Kate+Mathews

**This wikispace logs Kate's experi ences in the classroom during the spring 2010 SEED 296 ****Paraprofessional Experience **

This is the first field experience of the teacher education program. Its purpose is to provide insight into the real world of teaching in the K-8 and 7-12 setting. It provides a “hands-on” experience in which students may ask questions and share concerns they may have regarding the teaching profession. The experience will provide an opportunity to observe, record, and assess student behavior, effective teaching practices, and characteristics of different learning environments appropriate for children. This course will provide structure and guidance for the students as they observe, gather information, and reflect on teaching as a career. John Dewey, one of the most famous American educators, wrote extensively about reflective teaching. He defined reflective teaching as avoiding the “routine” and “impulsive” behaviors in favor of taking the time to “give serious consideration” to our actions. According to Dewey, the intelligent person thinks before he or she acts, and action becomes deliberate and intentional. In order for students to secure knowledge and insight from the field experience, their observations and participation have to be made with careful, analytical, and deliberate planning. Paraprofessional students develop their leadership skills while contributing to, learning from and influencing the learning of others.  2010SyllabusPara.pdf ParaChecklist.doc

Placement Recorded Activities Time Sheet

**Kate's Fall 2009 Paraprofessional Placement** Back to Syllabus and Contents List
 * School: || Lennox Area Schools ||
 * Field-based supervisor: || David Miller ||
 * Content area or grade level: || Music/all grade levels ||
 * FBS e-mail address: || david.miller@k12.sd.us ||
 * FBS phone: ||  ||
 * USD instructor || Mary Collins, Phone: 605-677-5155, e-mail: mary.collins@usd.edu ||

 **Course List** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 24pt;">

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Goals = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> **S**pecific
 * M**easurable
 * A**ttainable
 * R**ealistic/**R**elevant
 * T**imely/**T**imebound

//By the end of this semester I hope to have a more solid answer on whether or not teaching is what I want to do.//
 * __Goal 1__**

//By the end of this semester, I hope to have a better grasp on what are the most practical parts of the required courses for my degree.//
 * __Goal 2__**

//By the end of this semester, I hope to have at least one more reliable contact in the field of education.//
 * __Goal 3__**

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;">**Contextual Factors Lennox, South Dakota**

//**
 * // Community, District, and School Factors...

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,037 people, 812 households, and 526 families residing in the city of Lennox. The racial makeup of the city was 98.67% White, 0.05% African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.29% from other races, and 0.64% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.74% of the population. There were 812 households out of which 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them. 54.1% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the city, the population was spread out with 27. 1% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25-44, and 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,217, and the median income for a amily was $46,848. Males had a median income of $30,758 versus $21,319 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,940. About 2.7% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.2% of those under the age of 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 and over. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">Lennox has one elementary shcool, one middle school, and one high school. The high school was built quite recently. I learned from my my FBS that Lennox and the town just east, Worthing, used to have the same elementary and middle school buildings, but they recently separated in to different schools for each town. The implication this had for Mr. Miller as a teacher are that he has to travel back and forth between them on Fridays to teach private lessons to the Worthing students. The implication this had for students was that they had to travel to Lennox for group band rehearsals. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">I was centered in two schools for my paraprofessional – the middle school and the high school. I observed Mr. Miller, who teaches high school band and elementary school band (which took place at the middle school, right across the street). The middle school band room was a large, linoleum-floored room. The walls had storage shelves on them for instrument storage and the kids had plenty of room to spread out for rehearsal. There was a piano and also a chalkboard at the front of the room. One side of the large room had two practice rooms and an office. The first of the practice rooms was often full with Mr. Miller and another student at a private lesson. The other practice room rarely was scheduled for anything but students were often in there practicing for on reason or another. The office was the “headquartes” for the middle school band teacher, Mrs. Dos. Mr. Miller also used this room as an office when he came over to the middle school to teach elementary school band. The high school was somewhat similar in classroom resources. There was a main room that was large enough to hold large group rehearsals. To one side of the room was the main exit from the room. This “exit hallway,” for lack of a better term, had two practice rooms, one room with shelves for instrument storage and Mr. Miller’s main office. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">The vast majority of students in the class were Caucasian. There seemed to be a pretty even mix of boys and girls. The culture/language seemed to be relatively homogeneous and instances of students with special needs was minimal. One of the most noteworthy factors was the level of self-motivation and student leadership in the percussion section. The students were there on their own early enough to practice before band, the first period of the day.
 * // Classroom Factors... //**
 * // Student Characteristics… //**

