Floor Plan Models

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B-1E98SEo-YaQWM1Sm42RHVCLU0

Reflection 11

Capture: I am so grateful for my experiences this semester in teaching. Between TAing, my calling, and lego league, I have been able to notice a lot of growth within myself, as well as areas for improvement.

Analyze: Take this week in lego league for example, I felt like a real teacher. Working side-by-side along the kids, it was so neat to see their progress. This week, they continued to program their attachments. A lot of these kids haven't programmed before, so there is a learning curve, and so there is a learning curve, but its actually been a lot of fun. I worked this week a lot with Kylee and Jason. It was rewarding to watch their small victories as we worked together. 

Action: I want to maintain the attitude of directed learning that we had this last week. The kids seemed excited about the task at hand, and I was excited too! 

Reflection 10/Response to my STL teaching

As usual, I have lots of thoughts about teaching this week. First, I'd like to sum up my STL experience, and then I'd like to move into couple other observations. My capture, analyze and action kind of just roll into one on this entry.

STL:

1. Stick to the lesson plan guide. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but when I prepped my lesson, I forgot that we had an outline already available for us. Dumb. In getting everything put together, I had a hard time gaging what pieces I should put where, and how long I should spend on them. While I was teaching, I realized that I had misjudged the time, and became quite flustered, and as a result of some on-the-fly choices I made, the lesson felt very disjointed.

2. Choose your words BEFORE you teach. In my video, I noticed that I stumbled over what I was going to say several times. This could be really helped if I practice what I'm going to say beforehand.

3. You don't look quite as stupid as you feel. When I plan my lessons, I always picture them being so smooth and fabulous. I seem to forget what it’s like to be nervous, and so when I get up and teach and the nervous energy comes, my gut reaction is just to sit back down. It’s easy to have stage fright, but when I dwell on those anxious feelings, it can really get in the way of effective teaching. For my next lesson, I want to especially work on sticking any inhibition in the back of my mind, and focus solely on the lesson at hand.  

2) Just remember that it's not as bad as you usually think it is.

4. Also, stop slouching. It looks bad.

Okay, now for my cool story.

Like I’ve mentioned before, I coach a lego league with a couple of my cousins. We also have a couple other adults that help us with various logistical things. On our team there are 10 kids between 9-12.  There is one kid in particular, Parker, who is especially disruptive. He is defiant, noisy, and contributes the most outlandish ideas.  I recognize this. However, I have been really upset about the way that some of the other adults treat him. Often, I’ll catch one of the facilitators putting him or his ideas down, treating him like a nuisance and like he is trying to be difficult. Yesterday, Parker’s was restless. He was way behind on his project, and was having a really hard time staying on track. Knowing that this was the case, I went and sat by him and decided to be his partner for the day. We gathered the right lego pieces and started to try to figure out the next step for his attachment. As usual, some of his ideas were crazy, however, instead of telling him explicitly that they wouldn’t work, I chose to let him figure that out. He suggested an idea and I said, “Okay, let’s build it and see if it will work!” I got up for a brief moment, and went across the room. When I came back, Parker angrily informed me that one of the facilitators had taken away one of the legos he was using because he again, assumed Parker was just messing around. Not wanting to cause a scene, I waited for a couple minutes and then approached the facilitator.

“Do you know where the launcher is that Parker was using?” I asked him.

“Ya, does he need it?”

“He wants to use it for his attachment.”

“It’s not gonna work, and besides, when kids use that they usually just turn it into a gun and shoot it at the other kids.” I took a deep breath, frustrated at the mold he consistently shoved Parker into.

“I agree that the idea probably isn’t going to work,” I began, “but shouldn’t Parker be the one to figure that out?”

The facilitator then gave me the desired piece and I returned it to Parker. Within a few minutes, Parker had concluded that using a launcher for his attachment wasn’t practical, and he began to explore other alternatives.

