Day 17, February 29

Today Mr. Craig was there for the first part of 1st block so I watched his intro.  Then the students were doing research so I answered questions.  2nd hour I did end up doing some teaching.  I did the intro to class, went over homework, and did the intro to the research grid.  It went much better than the last time.  Then I answered questions about the research.  Also there was an issue with the copies so I went to get more copies for Mr. Cox.

Day 16, February 28

Today was the hydra and daphnea lab day.  It was also an intervention day.  Mr. Craig was gone and so were a few other science teachers so there were a lot of subs who wanted to see a lab into.  I stamped labs, took attendance, and helped with intervention questions.

Day 15, February 27

Today was flex day.  Before class I created a cladogram of the back board.  IN every class I took attendance.  I also went around to check everyone's worksheets for completion.  When they had finished working in groups I checked the cladogram and changed positions of incorrect stick notes.  Then I worked on putting all of that information onto a prezi for the class.  During lunch we talked about how my lesson went and I got similar feed back to Mrs. Kirgan's. I left during 5th to go to AP Chem.  During 6th I watched all the youtube videos on the prezi to make sure they are appropriate.  I also did more research in order to link more things to the prezi.  The flex day was really successful for me.  It makes me wish I could be with all of the classes.

Week 4 Overview

This week was really important for me because it was my first lesson.  I think that was a really important milestone for me to cross.  The students got to see me teach, and I got a real experience in front of the class.

Weekly Hours: 10 hours 20 minutes
Total Hours: 39 hours 10 minutes

Day 14, February 24

Today was my first lesson.  I spent 1st hour watching Mr. Craig teach and taking notes on things to cover.  2nd hour I taught the lesson.  I went fast and ended about 15 minutes to soon.  I was really nervous for my lesson which made me go really fast, and I felt like I could have covered so much more information.  I think I did a good job for my first time, but I really hope to do better next time! When I finished I talked to Mrs. Kirgan about what I did.

Day 13, February 23

Today was similar to Tuesday because I was answering questions about the labs, but I also helped with interventions.  There were not that many kids because the test had a much higher average.  Because of the snow there were a lot of kids who came in late to 1st hour.  On boy, Matt S. Tried to be really sneaky and take a lab before I could mark "no lab", but once I caught him he didn't want it.  He ended up finding his, but he didn't have the questions done so I still had to mark his page.  It frustrated me, but Mrs. Larson said he did that to every one and it was just his personality.

Day 12, February 22

Today Mr. Craig was gone so Mr. Cox was the sub.  I passed back the scantrons to the students so they could fill out their interventions sheets.  Then they worked on a handout that was an into to what I am teaching Friday.  I went around to answer questions which helped me to remember some of the material.  First hour was very quiet, but 2nd hour was, as per usual, pretty chatty.  Their conversations made a lot of people in the class uncomfortable, but they wouldn't keep it down even we we asked.

Day 11, February 21

Today the lab was very self directed once again.  I walked around and there were more questions because what we were asking for wasn't really possible.  We found that it was hard to make a cladogram when we were having students identify specific characteristics.  This was added into the lab intro for the next labs.

Week 3 Overview

After the third week I am liking this even more.  I really liked being a part of the PLC meetings creating a new project, and helping a student was also really beneficial for me.

Weekly Hours: 9 hours 30 minutes
Total Hours: 28 hours 50 minutes

Day 10, February 16

Today was a similar day to Tuesday.  The lab was very self directed.  Maddie R. came into lab and I helped her review the past unit because she had been out and still needed to take that test.  I was really nervous helping her because I had not been in class for that unit so I didn't really know all of the information. I guess I remembered more than I had thought because I was able to help her, and I gave her the idea to check out a book to take home and study more.

Day 9, February 15

Today was a PLC day so I attended the Biology team meeting. It started with talking about which text book company they wanted.  Then we talked about how interventions went and planned it for the next time.  Then they redesigned the vertebrate project to make it a better overall project and to cover more standards.  I gave some input into this because I know what students should be able to do.  Their team seemed to work very well together and there was no arguments.  Because of that we got a lot of work accomplished.

Also the calender had a lot of dates change so I may need to change around some of the lessons.  In class, it was the plant test so I only had to take attendance.  During the test I made a prezi outline for the new project as a template for the students.

Day 8, February 14

Today in class there was not much for me to do because it was a pretty self directed lab.  I just walked around in case anyone had any questions.  Then during 3rd we planned out all of my lessons tentatively.

Week 2 Overview

After the second week I am already feeling more comfortable.  Having the sub there was a new experience but I think it helped me bond with the kids more because they chose to talk to me, and ask me their questions as opposed to the sub because I was more familiar.

Weekly Hours: 10 hours 25 minutes
Total Hours: 19 hours 20 minutes

Day 7, February 10

Today Mr. Cox subbed again.  I started out just helping him get logged into the computer.  Then during class I helped the student with all of their questions on both activities.  We found a mistake on the worksheet, so I made the announcement to the class about that.  Then during 2nd hour, Emily C. brought up that they needed their labs back which no one in 1st hour had said.  I went to the other room to get all the labs for that class and the next hours.

Day 6, February 9

Today in class Mr. Craig was gone so I was working with the substitute, Mr. Cox.  I mainly worked with interventions but I also helped students with their labs.  I was put a bit on the spot by Ms. Dinmore, so I told the class how to make a wet mount slide.  I was really nervous so I went a bit fast, but it felt natural.

Day 5, February 8

Today in class I took attendance.   I was also in charge of the class a few times because the teacher had to leave the room to help another teacher.  I was very stressed because I did not really know what to do with the class.  They were supposed to be discussing things with their partner, but because it was all girls they just started to chat and they got off topic.  I still wasn't very comfortable so I let them talk.

Day 4, February 7

Today in lab I helped mostly with interventions.  I had my fist student come up to me specifically to get started.  I also helped take attendance and stamp the labs. I also found out that one student is mad at me because I caught him leaving early.  I guess they won't all be happy with me there.  He wouldn't have been caught if I hadn't seen him.

Week 1 Overview

After my first week I am already beginning to enjoy this process.  I know that it might take a while for the students to get comfortable with me, and visa versa, but I have a feeling that we will mesh well.

Weekly Hours: 8 hours 55 minutes
Total Hours: 8 hours 55 minutes

Day Almost 4, February 3

Today was a snow day! Unfortunately it messed up my lesson plan.  I was scheduled to do the introduction lesson today.

Day 3, February 2

Today I helped to get the lab set up.  Again I painted leaves and cut tape in preparation for the students.  I stamped labs and then learned how to take attendance for labs which is different than a regular class.  Then I helped with interventions by checking worksheets.  I also helped a special education boy, Daniel, finish his test.  It was his third day working on it.  I helped lead him in the right direction to get to his answers.  One of the teachers said he wanted me to come back for 6th hour lab because he wanted my help because he knew it would be busy.

Day 2, February 1

Today I went to the PLC meeting.  The teachers went over all of the standards and talked about who was covering what topics.  Then we looked at a bunch of textbooks and online supplements.  I was looking online at samples of books and the resources available. Then in class I took attendance and started to learn some names. I helped dilute test tubes of spinach for a class activity.