculated the time limit on my presentation. It initially was 40 minutes tops. I had no idea that with students' questions, transitions, and behavior management, all of that was important info to ADD in my lesson plan -- something I did not consider!

Chapter XXI: A Teary Reminder

2010-04-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Today is volunteer-day in TJ's first grade classroom. The children's smiles are so welcoming. I think I've grown attached to every single one of them. My son quickly picks this up and is always smiling with pride whenever any of his classmates gives me a hug or greets me with a smile. When I first volunteered in his classroom, I became wary of how I treat each one because I know my son is watching. I wasn't sure how he would react if he saw another child hug me, so I prevented that from happening. But that was in the beginning of the school year. He gleams when he sees any of his classmates playing with me or tend to a crying child.

Nothing breaks my heart more than a child who gets emotionally hurt and my son knows this (he does know when I know a fake, too).

The children look forward to games that I play with them. I guess it's a good break away for them from monotony -- although it is absolutely never monotonous in Mrs. Windell's classroom. She has an aura about her that children love. I hope to emulate that when I head on over to my intern next quarter or work in a school district.

Even though we are playing board games in the back of the classroom, they are LEARNING games that are very educational -- mostly reading and spelling -- and it also teaches social skills. I'm there to guide them and explain the rules to them.

Mrs. Windell chose a group of kids to work with me on a board game, which involves spelling. This is a group of kids that I have never worked with since I started to volunteer in TJ's classroom. One child, in particular, who I will call "Ariel", had been begging Mrs. Windell for th-e longest time to play with me. She finally got her wish, ran up to me, and gave me the biggest hug I ever received from a child in this class.

I didn't have my coffee this morning nor did I have any breakfast, so I felt pretty groggy as if I just got out of bed even though I'm professionally dressed to the nines. We were seated in the back of the classroom and all four children took their seats getting ready to play. One of the children in the group got a bit chatty and explained the rules without waiting for me. Thinking that the kids got it down pat, we started the game.

In the middle of the board there's a wheel with a plastic spinner in the middle of it. The children's job is to take turns spinning the spinner and doing what it says: "Draw 1, Draw 2, Draw 3, Camel, and Steal". (I will not go into details about how each one is played.) Ariel was first to spin and she worked on spelling on her word. It's the next child's turn to spin -- the spinner stopped at "STEAL". She reached out over to Ariel's pile and took a letter. She spelled her word.

In less than a minute, Ariel, who was sitting next to me, was quietly sobbing. I had no idea that the game affected her. AND DUMMY ME....FORGOT TO GO OVER THE GAME WITH THE GROUP! It's a supposed automatic thing with students. As a teacher my responsibility is to 1) explain 2)have children repeat back or do the activity with me and 3) verbally review and ask if there are any questions. I did not do steps 2 and 3. I felt sooooo bad for Ariel, and mentally kicked my butt for not doing it.

After apologizing to the group -- most especially to Ariel -- for not thoroughly explaining the rules I decided to improvise a little bit. Anytime the arrow points to "steal", the person who got stolen from gets to pick TWO more letters from the letter pile. Now everyone is hoping they get stolen from.

I'm glad that this was a minor mistake on my part. It was a good lesson learned. It also taught me to think quick on my feet when I make a mistake. I know that other places that I should not name, I'd get written up for something like that: if it seems that a childcaregiver is under a lot of stress, she gets written up. I remembered being frazzled when I went looking for a thermometer for a child who is running a fever. There wasn't one in my classroom but I found one in my purse. My write up was when I went searching for a thermometer, even though there were other childcareworkers there. These women had positions under me, so I told them to stay put with the children. But it was the STRESS, the part where I didn't ask the other workers to look for it (i.e. lacking in leadership) was what really got to them.

Being under stress got me in trouble.

In this newfound career at least....

...the reality is: ALL TEACHERS GO UNDER STRESS -- EVERYDAY. And as long as they're law abiding citizens and the children are meeting district and state standards, the teacher still gets an "A" for being a TEACHER.

It was okay that a seven year old child was crying. It felt good that she gave me another big hug after I apologized to her. The stress was especially relieved when Mrs. Windell looked at me, smiled, and said, "Teachers make mistakes all the time. We're not perfect."

TJ gave me a thumbsup and (secretly) blew me a kiss as I left the classroom.

test

Chapter XX: Spring 2010 -- The Beginnings

2010-04-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

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.

Chapter XIV: Conference and English Languae Learners (ELL)

2010-03-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

Conference week. A week that parents meet with their child's teachers and talk about their accomplishment, goals, and goals to accomplish. I met with my host teacher, Mrs. Dearly, for this eventful day. She invited me to one of the conferences which involved: a translator, a student, and the student's mother. Mrs. Dearly's student is an ELL (English Language Learner) and is quite a bright young girl.

(I walked in a little late thanks to a very minor incident at home: my boy is still in a cast so he needed potty-help which put me back by a few minutes.)

It was a very short and sweet conference. What I found most intriguing was the translation between the parties. This is ELL at work. The student, "Yasmin", was busily having some snack while her mom and Mrs. Dearly had their conference. I have found out a lot of interesting things with an ELL child. It may be typical and it may be true. In one of my classes, it has been founded that ELL children's reading/writing scores are lower than those who are not an ELL student. BUT....their scores in other areas are high. Yasmin's reading/writing scores were a little low; her math is impressively high.

In my spring classes, I remembered that we talked about "gifted" children. During my time 70's-80's -- gifted meant someone who had a high IQ. Now, the term "gifted" is being used loosely. In fact, a gifted child may now belong to a sub-group. My 10 year old daughter would probably fit in many areas: art, writing, reading, (and just recently) math (but we're watching that closely -- math's her weakness).

Having said that, Yasmin could be considered to be gifted in the math area. She's really good and her math scores are very high. Due to her minimum English speaking skills, her reading/writing scores are unsurprisingly low. It's sad but true that this very fact affect many of our kids in Title I schools, hence, the low reading/writing scores.

Due to high immigration everywhere, our nation has been affected with reading and writing. BUT...and I say this with a big BUT...if you were to score children from MY generation -- that's right, ME -- we were very, very, very low in all academic areas. In my Social Order class, we watched a film on "American Public Education" and an interviewer asked a high school kid (from the mid 80's) who was the first man who landed on the moon. This kid answered with a ??? look on his face that said "Someone landed on the moon?" Another kid was asked if she can name at least one president that was assassinated. She didn't get it right. Funny? More like embarassing. I grew up in that era -- that generation. I can attest to so many things that today many professionals say about our failing schools, most especially during that time. It has been founded that we are actually doing a lot better than ever before, but our nation's leaders say it is not enough.

We are going through another cyclical increase in immigration (the first was pre WWII) which means overcrowded classrooms. This results in discipline problems, low classroom parental involvement (for many reasons: two jobs, dual working parents, language barriers, etc.), and inexperienced teachers, just to name a few. Although this has been a controversial issue, over the last two decades or so, immigrants still come to America to gain a better life and/or a better education for their children. Of course, this eats up our economy and we feel that we, Americans, are being taken advantage of, but teachers of today still have to face these realities, accept them and conform to the changes.

As I sat there observing Mrs. Dearly having a conference with Yasmin's mother (via translator), Yasmin's face lit up whenever Mrs. Dearly spoke of how well she does which is way beyond expectations in comparison to her peers. Yasmin, is mathematically "talented". I can see this child succeeding in perhaps, engineering. Forget her reading/writing level. She'll "get it" in time. Like most parents who immigrated from another country, Yasmin's parents are helping to preserve their culture through language. As I have seen with many, many ELL children from my previous job, their parents DO try to speak our nation's language -- American English. Because of the minimal and limited skills they have in English, their children will certainly pick up grammatical and spelling errors. It is inside our classrooms where we -- the teachers -- provide the necessary lessons to help these children succeed in areas such as reading and writing.

I believe -- with time -- Yasmin will soon catch up to her American peers. After I left Mrs. Dearly's classroom, I felt a sense of optimism because Yasmin is very fortunate to have so many people help her succeed academically. She has the resources and most of all, she has a lot of caring people who will give her the chance to become successful on American soil.

Chapter XVIII: End of Spring Qtr. 2010

2010-03-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

WHEW!!! I am at the last week of this quarter. It's been quite a ride, and a positive ride that is. Last week, I officially taught a small group of second graders at Roosevelt Elementary. My host teacher has been such a splendid model for me that when I took over for only 20minutes, the children were engrossed in what we were talking about. Yes, that's me in the picture and the back of their heads. I've marked this day my first official day of formal instruction. We were reading about fossils and a little bit about parts of a book (content, index, etc.). My initial intention was to spell out the word FOSSIL, in a vertical fashion, on that white board you see on my left. The students were to come up with different words that relate to the book starting with each of those letters.

The lesson DID NOT turn out as planned. The children did like the pictures and some of the words they've never heard of before (paleontologist, museum, etc.), but they were more interested in the parts of the book. One of the children actually stood up, took one of the books from behind the shelf (behind me) and started to dissect the parts of the book for me. I was really impressed! This is the first time the group has read the book, so I thought that we were going to talk about the book a little more. To go further into the parts of the book lesson, they started looking at the page numbers in the Contents-area and in the Index as well. They had fun doing that as an activity. We were so engrossed in what we were doing, that I lost track of time -- my host teacher kept glancing at the clock, so I knew that it was time. I went 10 minutes over! Wow.

It was quite a pivotal moment for me. Last chapter, which briefly talked about my practice lesson in front of my adult classmates, was totally and completely different. Nothing like the real thing that beats anything like that. Because it was a mock lesson, it was difficult to emulate a real classroom. When I taught the second graders, they were really engaged and full of questions (and answers). In our class-mock-presentations, it wasn't engaging at all. I felt like I was trying to make a speech rather than teach. But not to say that it wasn't worth it! It was well-worth it to practice. I think the next time I practice, I will assume that the real presenation-time (in front of children) will be doubled. It was one thing I was very worried about when I presented in front of the second graders.

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Last week was my last week of IT (technology) and Social Order classes. I think I'm gonna have a hard time detaching myself from my Social Order class. In reading my past postings here, it seems that that has been my favorite class. There is one comment that one of my classmates made -- to which I agreed to -- that it doesn't seem like we needed it. I think for some, they may not, but for others they do. It has just made us more aware of the realities of what goes on inside a classroom and in our public school system -- social-wise. It has come to my attention that there are so many things in our nation that needs to be fixed.

