My journey through Graduate School to earn a Masters of Art in Education. I was on track to become a teacher, but now everything has changed, and I'm on the job hunt with a Bachelor's in Liberal Arts and a Master's in Education with no teaching certificate.

 
September 4.

I've been ignoring my blog. I haven't had the time, but it is important to maintain the journaling aspect of what's been happening.

I started classes on Moday, August 26. WE only have classes at the University on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I am supposed to be at JL middle school from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30. a.m. each day, then classes at the U start at 12:30. I eat lunch on the run. I didn't hear about my placement until the 28th of August, about noon. The placement officer said I should get to JL that afternoon, so I placed a call to the VP, who didn't return my call after 90 minutes, so I left for JL. He wasn't expecting me. They were going to be closed on Friday and on Monday (it being labor day and all that) so I figured it was best to be safe and go to JL. If I was going to sit around with nothing to do, at least I've met the VP. I got a quick tour of the school, which is in the middle of a poor neighborhood (actually, it's on the edge) so the building doesn't look modern or always clean. It's clean enough, but the carpets are old and if they are vaccuumed it isn't apparent that they are vaccuumed. The floors get mopped, but it doesn't have a lot of effect. I don't think I impressed the VP and I think I pissed him off some, but he also admitted that he was having a bad day.
Friday I only had one class, Classroom Management. For the life of me I can't remember what we talked about. I think I've done the reading but I can't remember it, so I need to read it again before class tomorrow. I'm not sure I'm going to like C, the instructor. He has an aura of holier-than-thou or know-it-all or some other hyphenated thing. I'm a bit reserved. I was very interested in his method of assessment: Frequent quizzes of about equal value. IN fact all of the assignments are graded about evenly with the quizzes, and there is no final. He claims this makes it statistically difficult to bomb one test and fail the class. It sounds reasonable. I do dislike the idea of high stakes tests. I will work hard, but it could make the students think 'hey, it's only 20 points and there are plenty of other tests' far too frequently, and let too many tests go.
Sunday we went clothes shopping. It was incredibly hot. I've often said that there are only five temperatures: Hot, Cold, Fine, Too Damn Hot, and Too Damn Cold. Don't bother me with "It may be 95 today, but yesterday it was 98, so it's cooler." No it isn't. It's Too Damn Hot. We got some nice clothes and I feel ready to go into the schools. I need a nicer pair of shoes and another pair of lighter slacks, since most of my shirts are darker colors. A fashion plate I'm not.
Monday we had class, Labor Day not withstanding. Assessment covered the ideas of Reliability, Validity, and Absense of Bias in assessment tools. As I was driving to school I was listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR and the discussion was about the 33,000 Florida 3rd graders who passed the classes, but did pass the benchmark test and were retained. (http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=5&prgDate=1-Sep-2003) The complaints about the FCAT all touched on the tests validity. Poor kids in Florida probably haven't traveled north and probably don't know what a toboggan is, so when they are tested on it, they fail. Go figure.
In our Methods class I presented a lesson on Completing the Square. Boy, that's hard work. Working with an overhead while standing is dangerous and blinding. Rehearsing the script, even ad-libbing for student response, takes me about half the time to do the real thing. We heard three lessons and then discussed the Work Samples we have to do to get licensed. That's an intimitading amount of work.
Tuesday morning I met my Cooperating Teacher, Ms. R. It was a work day and I spent about six hours helping her get the class ready. Ms. R had severe degenerative osteo-arthritis, so she doesn't move around a lot. She put me in charge of putting the desks in order. In all of the classes I've had with single free desks, they have always been in a grid. Tables have been in a grid, and Ms. R wanted desks in a "split ladder" formation. It leaves a large aisle in the middle, children don't have to push through a lot of desks, and they are pre-set to work in groups. It helps Ms. R who walks with a cane and needs extra room to move around in.
Wednesday. My first day in front of (well, behind) students. I thought I'd be afraid of them, but I'm more afraid of stepping on Ms. R's toes by doing something she doesn't want me to do. We don't communicate well yet. She gives me instructions without a full context or deadline so I don't know what's important, or why I'm doing things. It will work out in the end, but it will be a struggle for a while.
In Research class I learned it is difficult to find anything and be absolutely sure it's appropriate. It's also difficult to sit in front of a lip-smackingly powerful computer running OS X (drool) with a high speed internet connection, and pay attention to the professor.
posted by Josh English at 9/04/2003 03:54:00 PM