June 9th: Flying (Semi) Solo

Note:
I decided to call this blog post "Flying (Semi) Solo" because I knew that although I would be leading out in the lesson Wynne would help with a supportive smile or nod and chyme in where I was... stumped. Wynne allowed me full control of the class room and offered help where I needed it.

I arrived at LAGCC at 8:30 AM with a feeling of nervousness. But, not the nervous feeling you get when you are certain things would go awry. These nerves were different, more like stage fright before a show stopping performance. This was nerves caused by having a bit too much adrenaline than normal. I was excited to teach! Even with that excitement, I was worried that I would make some horrible mistake I would not be able to recover from. Or, even worse, loose control of the class and not be able to get through the lesson! I think this has to be a teachers worst nightmare. I figured these distractions could happen when reviewing such a monotonous topic as grammar, specifically capitalization, commas, and transitional words/phrases. The students might get bored or already know the subject matter and simply stop paying attention and start speaking with their classmates. Worst case scenario. Thankfully, none of this occurred; the entire experience was stellar!

After Wynne and I discussed a few protocol items about the lesson (for example, letting the students know the agenda and informing them about the use of PowerPoint for the lesson), she said, "This experience will be good for them." When initially planning the lesson, I realized that writing all the information about grammar rules would be difficult for me as well as for the students.  I decided to use PowerPoint because my penmanship isn't the best and did not want to add additional work to the students by having them try to decipher my scribblings. I also chose this medium for a more self-serving  reason: it's what I am used to from business, and it places me in my comfort zone.

Before class, we placed paper on the walls around the room so that students could write their answer to activities. We placed them by student's desk so they wouldn't feel shy about writing on the board; the paper was right next to them so they could easily participate. Once in the class, Wynne spoke with the class briefly and turned it over to me. I began by explaining the agenda, introducing the title of the lesson, and what they should be doing during the lesson. (Wynne reminded me of this part by asking the students if they should be asking notes from the PowerPoint.) After that, I briefly discussed the warm-up capitalization activity and passed it out to the class. They were focused and seemed to breeze through it.  After about 15 minutes, I asked the class to tell me what they know about capitalization instead of me just lecturing right away. They had great responses! Everyone seemed to understand capitalization rules although they weren't always utilizing it in their writing.  A few students had questions about this, but,  overall, everyone understood.

After I reviewed the "Top 4 Capitalization Rules,"  I went into the next section on commas. The students seemed excited to discuss this. One student in particular seemed really engaged and I utilized his enthusiasm by having him help to explain each rule I discussed. Admittedly, I was somewhat nervous about his knowledge of grammar because I was afraid that I would say something totally off and then he'd point it out and the class would loose faith in me. There were moments when we debated usage in class, and it was great! I felt like I were in a real academic classroom. The back and forth was good and even helped students clarify specif misconceptions about commas usage. Once the lesson was through (and it took longer than I planned for), we did the accompanying comma activity. Wynne and I walked around the class to help the students where needed.I realized, while helping them, that the activity might have been a little too complex. However, I think the students liked the challenge and they worked through each sentences. One tip I used to help the students with placing commas was to read the sentence out loud. if they made a pause while reading, usually, the comma would be placed there. (I made sure to emphasize "usually" because many students read without emotion or pause.) Half way through the activity, we asked students to start writing answers on the papers that were placed around the classroom. I was surprised how many students participated, even students who typically don't go to the board (when I'm there at least) were up there writing their answers. 

Finally, we reviewed transitional words and phrases. I provided 5 common uses. One thing I noticed about myself in this section of the lesson was my poor questioning of the class to see if they understood. Wynne helped me a lot with this, and I was grateful. She asked really keen questions. (I asked her about this during lunch and she said that when planning a lesson I should consider "big questions" that relate to the topic. I am still uncertain about this, but I will keep this in mind when planning the second lesson.) After the transitional phrase lesson, I decided to change my planned activity. I had a handout in which I wanted the students to add transitional words to a paragraph to make it flow better. I decided, instead, to have them make capitalization, comma, and transitional phrase updates to their essays. Wynne suggested I have them work in pairs and swap papers and edit each others work. That turned out to be a great idea and very productive!  (Some of the student comments were harsh and mean. I think they need to work on respecting each other. I am trying to figure out ways of addressing this before the end of the course because when they start college they need to know how to provide constructive criticism.)

To close the class, I asked the students to evaluate the lesson so that I could improve for next time. (I will post some of the evaluations on another blog post without student names.) All the evaluations were good. (Wow!) Some students still have questions, and I plan to answer them next week one-on-one.

Overall, I think it went well.