The other night after dinner with my family, we stopped by Borders. I was browsing through the magazines when something huge caught my eye. It was by Time's magazine and on it was a big fat red letter "F". Guess anyone smart would know what that is. That's right, our public education -- more like an F for teachers. It was an embarassment. I wanted to hide under Border's stairwell. An F for teachers?! Can't say that's not true. Because, it is.

It has come to my attention, a former high school classmate of mine is experiencing this type of letter-grade for her son's teacher. The teacher so happens to be one of those ignorant so-called professionals that her sole intention is to teach only those who are "smart" and leave the others behind deliberately to other "specialists". Yes, I know, I know. There are specialists out there, but they can have only a certain amount of kids under their care; the schools are limited with these specialists. So what happened? Her son took an ADHD child under his wing. The child with learning disabilities all of a sudden thrived inside his own classroom without being pulled out.

One more thing about the school this child is in -- teachers there do not stay past 2:45pm! Isn't that what our taxpayer monies go to? I know that we don't earn as much as doctors or lawyers, but the commitment to be in this profession is huge. My professors reminded us time and time again -- "You didn't become a teacher to be out when the children are out. You're becoming one to BE a teacher, not an elementary student." That little statement encompasses everything that's included in this "teacher-package". I found it to be true at Roosevelt -- my host teacher along with the entire school, do not leave the school grounds until an hour after the students leave; they're also there at least an hour before school starts. Added up, it's like a regular 40 hour week. So, imagine my shock when my friend told me that her child's teacher and the teachers in that school are in when the bell rings and out by the time the students are out.

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I'm so glad to be in this program. I've never been as exposed to our public education as ever before. It's no wonder Time's magazine rated our teachers with an "F". It's no wonder my cohort and I are going through an intensive program. It's no wonder why Western Washington's education program is very picky about their future teachers. We need to turn this nation into an "A". We are the ones to do it.

Chapter XVII: Almost there

2010-03-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

Things have settled around here at home, at least for the time being. My son is pretty much back to normal, but with a cast on his arm. He is adjusting quite nicely and he likes that he's not as immobile as he was before. No pain. Just itching inside the cast. That's a good sign. It means that his arm is healing.

In the past couple weeks, my classes and practicum are becoming more and more hands on and surreal to being a teacher. For my Essentials of Teaching class, we delved more into lesson planning and prepared for our 10 minutes presentations. For my Teaching and the Social Order class, I'm becoming more and more aware of classroom cultural diversity (and of my skin color; I'll explain later). Lastly, for my IT class (Instructional Technical skill), we are learning to make charts and forms that you normally would find inside classrooms (such as attendance sheets, data base, etc.).

My practicum is becoming very routine and I'm fully prepared to present formal lessons in front of second graders. Thanks to tonight's presentation in my (adult) EOT class, I feel ready to stand in front of a classroom full of real second graders.

Prior to my pres., I practiced it on my three children. It helped -- a little bit. When I first practiced on them, they laughed and acted like very naughty little children. Then after making a few observations on classroom behavioral management at my practicum site, I tried those techniques on my own kids while practicing my presentation on them. It worked. As long as I kept putting my foot down on their smart-aleck remarks, they kept quiet, listened, and participated. It was all in good fun; so, in a way, it was seriously-fun.

The subject I taught was on "brainstorming". When it was time to present to my EOT class, I was semi-prepared. I thought I brought my dry-erase marker with me, so I ended up using the school's. The darn thing barely worked, so I made do with what I got. Then at the end of my presentation, I realized I forgot to do a couple of things with the class. I was complimented by many of my classmates, but I felt that it wasn't good enough and I know that I could've done better.

My Social Order class in the last couple weeks was very interesting. It deals with multi cultural controversial issues facing American schools today. It is hard to fathom the idea that it still exist...and it still does. I'm not talking about African Americans. The controversy exist among children of immigrants, American-minorities, gender-differences, and those with sexual "preferences". I have looked at myself and others in a whole new different way than ever before. I always grew up never thinking, or being conscious, about my ethnicity. Things that were brought up in class are now beginning to surface that I've never noticed before. I told my professor that I never have experienced any kind of prejudice. Now that I think about it, I did, but it was done in a subtle way that no one has ever noticed it in class.

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I had this one math teacher in high school. She was of a different Asiatic group, which I will not mention to prevent stereotypes. What I DID NOT notice was that I was the only Filipino in my math class...everyone else was this other Asian-group. I failed that class. It was the only math class I failed in high school. I've always wondered why she looked at me like she was going to eat me alive. I seriously thought that it was her fluctuating hormones. I tried everything to impress her: studied hard, raised my hand in class to volunteer answers (she has never called me; she'll call me when I didn't know the answer), and even hung out with those who she favored in class.

This is the grand-salami that made me now realize that she was prejudice: there was this one kid -- class clown -- in my class who said something in a Filipino accent (i.e. he was making fun of Filipino accents), when he did that, my teacher laughed. Next thing I knew, the entire class started making jokes about Filipinos and my teacher stopped her lesson mid-way to join them. Dummy me thought it was funny, too, as it was the norm in Hawaii to joke around about other Asian ethnic groups. What really bothers me, though, in this present time, is that she's someone who preferred a quiet class that stayed on task. This was the first time she stopped in the middle of the lesson to listen to and be involved in jokes. When this same boy joked around about other things, she immediately stopped him. She did not stop him when he made fun of Filipinos.

------------------------------------------

Looking back, I now know why I got that bad grade and why she gave me dirty looks (she always smiled at her "other " Asian-counterparts). She graded me according to the color of my skin. Although I had a lot of answers right -- and HOW can you get math problems wrong if you have a 50-50 chance -- my papers would always come back with comments such as "can't understand your handwriting", "write clearly", (for Algebra theories) "this doesn't make sense", "your 1's look like 7's" (wtf? I wrote my 7s like a backwards "F" to indicate CLEARLY that it was a seven), etc. The right answers rarely counted. She merely wrote her comments in bright red ink and whenever she returned my paper to me, she would give me this look. Seriously, a look like she was -- oh, I don't know -- it seemed like she was threatened by me.

So what happened? I got sent home a note to my parents about my bad grades. Because I saw how unfair her grading was, I was really pissed off, and ended up forging my father's name on the note. Yes, I got caught -- she called my father to see if he received it. She never told him WHY I got that (final) grade, "D". She was just checking to see if I gave him that note. My father had the reputation of coming down hard on his kids when it pertains to education; my teacher knew this and she used it against me. I know it is some serious accusation, but when a teacher stops midway in her lesson to make fun of Filipinos, then it was a strong indicator that she was (and probably still is) a bigot. Again, she's not white. She is Asian.

By the way, I was the only full-blooded Filipino in that high-math class level. I guess she never thought, in her years of teaching, that someone like me would end up "there".

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That was my story share-time here on this blog. In my classes we always share stories and we learn from them. Our ideas on what is really out there, what we must face is a reality. It would help our society -- a multi culturual society to start seeing that although we are different, we are all Americans.

Teachers of Cohort 32...we are almost ready.

Chapter XVI: Elephant Thigh

2010-02-25T21:35:00.000-08:00

It is rare that I will talk about my children on here not pertaining to education; but this one is a special issue. First, I want to thank my teachers and my classmates for their understanding and their support. I know with papers and presentations due, there will be a slight delay in my academic studies for now. I will catch up, and I promise you (my group), I will definitely keep contributing through emails/phone calls. :)

My son got into a serious arm injury on the 13th, day before Valentine's Day. He fell off a chair, at his cousins, not more than 1.5 feet high, and fractured his right (dominant) arm. It has been a long week and the pain is much worse at night when he's sleeping next to me. I feel like I've been walking through a nightmare with him going from one doctor after another.

............................................................

His dad took him to the emergency and I met them there. We all know how that is -- it takes FOREVER to see someone. X-ray was taken; dad saw it, I didn't. TJ was on my lap. So all I had was a verbal explanation. To me, it didn't sound too bad. But when they cut off his long sleeve shirt and I looked at his arm it was almost as thick as an elephant's thigh! His dad, Ray, made sure that I didn't react in front him (I shoulda known better as I used to work with preschoolers). They put a splint on TJ and doubled it, called (let me see if I can get this right) "sugar tone" to lessen mobilization while he waits to see an orthopedic.

The dr. at the ER recommended that we take TJ to the orthopedic as soon as we can get him in, which is in our neighborhood at one of the clinics that we usually go to whenever any of us have a fracture (we all had fractures at one time or another). Good, I thought, maybe they can actually do something about it. The bad thing was we had to wait until Tuesday. I mean, okay, I understand that the swelling needed to go down, but to wait that long? TJ was prescribed oxycodone for the pain. It's small, about 5 mg, but I hate giving drugs to children that young.

So, the next couple nights seemed like forever. Poor TJ whimpered with pain everytime he moved his arm. It hurt me more than it hurt him, so I gave him the (stupid) drug. He was fine after that -- just more talkative than usual. I also gave him acetominophen when the pain is less severe. At night when he's asleep, I'm being mother bear. Everytime he moved, I made sure he doesn't move in a way that he might hurt himself. This is an active 7 year old, even when he's asleep, which means that I'm up pretty much most of the night preventing himself from more harm.

On the 16th, we finally get to see an orthopedic, but a PA, not a doctor. They looked at the xray that was taken at the emergency and suggested he goes to see a pediatric ortho at Children's Hospital. They called and wrote down that he's to be seen by the pediatric orthopedic surgeon on the 17th. Just great. I thought he was going to have surgery TODAY, but on the other hand, a pediatric surgeon is better. The PA suggested that TJ not eat or drink after midnight as he is more than likely going to receive surgery right there.

Another night of tossing and turning and whimpering because of the pain; another night of oxycodone.

We get to Children's on the 17th. Right when we checked in at the reception, they noticed that there was a discrepancy -- TJ's appointment was YESTERDAY! He was marked as a "no show". His dad and I were absolutely, undoubtedly LIVID! The ortho PA wrote down the wrong date! I was about to be in tears at this point. My son suffered for four days! I'm pretty sure readers at this point are saying to themselves, "Now, why can't he take it like a little man?" Put ANY 7 year old kid -- whether it's a boy or a girl -- and given the extent* of his injury, it would hurt like a huge boulder's been smashing his over and over again. (I had not idea how bad his injury was until later...read on...)