I’m all for boundaries. I’m all for discipline too. What I am not for, however, is making kids feel stupid, or sticking labels on them. People live up to the expectations you set for them. If you expect good behavior and consistent effort, people rise to that.

Anyways, this experience was a good reminder to me of the kind of classroom culture I will foster. 

Reflection 8

You know, the more the semester progresses, the more excited I become about teaching. I think it's my passion.

Capture: 

In my ward, I am a Relief Society Instructor. I love this calling. It forces me to study the gospel, and I love how I always feel the Spirit when I teach.  Lately, I have been using my calling as an arena to  try to improve my technical teaching skills. Each lesson, I set specific goals based on what feedback I've received, typically from this class. My goals last week were to utilize proximity, and to have smooth transitions as people commented in class. 

Analyze:

The lesson actually went rather well. I focused on a few specific techniques.

1. Proximity. Throughout the lesson, I made a conscious effort to move around as I taught. I roamed tables and rows, trying to make eye contact with as many people as possible. 

2. The use of powerpoint allowed me both structure and versatility as I navigated the lesson. Having visuals also helped the class focus on the quote or question we were discussing.

3. I also really focused on making smooth transitions as people offered comments. 

4. Preparation for this lesson was fairly extensive, and so the familiarity with the material allowed me a lot of flexibility.

The lesson wasn't perfect, of course. I at times stumbled around my words, and filler words like "um" probably aren't going to be abandoned anytime soon. However, all things considered, this lesson served as a good checkpoint in my personal progress as a teacher, so I was excited about it.

Action: Build upon the strategies I used in this lesson for my next one! 

reflection 7

Looking back on my last few reflections, I realize that it may seem like I'm in a constant state of identity crisis. I promise, that's not actually the case.  I do, however, want to be honest with myself as I go through my own learning process. These reflections have become a great place to sort my thoughts.

Let me preface this. All I have ever wanted to do my entire life was be a stay-at-home mom. Big careers have never attracted me, because in the end, I know all I want to do is raise a family. That's one of the major reasons I was attracted to teaching as a major.  Good benefits, my hours would line up with my kids' hours, weekends, holidays and summers off... Teaching has been my safe fall back. My just-in-case-insurance-policy if you will. In all honesty, if I had my way, I wouldn't teach for more than five years.

With that intro, I think we're ready to begin.

Capture:

I observed John Moss' classroom this last week, and my experience was nothing short of incredible. 

Class began simply enough, he welcomed the students, followed up with their homecoming weekend, and then began dissecting an old highlight reel with them. After, he and the class discussed areas for improvement. Technically this guy was good, but beyond that, he was flat out inspiring. I just don't know how else to put it. He gave this pep talk of sorts as he sent the kids to begin their work, and It was evident that Mr. Moss really cared that his students become the best that they can be. 

 Mr. Moss gave us a tour of his studio and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The set-up, the equipment, the classroom management, the product, the skills, EVERYTHING had me floored.  They even had their own server. I still can't get over that. Anyways, I digress. 

He let us in on the story of how the program came to be what it is. With 15 years of hard work, he built his program from the ground up, and what he's done is remarkable. At one point in our discussion, an administrator came in to ask a favor. She related her sincere concern that when Mr. Moss retires, they will literally have to hire 3 people to replace him. After seeing all that he does, she wasn't kidding!

The more he showed us around, the more I thought to myself how much I would love that kind of career. Creating and nurturing such a successful program would be immensely rewarding, and I believe its within my capabilities. Mr. Moss' classroom had me completely mesmerized. 

I know, by this point in my reflection you were wondering where the crisis comes in....Okay, okay, I'll tell you.

As I drooled over Mr. Moss' studio, a thought caught me completely off guard, "Am I really willing to give all of this up?"

Building a program, relationships with the community that span generations, being such an integral part of a school, inspiring students daily.... Am I willing to give that up should I have the opportunity to be a full-time homemaker? That particular concern isn't one that hits me often, so I was truly startled. 