Now, let's see how the next one goes because "some days are better than others." : )

Lesson 1: Plan Documents

Lesson Plan Outline with Activities

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AaaDL3cIrNTAZGdmNm54bTNfN3IyM2dianJ3&hl=en

Lesson Plan Accompanying PowerPoint Presentation

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AaaDL3cIrNTAZGdmNm54bTNfOHg1ZnBjdjUz&hl=en

Enjoy,

~Stace

Lesson 1: The Preparation Process

After class on June 2nd, Wynne and I discussed my first solo lesson. I had expressed interest in focusing on essay writing, and we decided to make my lessons be around composition and grammar.
We discussed covering transitional phrases, conjunctions, commas and linking thoughts together. We also discussed how the class should go. We'd continue with using the warm-up activity to get the students ready for the lesson and in the attitude of learning. She also provided me with sample outlines, activities, websites and readings to help me prepare for my first lesson.

Our discussion was very productive and it left me with many ideas. I was excited and jotted down potential ideas in my notebook while on the train heading home. I really wanted the lesson to be informative, engaging, and interactive.

At home, the preparation process took way longer than I expected. I told Wynne during our meeting that I'd have my lesson plan to her by Thursday; I didn't sent it to her until Friday morning. I first wrote my objectives and then constructed the lesson based on them. I wanted to cover:

-Capitalization
-Punctuation Rules (commas, semi-colons, and colons)
-Transitional Phrases
-Conjunctions

I realized when I hit the punctuation section that I had taken on more than I could handle, but I kept through and covered everything. I sent my draft to Wynne knowing that I probably would not get through the lesson in the first 1/2 of class (although my time break down stated I would). Maybe if the students had no questions, I'd be able to. But this is unrealistic and would not help the students and only confuse them more.

Wynne provided great feedback and confirmed my feeling of taking on more than I could chew. She asked me to focus on introducing the rules "thinking about where [I] see the most errors in capitalization, and just choose the most common rules." I tried to have all 1,000 punctuation rules, but she knew the students wouldn't grasp all this in one session. She also pointed out where I could be more interactive or use the students existing work to facilitate or supplement the activity sheets I created.

I went back to the drawing board and tried to address the things she pointed out. It was good to go back and actually look at all the things I expected to teach. It reinforced my need to hone in on the top 4 or 5 rules the students needed. I updated the lesson plan and realized than I could probably teach all the rules in two more lessons. I decided to rename my lesson "Essay Writing Workshop 1.5" (1.5 because Wynne and I had already introduced the lesson in previous weeks, and I'd just be building on the concepts).

I think the final product is good, although I may have to solicit Wynne's expertise tomorrow during the lesson. Maybe I will not be able to clearly explain a concept and ask her to chyme in with an example or simpler definition. But, that's what team teaching and collaboration is about. I am ready to do this!

Note: All lesson plan items (lesson plan outline with activities and PowerPoint presentation) will be posted on the next blog for easy access.

June 2nd: Impromptu Lesson : )

Today’s class session was an improvement from last week. Overall, the students were focused and attentive. Wynne and I attributed this to the small class size. About 6 students were absent from class, so there were fewer opportunities for arguments, disruption, and distraction. The class was also not as tiresome this week because a substantial portion of the morning was devoted to informing the students about “College and Certificate Programs” post taking and passing the GED examination. The presentation was conducted by another LAGCC staff member who focuses on advising students and helping them navigate the college world.

The students were very involved and engaged during the presentation. They had great questions about the difference between a certificate program and a college program, about using certificates to get college credits, how to select the best program, paying for the programs through scholarships and grants, and the like. The presenter made sure to ask students to sign-up for individual sessions with her so she could answer personal questions/concerns.

An extra special treat was that two students who "graduated" from the LAGCC GED program (they are still waiting on their test results) came to speak to the class. I thought it was awesome of Wynne to invite them. They provide hope for the other students, I believe. The two students talked about how the class was like a family after the first two weeks. I hoped the students in the current program heard this and would work on how they treat each other in class.

After the presentation we took our lunch break. Upon our return, we continued the lesson on paragraph development. Wynne set up the lesson and activity and asked the students to read a sample (“good”) body paragraph. Then she dropped a bomb on me. She asked me to execute and review the activity with the class. I felt like was on stage and the spotlight was beaming on me. I was not prepared for that since we had not discussed it during lunch. Surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous or anxious. (Maybe that was her strategy. Telling me during lunch would have given an hour to think about all the possible ways I could screw up the lesson/exercise. Being told impromptu allowed me to “think on my feet.” I think she did the right thing by simply asking me to do it while in class and in front of the students. Otherwise, I would have over thought the lesson and probably “freak out.” Brilliant!)