Because of our reaction -- and it was very loud and clear (we made the other orthopedics -- NOT Children's -- look very, very bad) -- the receptionist was able to squeeze TJ in later on in the afternoon to see the pediatric ortho surgeon. When asked if he can have lunch, the receptionist thought that because the previous ortho suggested he doesn't eat, TJ was allowed to eat a handful amount of food....just in case he needs to go into surgery. We hung around Children's for four hours.

We FINALLY got to see Dr. Song. And I finally saw the x-ray. My heart just about dropped. There was a 7mm size bone that chipped off his humerus bone (right elbow). I know the feeling because I fractured my elbow a couple years back while roller skating; although it was only a hairline fracture, it was gawd-awful painful! I could only imagine what TJ was going through. No wonder he was absolutely frightened and adamant about even touching his elbow. The darn thing hurt! And because of the extent of his injury, he was in pain!! My poor baby was in pain for four days.

The other orthopedc put a splint on him, but it was obviously tight -- his fingers were swelling and had a deep red color to it. Even after returning to the clinic to get it re-done, his fingers were still swollen. He elevated his arm up for four days before seeing Dr. Song, but it did not help to no avail. His pain was added on due to the splint's constriction. He had a splint on and it was too tight for four days. :(

Anyway...back to Dr. Song. He wasn't too happy that this went on for a long time. He seemed very sympathetic and was super gentle with TJ -- something that the OTHER ortho and xray technicians at the emergency didn't consider. I couldn't stop staring at the x-ray. Underneath the splint and bandage is my little boy's arm that's probably thicker than an elephant's thigh by now. His fingers were very swollen.

There was even more bad news that Dr. Song gave us -- he couldn't see TJ that day, the 17th. Because we were at Children's Hospital, they prioritize their patients. There's a little girl that he has to do spinal surgery on. Completely understandable; at this point, I felt very fortunate for TJ's injury.

I saw the little girl, and boy, was she a trooper. I'm very sensitive to children and practically get teary-eyed when something moves me whether it's heartbreaking or if it makes me feel angry. She's paraplegic and bi-lingual. Her parents can't speak a word of English, but this little girl can. She was in the next room and I heard a bit of their conversation. At this age -- she seemed to be about 11 years old --it's really hard to fathom the idea that she has to translate her own prognosis to her parents. I can only imagine what the parents are going through. This little girl, though, talks like she's talking with a smile. As if to say and comfort her parents, "It's okay, I'll be alright."

He really wants to take TJ in asap -- and sounded rather sincere about it --, but he will more than likely be in surgery for nine hours on the little girl.

Let's see.....he broke his arm on the 13th, saw an ortho on the 16th, visited Children's on the 17th, and will be seen on the 18th. Five days of painful suffering.

We got a call the next morning (the 18th) and it was actually good-bad news. There's a possibility that TJ can be seen earlier, but there's also a possibility that he may be the last to be seen or not at all until the next day. So, we starved him yet again. We were able to take anything at this point. He needs to have surgery. Last night was very painful for him.

So we went in, and his dad and I practically did cartwheels....the receptionist said that he'll be taken in at 3:30pm.

The surgery went well, and was put in a half-cast to allow for swelling for a couple days. It was painful, but to us, it was good pain. Dr. Song moved the bone back in place and had pins put into his chipped bone to prevent further damage. Because of his age, bones will naturally and quickly weld together as it heals.

I will stop writing about this chapter, because it is now, realistically March 1 and I have tons of catching up to do with homework and my practicum.

TJ is doing really well and is now in a full cast. The cast will be removed on the 17th and his bones will have healed by then. :)

Chapter XV: Rush

2010-02-14T23:12:00.001-08:00

It's been a hard week. Let's see if I can sum up each day without writing a novel in one chapter:

February 8, 2010, Monday
Monday: Volunteer @ Oaks Elementary (my son's school)

I tutored two children who enjoy playing reading learning games with me. That was fun and I can't be more proud of these kids. They're coming along.

Did the final touches for two papers due tonight. Although my papers are relatively easy to do, organizing my ideas and putting them into thoughts that I want to convey to my readers is another story. I got that done...finally!

Prepared for my practicum supervisor's visit by putting together a notebook. It's only a few pages, but I think I have it down pat.

Monday night: Essentials of Teaching Class
My EOT class seems to be getting progressively difficult. I love this class because of the group discussions we get into. It is definitely more in-depth and more about the technicalities of teaching, hence the difficulty. I do find it most enjoyable and satisfying learning more and more about what goes on inside a (insert any word: fabulous, great, winning)teacher's head. This is what we're being trained for. It has a lot to do with making sure our children do not fall behind.

Tuesday, February 9 2010: Practicum @ Roosevelt and Practicum Supervisor Visit
Went in to Roosevelt feeling nervous about my meeting with my program supervisor. Mrs. Dearly's anxious about this week herself. On top of meeting with me and my prac. sup., the thought of Winter Break starting this Friday can be quite overwhelming. I admire how she's able to stay on top of things considering a hectic week. The vibe inside the classroom is quite eventful. The activity level seems to be a bit higher than previous visits. No, the children were not out of control. It's just that everything seems to be rushed because we need to get things done. Even for myself.

My prac. sup.'s visit was a positive one. Boy, she couldn't have come at a better time -- I'm being sarcastic here. Due to the energy level in the classroom (and in the building, too!), imagine my stress when the children lined up during transition-time AND my prac. sup. was standing in the hallway next to me. Mrs. Dearly was still inside the classroom while I was up at the front of the line. The students typically wait for her until she comes to the front. Somehow, one of the kids thought that it would be funny that he start the line by moving himself by a few inches. Next thing I knew, the line started to move WITHOUT their teacher. The boy up front saw my expression and gave me this big smile. Yeah, I wasn't too happy. I wasn't going to yell at him -- it's not in my nature to yell. I simply walked up to him, looked at him quite sternly, and told him in a low voice to stop and wait for Mrs. Dearly in a very serious tone.

Mrs. Dearly was right: nip it right in the bud or things will start to fall apart. Even though my prac. sup. is not familiar with the routine -- whether the lined-up children were allowed to move with or without their teacher -- I knew that she knew I did the right thing when she squeezed and patted my shoulder and gave me an encouraging smile. It felt good to be positively acknowledged. My meeting with my sup. went really well. She did remind me a few times that she will be up for a visit when I do an actual lesson in front Mrs. Dearly's class.

February 10, 2010 IT Class
Ew. I love this class but it's very -- what should I say -- detail-oriented. One little mistake on an assignment and you have to re-do the entire thing. There were two re-dos that I had to fix up, which puts me behind the rest of the class. We are allowed to resubmit our assignments during class. Because this is done electronically, things can go wrong. And LUCKY ME, I so happen to be one of those where things got messed up -- totally not my fault. I was pulling my hair off trying to figure out why my submissions kept saying "resubmit" after doing do-overs. It was finally solved and thank goodness, it's not my fault. My teacher gave me the okay to go ahead and continue with what I've got.

February 11, 2010 Volunteer at Oaks; Practicum at Roosevelt

My practicum supervisor wanted me to observe real closely the differences between being a parent volunteer in one school and a practicum teacher at another. Today was a perfect day. Most schools are celeberating Valentine's Day and teachers are preparing for mid-winter break. Today's the last day of school before the kids are out on a short vacation. They'll be back on the 17th.

My first stop was at Oakes. I helped the children pass out their cards and treats. They had ice cream. The children were to bring their own toppings and share it with their classmates. These are first-graders mind you, so all sorts of fun stuff were brought into the class: gummy worms, different kinds of cookies, m&ms, and much more. I couldn't stop laughing to myself because the kids will say to me, "Check out my ice cream sundae!" Yeah, more like "topping" sundae -- the ice cream was completely buried underneath all that topping (yay for mom; thanks, Mrs. Windell).

Like I said about Tuesday (2/9), the energy level was pretty high at Roosevelt. It was much higher today. Probably because the children are re-arranging their desks and cleaning them out. The classroom was a total disaster! I really have to admire Mrs. Dearly for not making a point to help them out. The mess is their responsibility. She has made the decision that the children, when they're done cleaning up, can have their Valentine treats. It was a superb deal because the children rushed to get things done. When they were -- and the room was (almost) completely spotless -- they happily had their treats while *I* read them a book (my supposed FIRST real lesson to the class!). It was a simple Valentine's Day book. It was soooo nice to have 21 children sit in front of me while I read. It was only one time that I had to call out on a kid who wasn't paying attention; and it was only once that I gave him a reminder. It felt great! For 20 minutes I read and asked the class questions. I do officially mark this day, MY FIRST LESSON TO AN ACTUAL CLASS. :D :D :D

Friday/Saturday February 12-13

We have tons of paper due in the upcoming weeks for my classes. We don't have class on 2/17 which gives us more time to work on papers, but for some reason I was stuck on one of them. I've been pounding my head against the wall trying to figure it out. With the help of my classmate -- this is a group project -- I'm starting to get it. Alas, however, I finally figured it out and I think it turned out alright. For this same class, my preliminary lesson plan is due (next week), a video response for my Social Order class, and a power point presentation for my IT class. I've never had this much homework since being at WWU. But...as someone woould've put it, "you've got what you paid for".

I have found out that many good teachers come from this school. Like Harvard is for lawyers, Western Washington University is th-e one for teachers. (Okay....I'm biased) I also have found out that WWU is more academically inclined than sports and frats (I read their opinion/review forum). It is a great feeling to know that my money isn't being wasted on anything not pertaining to my education. WWU have their own sub-college for teachers called "Woodring College" which I want to visit one day. It is a beautiful campus. I think it'll be great if my cohort could get together for a field trip to the college as a way to say "thanks" for everything they've done for us, most particularly, the teachers who must travel between Bellingham and Everett to teach us.

It IS a good idea.... ;)

Chapter XIV: Practicum and Volunteer work + EOT

2010-02-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

On Monday, after my EOT class, I fell very ill. I had to skip practicum on Tuesday to rest, and made it up on Thursday. Wednesday, I went to my son's school to volunteer and tutor his classmates. Thursday, after practicum, I rushed with an assignment that was due. Friday was my mental-health day to which I rested and took a breather. Right now, I decided to keep up with my blog and continue with projects, homework, and homelife -- not necessarily in that order -- after I'm done here.

