Saturday, September 22, 2007
excerpt...
I started team teaching two sections of remediation this year. And I LOVE it! While I did create a blog in hopes of posting observations there, my teammate and I have really just been writing in our notebooks. While not blogging, I’m still ecstatic that we’re writing about what we’re doing. I think there is much to say about teaming at the high school level. Amy has her MA in Reading, mine’s in writing. We gathered data to ensure placement of students; we have a baseline for reading scores, and students are just finishing up a writing sample. Also, we’ve created Readers as Leaders – our high school students go to the local elementary once a week to read. It’s been amazing to see high school students exited about reading, to be in a leadership role where they usually struggle.
So sorry to have neglected this blog! It certainly doesn't mean that I haven't been writing about my team teaching experience! The writing just hasn't manifested itself onto the blog: notebooks, scribblings in my plan book, discussions over lunch, on the phone, even on my other blog.
Wednesday night, I sat down to grade vocabulary and the first quiz over The House on Mango Street. I knew the quiz was challenging, and I was curious to see what the students in my team taught class would do. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed. The highest grade was 15 out of 20. Most were 50% and below.
I called Amy to see what she thought we should do. We agreed that students should be provided an opportunity to fix their errors. That will happen next week during tutorial.
Based on our conversation, we re-planned the next day. We decided we would go over figuartive language, again. Students would take notes as well as find examples in the book, again. We also are requiring students to create their own word banks -- in a section of their notebooks, students write the misspelled word in one column, and the correct spelling in the next column. We focused on where to find correct spellings -- teachers, peers, and the dictionary. The hope is we'll help students create a community of learners as well as students who can advocate for themselves.
With the vocabulary assignment, it proved helpful to go over the instructions, again, and give students the opportunity to correct their errors. The second set was much better. Amy is grading the set we just collected.
Wednesday night, I sat down to grade vocabulary and the first quiz over The House on Mango Street. I knew the quiz was challenging, and I was curious to see what the students in my team taught class would do. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed. The highest grade was 15 out of 20. Most were 50% and below.
I called Amy to see what she thought we should do. We agreed that students should be provided an opportunity to fix their errors. That will happen next week during tutorial.
Based on our conversation, we re-planned the next day. We decided we would go over figuartive language, again. Students would take notes as well as find examples in the book, again. We also are requiring students to create their own word banks -- in a section of their notebooks, students write the misspelled word in one column, and the correct spelling in the next column. We focused on where to find correct spellings -- teachers, peers, and the dictionary. The hope is we'll help students create a community of learners as well as students who can advocate for themselves.
With the vocabulary assignment, it proved helpful to go over the instructions, again, and give students the opportunity to correct their errors. The second set was much better. Amy is grading the set we just collected.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Looking Forward
I'm not sure about other teachers, but around this time [mid to late July] I start thinking about what changes I want to implement for next year. I start to feel rejuvenated, and sale ads are already touting Back-to-School sales. Yet, I still know that I have some time before back-to-school really happens! ;0
As indicated by the title of this blog, I teach high school English, and next year will be the first year Amy and I will team teach two sections of English 9. Amy has her masters in reading; I have mine in writing. Together we have a combined teaching experience of fifteen [?] years from elementary to post-secondary.
The class is designated for students who are struggling with reading and writing. Students have been placed in one of the two sections based on multiple pieces of data: Scantron scores, CSAP scores [the state test], a writing sample, reading tests, and teacher recommendation.
I’m really excited about this class! The hope is that students will receive the help they need to be successful in all of their classes in high school, and in the process – maybe – actually come to like –okay at least not completely hate -- reading and writing. Keep your fingers crossed! J
There isn’t another class at the high school that is team taught, so I’m curious how this is going to work. While Amy and I have worked together, it hasn’t been a true teaming experience. Additionally, I’m curious how other teachers have gone about team teaching at the high school level. There is a certain perception of teaching in isolation at this level.
Topics to blog about
excited about…
concerned about…
strengths as a teacher
areas to improve as a teacher
I'd like help with…
articles re: team teaching @ high school
As indicated by the title of this blog, I teach high school English, and next year will be the first year Amy and I will team teach two sections of English 9. Amy has her masters in reading; I have mine in writing. Together we have a combined teaching experience of fifteen [?] years from elementary to post-secondary.
The class is designated for students who are struggling with reading and writing. Students have been placed in one of the two sections based on multiple pieces of data: Scantron scores, CSAP scores [the state test], a writing sample, reading tests, and teacher recommendation.
I’m really excited about this class! The hope is that students will receive the help they need to be successful in all of their classes in high school, and in the process – maybe – actually come to like –okay at least not completely hate -- reading and writing. Keep your fingers crossed! J
There isn’t another class at the high school that is team taught, so I’m curious how this is going to work. While Amy and I have worked together, it hasn’t been a true teaming experience. Additionally, I’m curious how other teachers have gone about team teaching at the high school level. There is a certain perception of teaching in isolation at this level.
Topics to blog about
excited about…
concerned about…
strengths as a teacher
areas to improve as a teacher
I'd like help with…
articles re: team teaching @ high school
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