Because of the confusion in last previous weeks class, I decided to start the lesson by setting up ground rules. I told the students (which was very anti-Friere and oppressive in nature) that I would not acknowledge them unless they raise their hands; I would not stop talking/teaching if they blurted out random ideas, and I would not repeat myself. This required them to listen and be polite by waiting their turn to speak. In my opinion, that strategy worked well in terms of keep everyone focused. I do, however, think I alienated some students who participate by blurting out good ideas that come to mind and forget to raise their hands. One student in particular did this and I cut her off and said, “Your classmate is still speaking. Please wait.” When I asked her to add her point she said never mind. I felt sad on the inside and my face began to burn, but I kept moving along. (After class I told her not to take my cutting her off personally. I just wanted to make sure we had order in the classroom. She said it was fine, and the read she did not speak was because she forgot her point.) After setting up the rules, I began the activity by asking the students to define the word “paraphrase” in the first question. I used this tactic throughout the lesson to prompt interaction as well as to get the students to think and use their own knowledge to answer the questions. I was a one trick pony (constantly questioning the students), but I thought it was effective.

All in all, I thought the brief activity went well. The students were engaged and I did not stutter or pass out! : ) I did forget to point out one key thing I thought was important when developing a paragraph, but Wynne was able to add that it once she resumed her portion of the lesson. That’s one of the pluses of collaborative teaching! You always have someone to make up for your shortcomings.

Wynne used this impromptu lesson to tell the student that I would be doing a workshop with them the following week. I think she decided to have me do they activity with the class to not only get me used to leading the class, but also to get the class used to me being the “leader.”

May 26th: Some days are better than others...

Today’s class was draining especially after lunch. Wynne was hosting a thesis statement/essay workshop and the students would not focus to complete the task. In fact, the students were down right rowdy, childish, disrespectful and, at times, obnoxious! This was unexpected for me as well as Wynne since several students were removed from the program due to lack of constructive participation in class and through homework assignments among other things. (These students did not comply with the contract goals set by the LAGCC GED program.) 

After the lesson section of the class time, students were asked to take 45-60 minutes to draft a 5-paragraph essay: intro, body (3 paragraphs), and conclusion. Wynne had left me in charge of the class because she had a departmental meeting. Instead of working diligently, the students talked in cliques when they should have been taking the time to craft a strong thesis statement and write their essays. While I was helping several students’ work through their essays things became a little noisy. I looked up from the student I was working with and asked them to keep it down because others were writing.  Some students moved to an empty classroom next door to concentrate because of all the commotion. I tried being a little sterner to get the class to focus but they’d only quite down for a few minutes at a time.  One student was working but became frustrated with the noise and my lack of control and slammed his books, swore, and stormed out of the classroom dropping the “f” bomb before he crossed the threshold of the classroom.  His behavior was completely unacceptable. The funny thing about him is that he is a good student in terms of handing in assignments, following directions, and even essay composition. He needs to work on his temper and work on managing how outside distractions/factors affects his emotions.  Wynne was back by then and was able to speak with him. I would not have known what to say to him, so I was thankful for her return. This is not why I chose adult education; I want to be around “mature” students I thought to myself in anger. 

Outside of the usual noise distraction, one student was distracting and disruptive in another way. The GED essay question asked students to choose one side and defend it: Do you think learning from a book is better than learning from experience? This student felt morally conflicted by the essay question and refused to start the essay. He argued quite loudly and adamantly that both are needed in order to learn and he could not write the essay. After trying to work with him (by questioning him) on selecting one method of learning he probably favored a little more, I “gave up” and tried to get him to choose one by being “practical.” I explain to him that during the GED examination he would not have the luxury of having hours to think about the side he’d choose. He’d need to select a topic, defend it, and work on writing the best possible essay within the allotted time.  That did not work, so I told him to think about it some more while I worked with another student. (Although I wanted to work through this with him, I thought it unfair to the other students to spend so much time with him.)


Classroom management is one aspect of teaching that I think you not only need to read about but also should experienced in order to become seasoned. I truly experienced it today! I had to manage the entire class, help them with their questions and deal with disruptive behavior while maintaining my composure. Teachers deal with people and not machines. Even machines have off days much less people. We have to realize that students have outside factors that impact their classroom behavior, focus, and productivity. Effective classroom management comes with practice and understanding of emotional intelligence; even with practice and knowledge chaotic days are certain to occur.

Wynne and I discussed and reflected on the crazy classroom we had and decided, “Some days are better than others.”  Even with that, she said she’d reiterate classroom rules and respect for one another. I thought that would be a great idea.