I am eager to share my week because it has been quite an interesting one. I do not mean that in a negative way. This is quite the opposite, in fact. Monday's class -- although I was already feeling the effects of my illness coming on -- I was excited to learn how to present a lesson in a step-by-step process to keep students interested in the subject they're learning. It doesn't have to be done in that specific way all the time, but observing what we saw on the video, I believe it works. Mrs. Dearly uses that technique the majority of the time! Mrs. Windell, uses it, too, but I sometimes wonder if she realizes that she is using it. I barely notice the "steps" because they're very subtle. This type of "model" is very effective when used appropriately.

The difference is that they each have their own unique way of presenting material -- old and new. For example, there is this one teacher in the video who uses body-motions to vote: right elbow on left knee, thumbsup, pat your head/belly, etc. It was done in a humorous way and the children loved it. Another teacher presented her material with an overhead projector and kept the class moving with their curiousities and answers by the tone of her voice and body language. She was very enthusiastic about the subject she was teaching. But, man, she talked alot! Imagine a teacher who talked alot but did not involve some kind of class interaction -- BORING!

Mrs. Dearly does what those teachers in the video do, too. She explains really well what the students need to learn, but done in an enthusiastic way. I have modeled after her when she assigned me to a couple of her small groups -- as well as in Mrs. Windell's class -- and lo and behold....it worked!! No scripts, no preparation. These "steps" felt so natural and convenient. On top of that, the children were eager to learn more!

I spend, on an average, about 20 minutes with individual or small groups of children, at a time. 20 minutes does not feel like enough time to teach them the entire material. Now I know exactly how Mrs. Dearly feels like. She's always on the move. Every 20 minutes, her lessons are changing. I can definitely feel the frustration -- as a teacher -- that Mrs. Dearly is feeling when she feels like she hasn't "caught up". I walk out of Mrs. Dearly's and Mrs. Windell's classes feeling like I haven't taught those kids enough. I feel like they need to learn more.

When I saw that video in my EOT class, those children were eager to learn because of the process that the teachers were using. Although they did not go through an entire class in the video, I'm pretty sure that those teachers walked out of their classrooms feeling like they need to teach more to those kids. That explains their motivation to teach. That explains why these teachers are GREAT teachers. Just like Mrs. Windell and Mrs. Dearly.

Chapter XIII: Philosophy, Scripts, and Parental Influence

2010-01-29T17:06:00.000-08:00

I am just about doing cartwheels -- in my head that is. After doing a class activity on educational philosophy, I was thrilled to learn that we can make up our own!! This is a whole different world for me. All my teaching-life as a preschool teacher I worked for most every theorist in early childhood: Montessori, Waldorf, Regio Emilia (R/E). Then there was those franchise childcare centers where there is no direction at all and are only in it for the money and it was never about the children and their employees.

As en elementary school teacher you have your own ideas set by your own standards on WHAT and HOW a teacher think education should be. I have gazillion ideas, but I don't know where to begin or how to combine them. Combining the above experiences might help inside a public school classroom.

I mentioned how I used a little bit of my Montessori and R/E experiences with a couple of children in Oaks and Roosevelt Elementary. The methods worked. These two philosophies are in total opposite ends of the spectrum: one is 80% teacher-directed, the other is completely student-directed. They both are child-centered, but as an experienced Montessorian, curriculum is already set up throughout the classroom by teachers -- hence, my assumption on the high teacher-directed percentage. In layman's terms, teachers lead the children. The other philosophy, R/E, the children lead the teachers on what goes inside the curriculum.

No matter what those philosophies are, I was restricted to abide by the way they do things. I felt constricted and struggled ALOT with their "language". At the previous childcare center where I worked, the language was very difficult; and I still struggled with it until the very end. For example, here is an example of the type of language that is used on a typical 27 month old (A) who is attacking his peer (B):

Teacher to B: "B, Say 'stop!'" (Teacher sticks her palm outward to signal the sign "stop" toward child A)
Teacher to A: "That is hurting B." (exagerrated facial expression -- to show empathy)
Teacher "pets" B and says: "Are you okay?"
She turns to A while petting B and says: "Be gentle."

This is the very language I used everyday inside a toddler classroom. Although it almost felt scripted and very un-natural, this is a very typical problem-solving approach inside the center. This is part of their philosophy. As the child gets older inside the childcare center, the language becomes a little more sophisticated. If a teacher "grows" or graduates with the children to the next higher-level classroom (this is the R/E philosophy), then it becomes difficult -- if not trained -- to advance to the next "language-level", if you will. Because I was still using language from the previous year, and I was put in the classroom where the children are a bit older, I had a difficult meeting their developing language and cognitive skills.

I did say in the beginning of my employment, and told my co-workers, that my expertise was with the 3-6 year olds, not toddler. However, toward the end of the younger-toddler year (end of Spring 2009), I felt super confident working with the 12-27 month olds. The center, where I worked at, rotated teachers whenever they feel the need to do it every year. I "grew" with these children into the next classroom in the Fall, 2009. I was excited to be with the same group of children (now "older" toddlers), but disheartened at the same time because of the vast experience I gained in the younger toddler group. Thus, begins a NEW CYCLE of learning something that felt completely new and foreign to me.

On top of that, I was team-teaching with someone who was highly experienced in this age group. What I did not understand was why didn't they make her the lead teacher in this classroom and leave me in the other one? They were well aware that I was completely inexperienced in the new age-group of children; and they KNEW that I was very experienced in the younger age group. Ah, well...it eventually led to my forced resignation. Like I said in one of my chapters, it must be budget problems. Or is it, now? C'est la vie.

Anyway, if you want to see more problem-solving "language", look up Eleanor Reynolds Approach. It is interesting and it does work, but be forewarned, it does take tons of time learning this kind of "language" and it can be uncomfortable at the start. And as much as it does take time to learn this language, it takes just as much time for the child to get used to this approach as well. If a teacher likes scripts, this would be the way to go.

Soooo................

Imagine my excitement in my Social Order class when I learned that WE CAN MAKE UP OUR OWN PHILOSOPHY!!!!! Can you tell that I'm excited? It truly felt like I have broken free of the chains. I can be in my own world of teaching rather than follow in the shadow of some theorist who thinks highly of him/herself and set in their own socialistic ways. I'm an idealist. I can no longer fit in a system where things feel un-natural in the way I teach a child. My practicum will be the heart and soul to help me reach within myself a teacher that's ready to bloom.

I truly believe that each child has their own personality, their own characteristic, their own up bringing. How and what I, as a teacher, bring into the classroom may make a difference in their lives AS THEY DEVELOP INTO AN INDIVIDUAL PERSON. This is what I truly believe in in my heart for a very long time. Children are not built to be robots. They learn in their own different ways. They speak and understand language in their own unique individualistic way. It is up to me to meet their academic, social, and physical needs inside a classroom where there is respect for each other as human beings. I also highly believe and respect families in the way they raise their children (as long as it's not against the law!). But I also highly believe that parents/guardians are their children's first and foremost TEACHERS. Not only teachers in an academic sense, but most importantly, ROLE MODELS. Do you know that saying, "Children learn what they see?" It's true. I have three of them. As you have read in previous chapters, they are all academic and socially successful.

Then there's this one child I know who followed in the destructive path of her parent. This is my children's half-sister (father's side) who we haven't been in contact with for well over a year. I heard very sad news most recently, which nearly made me cry: she ended up in juvenile detention (15 years old) for assault and battery on her own mother who has MS (multiple sclerosis).

She felt confused because her mother allowed her to be her "best friend" growing up. For example, her mother taught her the different types of glasses used for different alcoholic beverages: martini glasses are for martinis, shot glasses are for vodka, etc. -- at the young tender age of 7 or 8. She followed her mother's promiscuous life which led this 15 year old to date many, many boys, including an 18 year old man. She has body piercings all over because her mother does it. Her mother's "I'm your best friend" approach confused a young girl when her mother finally told her that she's a parent and she's just a child. 15 years too late.

Although he's been trying for years to fight for custody for her, her father is trying to un-do the damage to this poor child by being intensely much more involved in her life no matter how much her mother is fighting back. I can only do so much as stand on the side lines and watch. :(

I may sound like I'm lecturing parents to do the right thing for their children, but this proves that parents/guardians are important in their children's lives. Not teachers, not the community, not some higher being....parents. Children are like precious jewels that easily break. Until they become adults and become exposed to the real world, they are continuously learning from everyone who influence them, most particularly, their parents.

I'm going to take a deep breath now and contemplate more on my philosophy on teaching. There's so much to think about, so much to learn for our children of the future.

Chapter XII: Practicum/Writer's Workshop and Boys

2010-01-26T22:12:00.000-08:00

I had an early start today. I was invited to attend Mrs. Dearly's staff meeting in regards to Writing. Basically, they voiced out concerns and questions regarding the State's new standards in Writing. The WASL, which "died" last year, is now being replaced by another test called the Measurement of Student Progress for grades 3-8. Rather than assessing the student's knowledge and academic skill, this test assess the student's PROGRESS in reading, writing, math, and science. It seems -- to me -- that every teacher is going to make re-adjustments to their curricula; this is what the meeting was about.

I felt honored to be part of Mrs. Dearly's meeting. I got to see the inside scoop of how each teacher think at different levels of teaching. K-5 Roosevelt Elementary school teachers were accounted for at this meeting, including Mrs. Fin the school principal. The ideas and expressions presented in this particular meeting were quite interesting. They used terms that I've never heard of (as of yet) like "web" (no...not www. or a spider's web), "Writing Maps", "Prewrites", and other writing-lingo.

What I found interesting about this meeting was when Mrs. Dearly talked about a book that she read by Ralph Fletcher, called "Boy Writers". There has been studies done in the past 20 years that boys' writing skills are declining due to a number of reasons. There are a few interesting conclusions that the book made about this research; but there was one that Mrs. Dearly touched base on: because of the high percentage of women-teachers in classrooms, curricula is female-based.

It seems that teachers aren't conscious enough to consider both genders when teaching. For example, when I was in high school, I read a lot of Robert Frost poems, did a haiku, and studied Shakespeare (sounds familiar? lol...my daughter loves Shakespeare, see one of my previous chapters). If I can remember correctly, most of the boys in my class groaned or shook their legs with impatience everytime we studied those readings. Boys, naturally, aren't interested in that crap!

When I volunteered at my son's school yesterday, the first thing I saw written on the board was (a writing exercise sample): "My soft cat likes to jump over a rainbow." Too girly? That was written by Mrs. Windell -- female teacher. The class were to write their own sentences about an imaginary pet, describe him/her, and what it likes to do. I would have to attest to the fact that the boys did struggle to find something to write about. If I had known what I learned today at Mrs. Dearly's meeting, I would have had devised a different direction with the boys in Mrs. Windell's class, but using the same lesson (I would never, ever, over step my boundaries over another teacher's lesson!)

