When hunting for wild hogs (the kind with tusks):’s Neighborhood

Three "teacher skills" I would like to work on this summer:

1. Not accepting as many excuses from students
   
2. Correcting incorrect grammar
3. Sticking to my rules
   

One thing I do well is building a positive rapport with my students, which in turn motivates and/or encourages them to do well in class and behave like they have at least some kind of sense.

District Plan:   http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d84z939_82ctjv5nfp

I did several different/innovative things with my district plan.  First, I created a year-round school modeled off of Virginia Beach City Schools.  Second, my district has a 4-day week.  Fridays are reserved for remediation, detention, parent activities, and administrative meetings/activities.  Additionally, 9th grade and SATP teachers have an equal and higher salary.

To be honest I would be happy to have time off, even if it because of an infectious and potentially fatal virus.  I know that may sound crazy, but it would provide a much needed break.  The unfortunate part is that the swine flu is very dangerous and poses a real threat to students, teachers, and staff.  Additionally, it is close to the end of the year and it is state-testing time, which means that many of the schools that have closed will have to extend the year.

I know that this is a very scary situation for many.  I don't think that it's unreasonable for schools to close if there have been infections in the area.

Interesting update: As I was writing this blog, the school secretary came in and handed me a letter to give the kids about how to prevent contracting the swine flu and symptoms to look for.

US HISTORY

Female U.S. History Student:
I love being in Ms Floyd class. She's very classy and respectful, thats why my class are always respecting her and never giving her hard times.  Her teaching skills are wonderful the way she put out things makes me think I was their during that time period.  Sometimes Ms Floyd looks like she mad and don't want to be bother. But never takes it out on none of the kids in her presence thats why over all Ms Floyd and her class are very wonderful and class is great.

Male U.S. History Student:
Ms. Floyd is my U.S. History teacher at bailey magnet. Ms. Floyd has different teaching style than others. She breaks the work down to the simplest form.  She cares about the student and about your learning ability. Ms. Floyd shows no favoritism to others, she works with students after school.  She is a nice and very intelligent teach and she can really teach!

Male U.S. History Student:
What is it like, that's a big question!  Well, to be honest I enjoy being in that class. Why? Because it fun to know history and when you are surrounded by classmates who know or don't know is really challenging.  Sometimes reading and discussing the main things are focal point of the lesson. Ms. Floyd is well-balanced teacher with warm feelings, nice, kind, ready to instruct, and really helps you with things you do not know. When classmates don't know the material its really sad to me but I know my purpose in school and that to pass every class on my schedule and Ms Floyd will assure me to pass but effort comes into place and study.  This is really fun and probably will have more learning fun until May but as for now we need to stay focused.

Female U.S. History Student:
Ms Floyd is an smart and caring teacher. With a positive attitude toward her very descriptive teaching. At first when they moved me to her class, I'm going to be honest I was mad cause I thought she was one of those teachers who gave you work in don't explain nothing. As I got in her class in her class I found out that I was wrong.  Actually I learned more in Ms. Floyd class then in my previous course of World History. So if you can tell by that I must be paying attention more and not only on my hair and clothes. And when I'm in her class I don't be in my mirror as much. So in the outcome Ms. Floyd is really good teacher. Oops I forgot I suppose to be talking about how our class is. Getting to the point our class is kind of a hand full with the class clowns in my class.  Even though we still manage to get the work done. Although Ms Floyd have to raise her voice sometimes but she got more will-power than me cause I would've been lost my job. Despite that we are still an okay class.

SOCIOLOGY/PSYCHOLOGY

Male Sociology/Psychology Student:
Ms. Floyd your class is amazing and you are a great teacher.  Your methods are fun. I really learn when I come in your class. I understand everything you teach me, because you take your time to help me learn.  Your attitude is jacked up when your mad, but thats because of your last class, so I understand.  Other than that you are the best teacher I had in a long time. Keep up the great work. I'm happy to be in your class.

