1a: Equality         

         If I thought the tornado ride was tough, munchkin land was tougher.  It was new and full of mystery, but confusing and difficult at the same time.  Looking back, I realize that my optimism was clouding my judgement at the time.  I was so focused on perfecting the big things, like content and lesson plans that I let the small things slip, like classroom management and scheduling my time for sanity.  Unfortunately, by the time that I realized that my classroom management was too relaxed and inconsistent, it was too late to fix it.  Suddenly, the kids who had been angels for two weeks were refusing to work, talking over me, and laughing when I gave out warnings.  I realized that what I deemed as "angel time" was actually the time that I was getting scoped out and the students were figuring out just how far they could push me.

          After a couple days months of competing to talk, throwing out empty threats, and exhausting myself beyond measure, I began to seek out ways to keep my difficult students occupied.  I decided to let them do what they do best: talk.  They became my slide-readers, my paper-hander-outers, powerpoint-clickers, and my errand-runners.  I also became more relaxed about where they were sitting during independent and partner activities, depending on the class.  I found out that the students are very capable of learning, but they are not all going to learn the same way.  One of my classes contained two very hyper-active boys.  I began letting them work together during partner work, something I had promised myself I would never do.  To my surprise, they would lay down on the floor and get their work done, with minimal talk about football.  Their grades improved because they were getting stuff done and turned in, and my classroom improved because they were not terrorizing me and the girls who got annoyed by everything they did (seriously, the girls would complain about them breathing).

 

 

 

 

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          I also found that some students have an undying need to be funny, and sometimes it is okay to let them.  In almost all of my classes, I had the students who needed to crack jokes.  At this point, I felt like I was the bad guy for killing their fun, especially since I was likely the one who was laughing.  The kids are truly hilarious.  However, the jokes, or "roasting" as the kids call it can be incredibly disruptive.  I talked to my jokesters one-on-one and explained that I know they are funny and sometimes it is okay, but that there is a time to be funny and a time to be serious.  I told them that while I do not mind it sometimes, when it becomes a distraction to other's learning, I cannot tolerate the behavior.  I still have the students cracking jokes, but when it is time to be serious (for the most part) they comply.  When you explain why you are unhappy with a behavior, it goes a lot further than being a dictator and commanding the students to do as you say.

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1c: Excellence in Pedagogical Knowledge 

      ii. Knowledge of Lab Safety and Procedures

          When I was in high school, my teachers allowed us to participate in many labs.  We did a lot of hands-on experiments and I loved them, and I wanted my students to have the same experience.  My senior year of high school, my chemistry teacher decided to do a demonstration lab showing us a chemical reaction.  Well, long story short, she was not following lab safety procedures and the lab did not go as expected: the reaction was much stronger than she had anticipated.  The reaction resulted in her arm getting covered in chemicals and then her sleeve caught on fire.  It was terrifying.  Luckily, we had a lab with a safety shower and she was able to get the flames out rather quickly, but she was still pretty badly hurt and had to go to the hospital to get treatment from the burns.  It was terrifying, and that was an experience that I did not want my students to encounter.  For this reason, I placed a strong emphasis on lab safety early in the year and had all of my students sign a lab safety contract.  We also completed a unit on lab safety in the classroom before the students were introduced to the lab. 

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1c: Excellence in Pedagogical Knowledge 

      ii. Practice of Lab Safety and Procedures

          Lab safety is all good and well in writing, but the importance of it is follow through in actual lab settings.  When my students are in the lab, I make sure to go over lab safety for that particular lab.  If the lab has even the slightest chance of harming the student, they will wear protective gear such as goggles, aprons, and gloves.

          When I was teaching about pH in the lab, my classes got so excited.  I emphasized lab safety and made them wear aprons and goggles.  I asked them to remind me the important parts of lab safety and I told them the dangers of not following lab protocol.  For the experiment on pH, I used solutions that the students see in their everyday lives and allowed them to test the pH levels of the various solutions.  The solutions included vinegar, ammonia, bleach, corn syrup, and milk to name a few.  My 5th period class had an especially good time with the experiment and even made a rap about lab safety and the importance of wafting in a lab as opposed to smelling.

 

The video can be found at this link: http://mtclincoln.blogspot.com/2016/03/connecting-content.html

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1d: Caring

          In my second period class, I had eight students on various individual educational programs (IEPs).  I still remember my inclusion teacher coming in a few weeks after school had started and handing me a stack of folders and instructing me to sign in the highlighted areas.  It was overwhelming.  Later, I read through and found that many of these students had little to no math proficiency and were reading anywhere from a kindergarten to a 4th grade comprehension level.  I remember thinking "how am I supposed to work with this?"

          I did my best to give them individualized attention during the independent practice portions of my lessons.  Ms. Jones, my inclusion teacher, was also very helpful.  She did not know much about science, but she was proactive in taking the notes when she was in my class and making sure that she understood the information so that she could re-teach the information during her inclusion class if needed.  To be honest, the first semester, I did little more for the inclusion kids than to modify their tests to have two answer choices as opposed to the normal four, as requested by Ms. Jones.  I honestly did not know of any more that I could do.  I felt like I was drowning trying to teach my other students who were barely trying to learn.  I did not know how to simplify the information any further.  Luckily, in later semesters, I learned more methods to help those with learning disabilities or difficulties.