There was one boy (Windell's class) who drew cars and trees and a "motion" that went with the car. I asked what his imaginary pet was (that was the topic). He told me that he's invisible and that he likes to run with the car. BUT he used the word "soft". He couldn't think of another descriptive word. It's tough to think of the "right" word when teacher used the word "soft" in her sample and didn't help any when the girls in his group were saying words such as "cuddly", "cottony", or "tickly".

Mrs. Dearly emphasized how we -- as teachers should be more aware about what we're teaching and be more considerate when we model for both genders.

Chapter XI: Practicum -- Behavioral Management

2010-01-19T14:23:00.001-08:00

I am going to get down to serious business here. By far the tone on my previous blogs were a lot more of my thoughts and opinions as I went through my first days as a practicum student. A new light has shed on me after reading a chapter for my Social Order class. It has repeated over and over again to keep a portfolio and to include my experiences through journals. I am already doing that formally for my Essential of Teaching class on a weekly basis. Since I started doing some of it through my recent blogs, I will more of it here starting now, but with a much more informal tone. So....here goes....

Week 3:

Mrs. Dearly and I met inside her classroom and prepared for the morning. As usual, we went outside to meet the children to bring in. Because my house was warm when I left this morning, I didn't bother to bring my jacket. I totally regret that now. I have to remember that the Pacific Northwest is generally cold when the sun is NOT out -- it doesn't even matter what season it is.

I felt that the routine by now was very smooth and I automatically knew what came next. One thing I really like is that the children are so independent that they got down to routine right away. What I observed that when the children are on a transition from outside of the classroom to being back inside, Mrs. Dearly sets out worksheets/assignments on their desks before they came back. By the time they came back into the classroom, they're ready to write/learn. This is wonderful classroom management on her part.

She has told me that when these kids start wandering, it's because they have nothing else to do. She keeps them on their toes. She also goes from one activity to another almost every 15 minutes. This is to prevent boredom and constant repetition, which also causes boredom. Boredom = Chaos.

Because I knew what was coming next, the transitions for myself were very smooth. I hardly asked her any direction as to what is next on her schedule. As soon as the children are sitting at their desks, they're ready to learn.

During Ability Group time, Mrs. Dearly had a total of five children in her class. Ability Group is when the second and 2nd/3rd* graders go to their respective classes to have intense reading with other 2nd and 2nd/3rd grade teachers. (* This is one class with BOTH 2nd and 3rd graders in it). The children in all these classes are divided according to their levels in reading. Mrs. Dearly has the lowest reading group. Although she only has five, there is one boy in the group, "Michael", who is having a difficult time learning. Now remember, Mrs. Dearly goes from one thing to another in a spontaneous motion. If she stops, then learning is disrupted.

Michael and another boy, "Keoni", were assigned to finish a task that they started the other day. Michael stepped out of the class momentarily. Mrs. Dearly explained to Keoni exactly how he should finish his job and told him to give the same instructions to Michael. After he came back, Mrs. Dearly went on to teach the other half of the group.

As Keoni attempted to explain to Michael exactly what needed to be done, he reached out for the activity in front of him and started fiddling around with it. This made Keoni frustrated and really very hard to explain to Michael exactly what they're supposed to be doing. Michael refused to listen and started doing things his own way. I decided to step in to let Michael know that Keoni is trying very hard to explain the task, but he kept going off tangent and started calling Keoni names.

Mrs. Dearly heard the commotion and decided to allow Keoni back in with the group while Michael dealt with the task himself. After Michael finished, he told me that he was right and began calling Keoni names again. Before Mrs. Dearly stopped the lesson, Michael looked frustrated and realized that he did not do the task right! That really blew his top off, and ended up blaming Keoni.

Mrs. Dearly looked exasperated by now and warned Michael about how his behavior is not appropriate and should not be taking it out on Keoni who tried to give him specific instructions. Mrs. Dearly told Michael to forget the task and invited him to the group on the condition that he does not disrupt the lesson or he'll be asked to leave the group. Instead of sitting down, like the rest of his classmates, he walks to the front of the white (magnetic) board and started touching the magnetic letters without her permission. Then, again, without any instigation from Keoni who has completely ignored Michael all this time, Michael started calling him names again! Mrs. Dearly sent him to sit in the back of the classroom.

This is not time out as some may think. Michael simply sat at a different desk away from the group. He is still learning the lesson while Mrs. Dearly gave the lesson. He just wasn't allowed to answer any questions no matter where he's at in the classroom.

Two more disruptive children, including Keoni, joined Michael "outside" of the group. It seemed that Michael set the tone for the class to which Mrs. Dearly wasted precious and important teaching moments because she had to manage behavioral problems in her classroom. Now there are only two children at the front doing some intense learning while the other three are learning away from the group.

Mrs. Dearly asked a question, and even though they knew that they're no longer part of the discussion, the three "outside" children raised their hands to answer. She reminded them that they're not allowed to answer, but they may listen. Michael cussed under his breath and said something inappropriate to the effect of "...teacher sucks...". I was pretty sure he said something worse than that, but Mrs. Dearly dealt with it right there and sent him to the counselor who deals with issues like this -- a behavioral management counselor, is what she's called here.

He grew upset and asked "What for?" She explained to him really quickly that he was refusing to follow class instructions and most of all he was being disrespectful by saying "teacher sucks". He denied saying anything like that, but when he looked my way and I shot him a look of "I heard what you said," he took the pink slip from Mrs. Dearly's hand and stomped down to the office.

When he came back looking sullen a couple hours later, he showed a sheet to Mrs. Dearly. I glanced over and it was a Behavioral Management Plan which his parents must sign and bring back. He also apologized to her. They talked about it and she reiterated what occured (identified the problem), and asked him why he was sent to the behaviorist/specialist (consequence), then told him that his behavior should never happen again in class and may face serious consequences (behavior prevention) (stated in parent handbook -- there are steps to be taken; she has taken the first step)

This was the first time Mrs. Dearly has ever had to send this particular child to a specialist. As this is very rare in her classroom, this occurs once or twice every other school year since she's been here (10 years).

Chapter X: Diversity

2010-01-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

As I have been sidetracked these past few days, it has been awhile since I updated my blog. I am physically exhausted and I'm up to my ears in backed up assignments due to lack of sleep. So.....this will be a very, very, short chapter.

I have this tremendous idea for a lesson to teach in my EOT-class. We are to ponder on what it is that we want to teach our respective assigned class-grade, in which in my case it's second grade. The whole idea of a lesson is to TEACH something that revolves around Washington State's GLE (Grade Level Expectation), albeit reading, writing, or math. That's the easy part. I chose writing skills. I also chose a subject to base their writings on. Here's a huge hint on what my idea is: look at the title. Yup. Diversity. It sounds simple, but the subject itself is way too general.

I have noticed that the children at Roosevelt and Oakes write on these dotted-lined-papers, which looks like this (please excuse the un-eveness as it is a blog-thing):

___________________________________

---------------------------------------------------------
___________________________________

You remember that, right? I sure as heck do! I struggled with writing when I was in the first grade (blech!). I remembered being forced to correctly spell words -- at first grade! These days? Totally different. The children spell phonetically. This is a controversial thing, but I won't go into details.

Anway, I have decided to involve a writing project for the children to write about their diverse backgrounds. Choosing which one -- celebrations (holidays, traditions, etc. ), family vacations, or even family -- is a tough one. The reason why I chose this particular subject is to get an idea on what their family-home-life is like. No....not to be nosy. Their personal lives will serve as a future reference for me to help me avoid sensitive subjects that may cause a negative impact on their social well-being.

As a teacher, I feel that it is my duty to be aware of each child's homelife so I can adjust my lessons accordingly. At the same time I am making sure that their educational/academic needs are met. To do so indirectly through their writings would be a good and safe approach rather than verbally questioning each child which may bring on the possibility of embarassment, or heaven forbid -- social outcasting.

Here a couple of examples on what are insensitive subjects. If the assignment was to write about similarities and differences on their parent's favorite food, then that would be an insensitive subject to those who live in one-parent households. Or...here's an easier one: a subject on what the children do on Christmas day. That would be too specific, and down right insensitive to those who do not celebrate Christmas. I know, I know...there are those who shake their heads in disbelief as they say, "But WE all celebrated Christmas when we went to school!" Sorry, guys and gals, but that's not how it works in today's society. Acceptance is key to a positive learning environment.

Off I go now as I keep on searching for the right subject AND get off my keister to play catch up. Wish me luck.

Chapter IX: Luvin' It!!

2010-01-13T07:05:00.000-08:00

What a busy week! I have been reading all weekend and writing papers for school. I wanted to get all my reading and writing done before the week started and concentrate on my practicum and volunteer work. Tuesday (yesterday), my practicum at Roosevelt Elementary was another success. I am diving more and more into becoming involved inside the classroom rather than being an observer. Last week, I wrote tons of notes on Mrs. Dearly's classroom management and routine. Yesterday, I walked around the classroom and helped those who needed it. It was exhilirating! It almost felt like being behind the wheel for the very first time, but with someone training me.

Mrs. Dearly and Mrs. Windell both know that I volunteer in both their classrooms at their respective schools. I am so glad that they support me. My professor, most especially, is very happy that I'm doing this. She shared with me how observing different schools will enhance my career as a teacher. What's so interesting is that I'm picking up techniques, in addition to my preschool teaching background, and I'm ending up making my own philosophy by using them in both schools.

I am very overwhelmed by the huge support that I'm getting from everyone who sees what I'm doing. I don't feel restricted. I feel free. BOTH teachers really like what I'm doing. For example, I have used my Montessori background in Mrs. Windell's class with one of her students who really needed help. It totally worked! The positive-reinforcing-social-problem-solving language that was used in my previous job was something that I also used, but with older children, and I used a little bit of that in Mrs. Dearly's class. What I picked up in Mrs. Dearly's class -- e.g. Direct Instruction (my cohort knows what this means) -- I utilized while tutoring Mrs. Windell's students.