May 19th: Meet the Class

When we arrived at the classroom around 9:05 AM, students were already in the room chatting, getting settled, and eating. Wynne introduced me to some of the students there and said she’d make a larger announcement when the majority of the class arrived at 9:15 AM.  By that time, there was hardly any room in the classroom; chairs had to be brought in from outside to accommodate them. (Sadly, I knew this wouldn’t last because if they were not dedicated, punctual, and engaged they would be cut from the program after two weeks. The program had to ensure that everyone who was attending class truly wanted to be there and would do the work.) She introduced me very casually: “Guys, remember the person I said would be helping out every Wednesday…” That made me feel at home because she had already prepared the students for me.  I introduced myself and then each student went around the class a told me their names. I certainly did not get all their names, but a few students stood out because of their vibrant and bubbly personalities. After the meet and greet was over, Wynne introduced the math warm-up activity.  Students were given 10 minutes to count all the triangles in the diagram. (Can you get the correct amount?  See below.)

 I worked on the activity with the students and the looked at the answers around me. Some students got it, other students didn't, and other were close but began doubting themselves. It was a great activity to get the class focused on one task as well as great way to solicit class participation. 

Wynne used it as an opportunity to review a math technique taught the class before. The technique was far easier and more efficient than the way I had solved the problem. I counted each triangle by sectioning off each on a placing a tally mark. In her method, each of the inner triangles received a number and the different combination would equal one triangle and then the outside triangle was added. I really enjoyed that warm up more than the students! 

I was very concerned with having to deal with various mathematical subject matters prior to accepting the internship. This activity showed me that I could still do math, I just needed to review and prepare for each class that would deal with math.

The first class, for me, was an observation period; I did not want to over-step any boundaries.  I watched Wynne closely as well as the students reaction to her requests. After the warm up activity, we moved on to the main activity for the first part of the day: answering critical reading comprehension questions about climate change from a famous Marvin Gaye song and three articles from (one from the nation and the other two from NASA).When working on the questions and answer activities, I walked around the class helping students where necessary and reminding some to work on the assignment and not stare off into space. I was able to identify areas specific students needed improvement in. For example, when asked to answer questions about the readings on climate change one pair of young men were working together. One was obviously stronger than the other in terms of following the directions, reading and identifying key points by underlining, placing an exclamation mark or a key symbol for important details or points that you agree with, or even placing a question mark where he didn’t comprehend a sentence, idea, or word. Student A was tackling each question at a good speed while student B was seemingly waiting for the answers. I assisted by first pointing out that student B needed to read the article and underline all key ideas. I even sat down and read the first three paragraphs with student B and tried to answer the first question with him.  He began to catch on but it was slow and other students needed help. I told him to continue working and call me if he gets stuff again. I helped many students that morning, but could not stay for the afternoon because I was still working on finals for spring semester.   All in all, it was a great first day and I felt I could work well with Wynne and the students through the remainder of the program. I was excited about shadowing Wynne in the class and helping the students with each activity. However, I was still nervous about the idea of teaching my own lesson in a few weeks.

May 19th: Before Meeting the Class

I arrived at LAGCC at 8:30 AM on Wednesday May 19th surprisingly calm. I was 15 minutes early for my scheduled meeting with Wynne F., my team teacher as well as classmate from the Masters in Language & Literacy program, so I decided to get tea and a bagel from the breakfast cart outside since I did not have any breakfast. Knowing Wynne from class made the process less nerve racking. I knew she was an excellent classmate and would exemplify the same gregarious personality she had in class. From our previous meeting, I knew the routine would be to arrive at 8:45 AM so we could finalize any questions, concerns, or changes to the lesson (Wynne had emailed the lesson plan to me on Monday so I had ample time to review the material and prepare any final questions). While waiting for my breakfast, I thought about what the 30-minute meeting would be like: Would it be formal or informal, would we have enough time to review all my questions, were there any changes to the lesson plan, and so on. I was also concerned with the content of the course. I had skimmed a GED book prior to the start of the internship but I this course would be the “CYAP GED Bridge to Health.” My moms a Registered Nurse and Nurse Practitioner, but I know little about health, biology and the like. I was a little concerned with how that would be conveyed in the course. As I walked up the stairs to her office, I also began to think about the fact that an entire week had already passed. I did not have the opportunity to meet with the students at the start of the course. Would that impact how they viewed me in the class as an authority figure? Would they view me as a once per week intruder?

When I arrived at Wynne’s office she was welcoming and all my concerns were lessened. I felt it would be okay. We sat down at talked about the lesson for the day. It would include all the climate changed related readings she had sent to me as well as a math triangle icebreaker. We talked some more about the classroom demographics. She said the group was not as mature as her previous adult education classed, some were fresh out of high school and did not value the program as the older students did because of this. While others were very serious because they were taking time from work and family to attend the program. We were so involved in the conversation that we didn’t realize it was already 9:00 AM. Time to make it up stairs to meet the class. The moment of truth!