As a reflex,  I countered that thought with, "Of course! Who are you kidding? In a heart beat." Throughout the next couple of days, I mulled over this conflict repeatedly. Would I really be willing to give up teaching?

Analyze:

My lifestyle is currently the same as probably most BYU students. I go to school full-time, have two part-time jobs, volunteer weekly, spend lots of time with my family, have a calling, and am dating someone. Down-time can be pretty hard to come by during most weeks. Though all of these opportunities are wholesome and rewarding, often I worry that I tend to stack too much on my plate until all I can offer each opportunity is a half-hearted attempt.  And for right now, my crazy, busy, fast-paced lifestyle is fine, because all I have to worry about is me, and for now I can be as selfish as I want.

But... I don't want to live my entire life like that... always racing against the clock to my next appointment, or feeling like I can't give my whole heart to anything because I'm too spread thin. Especially when it comes to family and motherhood. I'm not saying that working outside the home means that you are unable to fulfill your role as a mother. I get that many homes have working moms either out of necessity or choice. Finding a balance is possible, and it works for many families.  I however, don't want that path for me and my family.

I would love to give my whole self to teaching. But I want to give myself to family more.

Action: In the end, we'll see what happens. If I end up having a career,  at least I'm far enough into this program to realize that I love teaching. If not, then not. I'm not sure that this kind of post is exactly what you're looking for in a weekly reflection, but it is a truthful representation of my personal reflections this week. So there you have it.

Reflection 6 / first high school visit

Two great experiences excited me about teaching this week. 

1.  I coach a first lego league each week for 10 9-14 year olds. Despite the fact that we have 3 coaches, some weeks managing those kids is just plain rough. As the semester has gone on, I've tried to apply the things we are learning in class to my weekly meetings with these kids.  Through doing things like always calling the kids by name, supporting their (sometimes outlandish) ideas, and using proximity, we've seen a large improvement in the kids behavior and productivity. Having this weekly practice time has really helped me to solidify some of these teaching techniques, and I'm excited to continue. 

2. I observed Lindsey McMurdie today, and had a fabulous experience. I don't know if I enjoyed this observation so much because I love her subjects, or because she's the first female teacher I've observed, but either way, I loved it. She gave both me and Matt excellent advice on being a new teacher, working with administration, and she shared with us her curriculum. She reassured me that you don't have to know everything about every program to be a good teacher. This visit made me super excited about my career. 

Reflection 5

This week's reflection is a bit of a jumbled mess, but that's kind of how my thoughts were this week, so I decided it was an accurate reflection of what happened.

Capture: When visiting schools this week, I noticed that of the three teachers I've seen, none of them seemed extremely passionate.

Analyze: Okay, not gonna lie. This discouraged me.  It kind of sent me into a panic. Given that I'm almost a junior, it's about time that I had an identity crisis, so I wasn't terribly surprised when it happened.

Its just that, as of late, I've rekindled my love for some old hobbies of mine, and I've been reminded of not only my skill in these areas, but how passionate I am about them. Now logically, I know that I don't want to pursue a career in any of these areas, so switching my major doesn't make sense. Just after feeling that fire, and then seeing the lack of passion from the teachers I've observed, and knowing my own limitations, I've wondered, "Can I be as passionate about technology as I need to be in order to impact lives?"

This question has been spinning circles in my head for a couple of weeks now, and watching these other teachers teach has really made me ponder if I am in the right place. And its not just about me and my personal fulfillment, but I noticed that as teachers lacked enthusiasm, so did their students. I don't want a classroom of apathy.

Action:
After a long talk with my best friend and personal reflection here's what I've come up with:

I love teaching. I know I love teaching. And I know, with practice, I have the potential to be a really good teacher. My sphere of influence is completely up to me. The subject I teach doesn't really matter. Technology, Math, English, Underwater Basket Weaving, it doesn't matter. I never decided to go into teaching because I excel at one subject over another. I chose teaching because I want to be on the front lines in helping youth.

My passion isn't a subject. My passion is people.