The type of language I'm using with the children is what's my favorite. It is sooo much more different than with preschoolers, but in my case -- toddlers. I wasn't struggling to find the "right" words as most childcare centers with their own philosophy have their own "language". With elementary school aged children, it felt normal. I spoke normal, and I wasn't struggling. They understood me. I was able to give explanations in ways that they understood; and it was absolutely glorious when they said, "Oooooh, now I get it!" And I get tickled pink when they said, "Thank you, Mrs. Olson".

Mrs. Olson.

Call me old fashioned, but I really like that! It shows respect to authority. All my years as a preschool teacher, I was called by my first name. My first name is a tongue twister, most especially to the little ones, so they called me by my nickname, Miss L____. Not that it does not show respect -- it has absolutely nothing to do with that -- traditionally, this was something that preschool environments have been doing for years. I felt uncomfortable having children call me by my first name. It felt as if I was obliged to be their friends; however, I believed it was to be at "their level".

I can go on and on with the differences between being a preschool teacher and working at an elementary school. But if you ever decide to be either one, you really have to think about where your comfort zone is, or you might end up in a miserable job -- a dead-end job, if you will.;

Financial Aid update

Okay...I'm gonna go off topic here. Remember how I said that I was looking into a private loan? I have decided to go with FAFSA. Apparently, the laws on private loans have changed (thanks alot, Obama administration). I was totally confused with what the financial aid office told me. I initially thought that I can only apply after January 2010 for the spring quarter; yes, I can still do that. What I did not know that FAFSA is an ongoing thing.

You see, a couple years ago, I was enrolled at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online Division to study Graphic Design. I decided to quit that because the job market in that area was looking very bleak. Dummy me, completely clueless about this stuff, thought that financial aid stops sending money to the school as soon as I stopped attending. As I had found out -- they were still sending money to AIO! Yikes!! The good news is -- there's still a lot of money left from that financial aid and the most simplest thing I did (which I found out by myself), was renew my app and transfer that aid to Western. The lady at WWU financial aid, whose been helping me since I started at WWU, was extremely happy that I fixed the discrepancy. Going back to school may be a pain in the butt to get in and having to deal with all the technicalities is chaotic, but like I said in the beginning, it's well worth the ride once your foot's in the door. (Rumor has it that it's very difficult to get into the Elementary Ed. program at WWU, despite your economic class. They're very picky about their candidates, hence, the small classes (there's about 25 students in each cohort and that's small).

Chapter VIII: Parents, help!

2010-01-11T12:19:00.001-08:00

Parents need to be teachers. It has become my motto when I visited my son's school today.

My son, TJ, is in Mrs. Windell's first grade class at Oaks Elementary (all fictional names). In our state (of Washington), the ratio for this age group is 1:20. Mrs. Windell has gone over by four. It is a full class but she is able to handle it very well. She has given me children to privately tutor while she teaches the rest of the class. It seems to me that that these children have some difficulties catching up with the class.

I do have to give Mrs. Windell credit for allowing everyone become successful learners. 24 children is alot. I think the children that I tutored seem to have study habit-problems. These children that I tutored caught on really quick with the assignment when I helped them, which was reading and writing.

I could only assume one thing: they're not getting any or enough study time at home. Both parents probably have full time jobs and/or come from separate households. Or, perhaps, the parents completely depend on their child's teacher to do all the teaching. When these children come to school, they're left behind the rest of the class. Which, sadly, is hard on Mrs. Windell as she's unable to give one on one at any given time. I can't say it enough: she has 24 children! And PLUS -- she's working on a curriculum which is organized by the state to which she needs to apply to every child by the end of the year. Every child is expected to meet those guidelines before proceeding to the next grade level. This is the No Child Left Behind Act, folks. Unless they're inside the classrooms, many people don't understand the pressure that is put inside our classroom thanks to the Act.

Some of us, like myself, have worked around these difficult educational pressures which is surrounding my children. My children are on a set routine -- a routine that they carry and set in me by my parents during my schooling years -- I have never experienced children that aren't given enough study time. So, seeing this first hand is a completely new and learning experience for me.

Our home routine is like this: when my children come home from school, they have a little snack; once they're done, they can do their homework and get it out of the way and watch t.v., OR they can watch t.v. now and do homework later after supper. They always pick the latter, which is fine by me.

The children are in school and using their brains for 6.5 hours. You're talking about ACTIVE brain activity. When they come home, they're exhausted and so are their brains. It's kind of like: when you come home from work, do you want to continue working or would you rather rest? You're home in your comfort zone.

My children are allowed some free time for a couple of hours before hitting the books again. I think, in my totally and honest opinion, explains why they're successful in school (they're all getting high marks). Marin is a different story. She's in the Running Start program and has online courses. She goes to her high school for an hour everyday for math; the rest of her courses are online at the college. Because of her unusual routine, she makes adjustments. She takes advantage of an empty and quiet house -- when the little ones are in school -- and completes her studying then. She, too, is doing academically well in her studies.

I'm not saying that this is the only way to help children succeed in school. I highly doubt that there is only one way to do it. I'm pretty sure that parents, whose children are doing great in school both academically and socially, have their own way or influence of contributing to their children's successes. But there are children, like the ones in Mrs. Windell's class that probably need more parental involvement. If parents become more involved with their children's academic learning and aid their social development, then teachers, like Mrs. Windell and Mrs. Dearly, will not have to feel like they have to do all the work. We are in the No Child Left Behind age. Our teachers are trying very hard to meet today's nation's and state's academic standards. (Pre-certification) Teachers, like myself, will have to carry on this responsibility so EVERY child in our classroom can succeed. Parents, on the other hand, can not depend on teachers alone to do this job.

There has to be some way to help these children. If they fail, so will our nation. What good is that to our children's future when they feel like they've failed? Take some time -- even if it's in some small way -- to help a child learn. This will give him/her the confidence to become independent and successful learners.

While I was tutoring the children inside my son's classroom, I heard Mrs. Windell call my son's name over my shoulder. It was his turn to read his written story to the class by using a light projector. I glanced up and my heart practically swelled. He wrote a full page story within minutes describing his story in detail, with pictures and minimal spelling errors. This has come as a complete surprise to me, because TJ dreads writing at home. I am not being biased here, but at a teacher's point of view (mine), this was the best work compared to his classmates'. And I got to see it first hand.

Chapter VII: Insights

2010-01-08T06:15:00.000-08:00

Whew. I just survived the first week of school. One week down, eight more to go. Here's an idea of what classes I'm taking in the evenings: Mondays/Essentials of Teaching II, Wednesdays/Basic Instructional Technology Skills (aka beginning technology), and Thursdays/Teacher and the Social Order. Every Tuesday is when I do my practicum, but my host teacher said I can come in anytime. She's flexible. :) This quarter I go in in the morning; next quarter, late morning-afternoon practicum.

So far, I enjoy all of my classes. It seems that my instructors are getting down to the nitty-gritty of things. My dream of becoming a teacher is getting close. Although the extent of my experience is with preschoolers, the reality of an elementary teacher is something that I've yet to explore, and I just started. My instructors are preparing us for that reality. By adding practicum studies this quarter is very helpful. Very hands on. It seems to me that everything I'm learning in class coincides with what I've seen inside a classroom.

Essential of Teaching II (EOT II) is advance knowledge of the technicalities of teaching (last quarter, it was obviously the "basics", EOT I). The class talks about classroom management, the legits of Washington state schools, lesson planning, etc. In essence, EVERYTHING we must know ABOUT Washington State public schools. Basic Instructional Technology Skills is just that -- basic knowledge of technology. Teacher and the Social Order is a very interesting class. This is the class in which we were required to purchase Gregory Michie's book, "Holler, If You Hear Me..." If you haven't read my blog, "Chapter III: Holler", now is a good time to do it. It is a spoiler, so be wary if you want to read the book.

Last night, my instructor for Teacher and the Social Order (TSO), Mr. "Edwin", showed the class a video of inner city children in their schools and their teachers. It was very touching. I'm thinking that next time we watch a video, I'm bringing in a box of tissue for the class. The (real life) video closely resembles to what Dr. Michie experienced as a teacher. As one of my classmates puts it, these teachers were "...filled with uncertainties..." for the children when they "graduate" to the next level of their grade. It seems to be the common theme with these teachers that I've read or watched about. Another commonality is the influence that the teachers have made upon each child in their class. It's amazing that when a teacher does ONE thing to encourage children to make a change in their lives, it changes their entire lives.

For example, a male counselor/teacher heard from another child that his best friend's fingers were slammed by a door by his mother. I'm not sure which state this was filmed in, but it seems like he's a "mandated reporter", like in the State of Washington. In our state, by law, educators are mandated reporters for child abuse. This also means that if we as so much see a mother slapping her kid at a public parking lot for "disciplining" him, we are required, by law to report her. The counselor did just that -- reported child abuse to some sort of social agency (like Child Protected Services). What was disheartening was the close up of the counselor's reaction as he was filling up the report. You can tell that he was close to tears. By reporting this type of abuse, he risk the child being taken away from his parents. And get this....within minutes, after turning in that report, child protective services whisked the child away. The counselor had no idea what happened to him. That was the last he was seen. Almost broke my heart.

So far you have read a lot of negatives in the real life world of a teacher, but there was another part in the film where it was encouraging. An ESL (English as a Second Language) high school teacher had quite an influence on her class. The school was feeling the pinch of budget cuts, so the school board decided to merge -- or mainstream -- certain classes. The ESL class was one of them. Know what that means to children and teachers? Low teacher:student ratio. Crowded classroom. Discipline/control problems. But what it really meant to these children in ESL was feeling like they don't belong. These are children who immigrated from different parts of the world: Mexico, Puerto Rico, China, Vietnam, etc. They were much more concerned about how their lack in speaking the English language might hinder them academically. They felt that they won't be able to catch up with their (English-speaking) peers if they were combined in the same classroom.

It was as if a lightbulb went off in the teacher's head (and it was caught on film!). She decided, right then and there, that the children attend the public school board meeting and bring up their concerns. Sure enough, the children did. The board heard every one of the ESL children's voices. It was touching to see that a couple of the board members seem to sympathize with them. At the end, the children received their wish: the board did not merge/mainstream the ESL class.

The film I watched last night w/ my classmates was very heart-felt. It was to the point that sometimes I wonder what is really going on inside my own children's classrooms. With overcrowded classroom and budget cuts, it almost seems like the children's futures are bleak. As adults and/or teachers, it's up to us to turn that around. And I'm trying. Thanks to the inspirational film, I walked into my children's school office and signed up as a parent volunteer this morning.