Female Sociology/Psychology Student:
Being in your class is a real joy. Never did I think you could have this much fun learning. You keep me interested, your teaching skills are creative and you're a very cool person.  Not to mention the fact that you're closer to my age makes it easier to bond or talk with you.  You're a very good teacher and being in your class has been a positively fun experience.

Female Sociology/Psychology Student:
I think that it is a honor to be in Ms Floyd class. Every time I walk into her class or see her she makes my day.  She to me is a good role model. She has indeed inspired me. When I'm in her class she makes everything seem so easy and thats why I pass most of everything.  When she is mad I think it is so cool and funny because she looks so innocent and little. Wow I love her. Even though she give us a lot of work it don't phase me because I know its not her fault, but she know its good for us. To me she is one of the best teachers at Bailey. I'm proud to say it and thats all that matter.
                                                                                                                   Sincerely yours,
                                                                                                                       Your favorite happy student

I was pleasantly surprised with the interns' presentations today! They were well thought out and very interesting.  To be honest, I was not looking forward to watching two hours of presentations during what I thought would essentially be an "off day" (minus our classroom management presentations).  But I think that today was a day well spent.  Most of the interns had some REALLY good topics that really got me thinking.

Individual Comments:
Phillip/Media in Education: Phillip is an amazing speaker!

Amanda/Innocent convicts: Great presentation!

Cathrine/Lost Boys: Very unique and intriguing topic!

Christine/Language: Very informative presentation!

Matt/MTC Moto: Funny video!

Tish/Early Childhood Education: Addressed an important and often times overlooked topic!

Ashton/The American Dream: Good video!

One of the main things that I wanted to improve was pausing during the lesson to think of how to explain/phrase things.  I think that I accomplished that over this past month.  I was pleasantly surprised in how much I improved over this past month.  Last month I gave myself an 88%. This month I gave myself a 92%.

Things I did well:
*The student was really into my set.  In comparsion to June's lesson, my set even more engaging.  My lesson was over globalization and we took an in depth look at Starbucks and McDonalds around the world.  He loved it!!
*Even balance of lecture and independent work.  I have defiantly gotten better at not talking as much and letting the student do most of the work. In June, I was doing too much talking and not enough "teaching." I tended to guide the student too much. I think that I have fixed that problem.  In July, I did not talk that much and let the student discover most of the information. I only came back and clarified things for him.

Improvements:
*I am still having a time management problem.  I tend to over plan my lessons, but everyone keeps telling me that it's better to do that than to under-plan a lesson.  I think I had the same problem in June; but I am getting better at making adjustments throughout my lessons.

I was really pleased with my lesson and improvement since June. It is amazing how much you can improve as a teacher on such a short amount of time.  I hope to only continue to grow.

The first thing that I need to improve on is efficient lesson planning.  It takes me about 5 hours to plan one lesson!!  I stay up all night trying to create a "perfect lesson" -- if there is such a thing.  Although my extensive planning helps me prepare for class, it's taking its toll on me physically.  I am utterly exhausted and the school year will be 10x worse!! I'm not going to make it if I don't get better at planning lesson in less time.

Another thing that I need to work on is making concrete connections between the material I cover.  While I do this 95% of the time, this needs to be done ALL THE TIME!!

I think that I am improving with every lesson that I teach.  I am feeling more and more confident as the summer goes on.  My only apprehension is that I only have one student and I am VERY nervous about having a full class in the Fall.

The one major thing that I learned from Matt Alred is how to make the students do most of the work!!  This is a major challenge for me and I could still use some work on this, but I have gotten a lot better with sitting back and letting the students do all the work for me.  I still like to talk/discuss things with my student, but Matt has been challenging my fellow social studies teachers and I to create a classroom where the student is hard at work and not the teacher. Although I feel that this is not the best way to teach everything, it does help build the skills and confidence of the students and makes my job a lot easier!!