Hopefully, my volunteer work and practicum studies at both these schools will enhance my career as an elementary school teacher. Only time will tell...

Chapter VI: It's a Beautiful Morning

2010-01-06T15:21:00.001-08:00

Indeed it was. After I dropped my kids off at their school, I went straight to my practicum site (I think I will use fictional names for protection-sake), Roosevelt Elementary School. The day was absolutley gorgeous: sunny all around and not a cloud in the sky. At forty-seven degree this early in the morning, it was actually very nice. I breathed in the fresh air and walked up the steps to the school. The staff was very friendly and I (finally) introduced myself at their less busiest time. I just wish there was time to talk to their principal, Mrs. Fin. I met her briefly for a quick hand shake as we were introduced after my interview in December. My first impression of her was that she was really down-to-earth. Her school-aged daughter was there, so I got to see her first hand as a mother, which was in a way, quite intriguing to observe.

Growing up, my principals were all these uptight middle-aged looking males. I always imagined them having no children because I never saw them with their children. Even so today, but I do have somewhat of a different view of them now. The principals at my kids' schools are still very principal-looking. Though they still posess that I-mean-business demeanor, the principals of today are much more relaxed and will stop a child in the hall to have a casual conversation.

Although my oldest daughter, "Marin", has a femal principal at her high school, I never met her up close. Mrs. Fin was the first female principal I met. She made quite an impression on me by being a mother first, then being professional. The first day I met her, she was with her daughter in the front of the office. It was a Friday, so it was casual day. Mrs. Fin was in the school's alma mater sweatshirt and jeans. Her daughter had on a reindeer headband. I practically kicked myself (mentally) in the butt for thinking that the lady standing next to her was the principal because SHE was in a suit. I was glad though that I did not stick my hand out to shake the other lady's hand. I casually waited for a sign, for someone to address Mrs. Fin. Sure enough, within seconds, someone called the principal by name. And that was when I stretched my hand out and introduced myself to the school principal.

Well, that was a few weeks ago before school was out for winter break. Today, I was hoping to catch her in her office. This time she was super busy talking to students and parents. I'm thinking of pushing it off until next week. I wanted to see her and thank her for inviting me to her school. That's all.

After I signed in and put on my visitor's badge on, I walked up the hallway steps to Mrs. Dearly's classroom. She wasn't there, but her kindergarten daughter was. I thought, this environment is definitely family oriented. She was helping her mom put papers away in the children's (mail) boxes. She knew who I was so she told me right away where her mother was. As I waited, another child, who I will call "Koen", came in and gave me a smile and asked, "Are you here again to learn to teach?" I told him yes. "Oh, good."

While the two children continued to get to know me I noticed the view outside the window. It was perfectly gorgeous! The suburb's rooftops down below are peeking between different hues and shades of evergreen trees. Beyond that, the tiny snake-like freeway was bustling with cars that look like tiny bugs. But what really struck me was the snow tipped Cascades which accented the clear blue sky's scenery. It was absolutely picturesque. Sceneries, like this one, makes me feel fortunate to live in the beautiful state of Washington.

As I was admiring the scenery outside, Mrs. Dearly walked in. Just to get an idea what she looks like: she is a brunette who seems to be a lot younger than me (I'm 40, proud to say) and a couple inches taller. She dresses professionally and her positive energy emanates throughout the classroom right when she walks in. After she and I greeted each other I lent her a helping hand with things around the classroom. She was doing things around the class as if she could do them with a blindfold on.

As Mrs. Dearly assigned me to put together pamphlets for her phonics group (of five), I noticed countless books in packets and bins. I asked her about spending budget. I think I fell into a shock because in my previous days as a childcare worker, I was given reimbursements to up to $100 per month. Here, as a public school teacher, Mrs. Dearly is allowed $100 to spend on materials the entire school year!! As for reimbursements? No, never. Looking at her walls and floor chock full of learning materials, I now regret giving away books that my children used to read and learning materials that benefitted them during their younger elementary years. I've heard of people generalizing teachers as people who "hoard" things...now I know why. It is actually true. I have to stop cleaning out my closet. More like...I have to stop throwing anything out. My mom has trained me and my brothers to get rid of things that we didn't need. Well..I'll have to break away from that habit.

The morning bell was about to ring --more like buzz. Gone are the loud red ringing bells. Every school that I've been in so far (from Texas to Arizona and now Washington) in the past ten or so years have audible -- not irritatingly loud -- buzzers.

A male teacher, who I will call "Mr. Brad", walked in and introduced himself. He's very new to the school. He's new to elementary education as a matter of fact. He was previously a middle school, but got laid off (damn budget cuts). Roosevelt needed a split teacher for 2nd/3rd grade, so they hired him in October, 2009. Yep. No elementary ed experience. After putting on our coats, the three of us, along with Mrs. Dearly's daughter and Koen, walked down the hallway. On the way, Mrs. Dearly and I walked her daughter outside to line up with her kindergarten classmates. We then walked a bit around the building to meet up with the upper grades and waited a couple more minutes for more children to arrive.

I know I was extremely nervous yesterday for most of the day during observations. I think Mrs. Dearly was, too. Today, though, felt much more different and it seemed that she was much more relaxed as I was, too. I am aware that I represent the university and anything I write down I may have to share with my cohort at the University. When I share my knowledge with my college-cohorts, I'm representing Roosevelt Elementary. When I walk into Roosevelt Elementary, I represent Western Washington University. So...I have to make myself and both schools look good. Being an intern does take a lot responsibility.

Observing the class for part of the morning was once again an inspirational one. Ever since yesterday, the children were not distracted by me -- a guest. Today was a bit different, but in a good way. A few children looked to me for help. I was truly honored (and tickled pink at the same time!). They knew that I'm a teacher "learning to teach", so they trusted me to help them. It felt really nice to TEACH them, to help them with their work. As I was helping, it felt as though it came naturally.

This is it. This is where I belong.

Chapter V: The Beginning

2010-01-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

I was very thrilled this morning...the direction of the winds have changed. So...yesterday, I was so bummed out that I didn't check any of my emails. Last night was also the first day of class for this winter quarter which left me in a positive mood because I absolutely LOVE my classes.(note: I have been going to school since fall, 2009. I aced it!)

I checked my email this morning and lo, and behold, I got the okay from the school district to have my practicum with the teacher that I interviewed with before the winter break. I called her and shared my excitement with her. She said she thought she and I were a good match. I was in cloud 9. Finally...a step into my desired career. Th-e one that I've been waiting for all my life. I get to be inside an actual classroom learning to teach older children!

I went in this morning. It was an hour later from the time the bell rung because I had to get ready, dressed to the nines. The class was unbelievably overwhelming. Not just the class, but I got to see firsthand how a class is conducted by a professional. I did volunteer in the past as a parent-volunteer in my children's classrooms, but this is sooooo much more different. The dynamics are truly classroom-oriented.

My main objective today was to simply observe the teacher and get to know her routine. I have a notebook and I think I wrote in every little detail that she did: techniques in her classroom management (my main concern), her differing models of teaching, her class routine...I mean EVERYTHING! I bought a new notebook and my notes took up more than half the notebook. One of the children thought she's never seen someone wrote that much before (they do have interns/observers/guests come through on a daily basis).

I do have to say that my experience in my ex-job did pay off. There was a lot of writing involved, most particularly about every single child in the classroom. This was done on a daily basis. So with that attained experience, I am used to writing a lot. Like now. ;)

It was quite thrilling to see the children really involved and engaged in their work because their energetic teacher was a no-holds-barred kind of a person. She was often on the move. It's amazing to see that she's able to keep the entire class under control. I do have news, though...she said that this is the first time that this group of children were in control. "Must be your presence," she whispered across the room to me. She later explained to me that the children were never in control. They were "...not the most behaved" kids she's ever had in her 10 years of teaching at this school.

One time they did a little activity where they made little parachutes and let them go from the second floor. She expected the children to be fighting for space, or pushing or shoving each other on the balcony (although that has never happened before) because they seem to be those kind of kids; instead, they were making fun of how each or the other person's parachute sailed. She was taken aback by their behavior.

The rest of the day went really well. I spent only half day there as it was the minimal requirement for my practicum studies. Because I showed up an hour later, I will come back tomorrow to observe her early part of the morning.

Chapter IV: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2010-01-05T16:14:00.001-08:00

Wow. Yesterday was an emotional day for me. I am still trying to get over the shock, but at least today was a lot different...a lot better (see next chapter).

I was given the news to resign or get terminated from my position. I was going to walk into HR to offer my demotion, but instead I was forced to resign or get terminated. The reason? I wasn't "assertive" enough with those who were under me, including a gal who was way too assertive, more like passive-aggressive -- supposedly still learning the ropes in her new position. She's been there for five years! How can she NOT KNOW how to handle her position? She's more experienced than I am -- I was there for a year and a half. How can I be assertive when I was being pulled left and right by a couple of people with conflicting ideas and practically telling me on how things should be managed since I started there? Since day one! I was still learning myself! I'm still in disbelief with my mouth hung open for the last 24 hours. They had other questionable events that occured and I had the most perfect explanations to back myself up, but really now? It boils down to not being assertive enough.

But, hey...that is totally okay. I won't go into details, nor will I use this entire chapter to make a big stink about it, but like I said couple chapters ago, it's a blessing in disguise. My supervisor was right about one thing: this will allow me to fully concentrate on continuing my education as an educator. She -- like me -- probably knew that if I continued studying elementary education, and not renew nor continue my education in early childhood, there would be conflict with work (and their methodogy) and school. I think, in a way, she helped me out a great deal; in turn, I helped out the childcare center by eliminating conflicting beliefs about what I'm learning in school and what their philosophy/methodogy is.

I did give her a big, sad hug when I left the office. I think she genuinely felt bad because I later found out from one of my (now ex-) co-workers that she did not show up to work the entire day, which is so unlike her after a visit from the HR office.

Anyhoo...I woke up this morning with a lightbulb that went off in my head: walk into a couple of school offices, speak to the Principals (who are familiar with who I am), and see if there are any job openings. I will have to do that this week. But first I need to update my resume. Thanks to my now "previous" job, I can now add more to my freshly renewed resume. :)

By the way, I am telling everyone that I got laid off since HR-lady told me that I'm on the lay off list anyway from the initial time that they laid me off over the summer, 2009 (I got re-hired in the fall). I'm on that list for the next 3 years. I won't even go into anything about the lay off. That in itself was a complete nightmare. This forced resignation, I'm sure, has a lot to do with budget cuts. It's the only thing that makes sense to me. They do not want to take care of a grievance package for me, so they looked for the little-st things to force me to resign. I think that's why my supervisor looked awful. I do have some awfully GOOD news, though. You'll have to see the next chapter (I'm currently working on it).

Chapter III: Holler

2010-01-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

I bought my book for my class over the weekend. It's a non-fiction book called "Holler if You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher & His Students", by Gregory Michie. The book is for one of my Elementary Education classes. It is a very inspirational book, not just about a teacher, but also his middle school students whose lives are mangled with inner city influences. Mind you, the book was written and published in the late 90's, but the ideas and behaviors today about inner city schools are pretty much the same.

I really like how he did not glorify successes that were made in movies such as "Dangerous Minds" or "Mr. Holland Opus". Dr. Michie spoke the truth and talks about the struggles that these children go through in school due to outside influences (low income neighborhoods, drugs, violence, etc.) In between chapters, he visits his students and reiterates their lives after middle school in the first person point-of-view. You would expect that all of these kids would have been successful in high school; but, more than likely, they weren't. There were maybe just a handful who seemed to have deterred from their neighborhood's negative influences. The majority of the kids he interviewed are of Latin descent whose parents immigrated from Mexico. These children had to face the everyday prejudices/segregation that you would not think that would even exist today!

Dr. Gregory Mitchie was one of those teachers whose heart and soul -- his dedication to those kids -- saw some kind of hope in inner-city children (blacks, caucaseans, Latinos, Asian, etc.). He allowed the children to reflect on themselves and work towards a goal so they have some kind of meaning in their lives. For some, it worked; for most, and sadly, his "magic" did not work. It has nothing to do with him. The negative influences were just too powerful, too great to defeat. He can only do so much in the little time he had with each child. It is up to us -- the teachers -- to reach out and help the kids such as the ones I read about. I'm not saying that we're totally responsible for the children's lives, but get this: where do the children spend the MAJORITY of their time five days a week?

We can only do so much, but we can try do as much as professional educators.

I'm really glad that I read through the entire book (2 days!) because it gave me an insight as to what I might expect during my practicum. Although my practicum is set for the younger age group (K-5th grades), I know and am well aware that I will more than likely will be dealing with children who are in similar circumstances.

Chapter II: Must Be Karma

2009-12-30T14:42:00.000-08:00

As luck would have it, a total blessing in disguise arrived in my email just last night. It was very disheartening, but at the same time a "sign" if you will. As I was about to approach my supervisor about a few changes in my schedule and a voluntary demotion as a Program Specialist due to my practicum studies, she has written me an email in which it had been turned in to HR. I will have a meeting with her and HR when school resumes. Long story short: I suck at my position as a lead teacher with the philosophy that their utilizing at their center. I have been going through the grieving stage all day. I finally have the guts to sit here and write it all down.

My desire is to (desparately) get that elementary ed. certificate. Career-wise, THAT is my priority. Because of the state's requirement to have that certificate, I do have to make certain sacrifices to get what I want. Therefore, I have internally decided to go with the flow of things and just work for EvCC as a part time classified staff. In other words, I decided to step down from my current position which I do not mind at all. Like I said in the beginning, being a childcare worker, which I am, is emotionally and physically exhausting. There are those who have the talent to work with very little ones and I did have that talent a long time ago before these changes occured. But, this time, it's different.

Well...we'll see what happens after my meeting.

Chapter I: Acceptance

2009-12-21T23:57:00.000-08:00

It seems to me that being a certified teacher in the State of Washington requires alot, especially one who already has a Bachelor's degree. Over the summer I took and passed the WEST-B entrance exam. Then there's the required measles shot. It had been over 20 year since my last shot, so I had to get one. Of course, there was the dreaded math placement exam, which I got only a 16 out of the required 20. I have to retake the darn exam at the Universtiy of Washington (parking is a pain!). Another exam, the Sexual Harassment exam was another one to take to be in the program. Reference letters, transcripts, financial aid were all the icing on that cake. Just going through all of that -- the acceptance phase -- was insane, but it was well worth the ride to get my foot into the program.

I am enrolled in the Teacher Education Outreach Program (TEOP) at Western Washington University under Woodring College of Education. The program is also conveniently located at other sites. Everett Community College (EvCC) is one of them. It's closer to home and I work right on EvCC's campus. Absolute convenience.

My initial intent to work at EvCC was to gain some insight into their ECE program and share that acquired knowledge with adults at a college facility. But...and I say this with a big BUT I was starting to find my love in elementary education once again. That infatuation was set on by being my son's volunteer teacher in his classroom every Friday as an Art Docent. The children were absolutely amazing! There were no kids to chase around, no diapers to change. They were NOT babies. They were self sufficient beings that were eager to learn more -- academically. It definitely hit me hard in the heart.

The fall quarter has ended about a few weeks ago. The perks about working where I'm at now is that I'm on the college's school schedule. When the college kids are on vacation, so are the employees at EvCC. I'm on vacation. That explains why my Prologue is super long. I had all the time to sit down in front of my PC to get it all down.

Before the quarter ended, I had my very first interview with my supervising teacher about a week and a half ago. She's the person who will be in charge of my practicum. I was very nervous, but I really like the school setting. It's in the vicinity of my neighborhood. The school looks quaint and not to mention huge! It's a three story building with classrooms that are far apart, but you can actually see inside each of the classrooms (it's obviously a liability-thing). It is a beautiful school. I was very impressed. The supervising teacher turns in her report about me to the principal and they will both decide if I'm the "right fit" for her and the school.

I am holding my breath and I can't wait to find out. If I get accepted, this will be my chance of a lifetime for that change I've been waiting for all my life.

So, while I'm waiting for that email, call or whatever, I am working on registering for my classes. Today, I visited a loan officer at my credit union to find out if I'm elegible for a student loan. It's a private loan. The FAFSA application does not start until January 2010 for 2010-2011, and I can't afford to go fulltime for the winter quarter. I have, therefore, decided to go with a private loan. The only disadvantage is getting a co-signer. I have one in mind, but that means asking for alot of personal information. It sucks, but I hope my elected co-signer will accept it.

Prologue

2009-12-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

Inspired by the hit movie, "Julie & Julia", I, myself have decided to write my own blog. No, not about cooking. That would make me a copy-cat. This blog will be about my days onto becoming an elementary school teacher. The title says "A Teacher Reborn" because, put simply -- I'm being reborn into a career from an early childhood educator to a much older and broader group of children...elementary children. This change has been in my heart for a long time ever since I started as an intern as an early childhood educator in the early 90's. I will explain that further below.

This change is not only for myself...it's more for my children. I am hoping that I will become a positive influence in their lives as they seek their own goals, hopes and dreams. I take pride in all three of my children, ages 16/girl, 10/girl, and 7/boy. (I haven't decided what pseudonyms to use for them yet as I am a very over protective Mom, but I'll get there sooner, if not, later.) Anyhoo...they are my pride and joys, and the stars and apples of my eyes.

By far, they have been academically successful in their schools. My oldest is in a Running Start program, which she absolutely loves. She's getting a head start into college at a very young age (she hates high school). My 10 year old little girl, whose social-emotional thinking is more of a mature 18 year old, already has set high academic standards for herself. She challenges her mind by reading books such as Shakespeare. If given a sonnet, she can translate it for you. My little boy is an avid reader. He, too, loves to be challenged in reading and math. He is currently reading at third grade level. He's only in the first grade.

Education has always played a big part in my family. Dad graduated Valedictorian in electrical engineering, and Mom got her nursing degree, both from the Philippines in the late 60's. My middle brother graduated with honors in criminal justice (1994), and my youngest brother just recently got his degree in computer engineering. I graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor's of Science in Early Childhood Education. While my middle brother and I attended Chaminade University of Honolulu, our youngest went to college in Idaho a few years later.

After my grandfather -- bless his soul -- worked through blood, sweat and tears to legally get his entire family onto US soil in the early to late 60's, he emphasized that every one of his grandchildren become educated in the USA. I am proud and honored to be the first of his grandchildren to graduate with a college degree in the U.S. from Chaminade University of Honolulu (pronounced "sha-mi-nahd). My brothers soon followed.

I got pregnant during my senior year in college and graduated a month before my daughter was born. Prior to my pregnancy and in the middle of my intership studies as a preschool teacher, I decided that I wanted to teach older children. Working with a group of smaller children was exhausting and overwhelming as I had found out during my internship. However, after having my daughter, it was impossible to continue to go to school to get an MA in elementary ed. My daughter became my priority, so I jumped on the work-wagon right away and stuck with my Bachelor's in Early Childhood Education.

Living in Hawaii was expensive. After my daughter's father and I divorced, she and I moved to Washington State and lived with her father's relatives for a few years. I worked at various childcare centers as a childcare worker. At least with my degree I was qualified to be a pre-school lead teacher at any childcare, except Montessori in which I was required to be certified. I never got that certification thinking that someday I will teach inside a classroom with children sitting at desks.

Before I met my second husband, I tried my hand at working with older children at the YMCA as a summer camp director and before-afterschool childcare. I thought I had the skills and experience necessary to work with older children, but that didn't pan out very well for me, so I went back into preschool teaching. After my husband and I married, I became a stay-at-home mom for several years. As a result of staying home (for a very long time), I did not keep up with the latest on childhood development, but only through my children did I utilize my attained experienced techniques and communication skills to help them nourish their developing minds and personalities.

I did go back to work in 2005, but that lasted only a few months. That's because there were huge changes since I left the childcare scene. Time-outs were no longer being used and social-emotional development and self-help skills played of utmost importance in preschoolers. The reason being that before entering kindergarten, children must be socially/emotionally ready. Academics was no longer a priority. Preschoolers, including toddlers, were being taught to (e.g.) solve social problems. This is all in due part to NAEYC's (National Association for the Education of Young Children) policies. Although NAEYC's birth was in the 1920's, it's continued growth has improved childcare, most particularly in 2001. I will not go into details and specifics. For those who are in childcare understand what those changes are.

By the way, there are always NEW developments, criticisms, and research done about children in the early years. They're always controversial; however, in my own honest and sincere opinion and experience with my own children, there is no "right" way to rear a child. Besides, this blog is NOT about the philosophies and ideas on early childhood education. It's about my days onto becoming a certified elementary teacher.

So here I am 16 years later as I begin my life onto becoming a teacher.....an elementary school teacher.