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Professional Interview of FBS = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Interview with FBS David Miller ** <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I find it’s most difficult to motivate students who just don’t want to be there. It’s sometimes hard for me to relate to someone who just doesn’t like music like I do. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As cheesy as it sounds, the best way to motivate these students and get them to see my point of view is to listen to them. It helps me to understand them better and it shows them that I care about them as more than just a number in my band. //<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The previous two questions show that David understands that different students have different priorities and learn in different ways. He also recognizes that he has a difficult time relating to unmotivated students. He has reflected on this fact about himself and made steps to improve this about himself. The answers also show that David spends time thinking about effective ways of communicating with his students. // <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I think that simply making eye contact is the best tip out there. There are too many teachers who bury their head in their work and forget to look at how their students are or aren’t enjoying what their doing. //<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This answer shows that David spends time thinking of effective ways of relating to, connecting to, and communicating with his students. // <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I first started teaching, I wanted the kids to think I was their friend. I realized pretty quickly that this made them walk all over me. I slowly realized that it was better for me to show them that I don’t accept goofing off in the first week or so of classes and then gradually show them that there is a time and a place for messing around. //<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This answer shows David understands aspects of effective classroom management, and has also reflected on his unsuccessful practices to better manage his classroom. // <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have practice cards but I find that sometimes it’s just an additional stressor for kids who don’t want to practice. It’s difficult to motivate them but all that I can do is try and show them the importance of individual practice. I find the biggest motivator is a week when a student practices and actually sees improvement in themselves. Seeing the lightbulb go off when a student knows they were the ones responsible for their improvement is a good moment. Students have to know that they’re in charge of their learning. //<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This answer shows that David understands that there are different sources of motivation for students and that he knows what he believes is the best for his students. He makes specific steps to ensure student-based motivation to best benefit his students. The practice cards also show that David has at least one method of student evaluation. // Back to Syllabus and Contents List
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What do you find is the most difficult thing about teaching? **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Any tips on how to motivate these students? **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What would you say is your most successful communication technique in the classroom? **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What was one of the things you learned teaching that you wished you’d learned sooner? **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How do you motivate your students that don’t want to practice? **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> **Observation of Effective Teaching**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//At the beginning of class, Mr. Miller had the band all play a scale together, both to get the kids warmed up but also to get them to focus their minds in a way that was appropriate for band.//
 * <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Time Effectiveness **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. Focus **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Date of observation: //11 - 16 March 2010// **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Mr. Miller made a special point of writing out the sections he planned to work on with the band during that specific rehearsal.//
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. Objective/Purpose **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Date of observation: **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">//11 - 16 March 2010//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//During private lessons, Mr. Miller asked students to explain back to him what he had asked them to do for the week in order to insure that the lesson's material had been explained properly.//
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">3. Monitoring/Adjusting **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Date of observation: **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">//11 - 16 March 2010//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//The students meet multiple times a week for various ensembles so Mr. Miller could ensure the students were successfully getting a handle on their individual parts and that they were fitting together as a group.//
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">4. Guided Practice **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Date of observation: **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">//11 - 16 March 2010//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Once a week, each student was required to have a private lesson with Mr. Miller where he listened to the material that was prepared after its introduction at last week's lesson. The students all had a practice card where they wrote in the amount of time they practiced each day and had it signed by their parents. Mr. Miller would then log their practice time in the gradebook and continue with that week's lesson.//
 * <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Student Motivation **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">5. Independent Practice **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Date of observation: **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">//11 - 16 March 2010//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Very few discipline problems. There seems to be a lot of student motivation, especially in the percussion section. There were a few students who weren't very motivated. It appeared they had already decided not to do band the following year and there wasn't much Mr. Miller could do to change their// **// minds. //**
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">6. Student Interest/Motivation **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Date of observation: **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">//11 - 16 March 2010//


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">7. Student Involvement **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Date of observation: ****<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">//11 - 16 March 2010// **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">//The best example of this is the student led marching percussion sectionals. The students in this group show up early to practice before any of the other students get there in order to have a better handle on their music.// **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//The classroom could maybe do with a few more signs/posters but overall the environment was definitely welcomin//**g.**
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">8. Classroom Climate **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Date of observation: **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">//11 - 16 March 2010//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Mr. Miller did a great job explaining to students in private lessons the different problems they were having in a way they could understand and therefore improve on. He spoke to them on their level with enough clarity to ensure the students understood what the problems were and that they felt in control of the situation enough to fix them.//
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">9. Constructive Criticism **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Date of observation: **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">//11 - 16 March 2010//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//During the lessons, Mr. Miller would often ask students what THEY thought went wrong or right, instead of just TELLING them. This will help further down the road when students have to figure out what needs work without a teacher or peer to help them.//
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">10. Prompts **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Date of observation: **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">//11 - 16 March 2010//

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=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lesson Plan and Analysis = =<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Back to Syllabus and Contents List

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Resume = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">

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=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Working Journal = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Work with an individual or group of students... **

//12 March 2010 Today, I worked with a high school student who was having trouble playing her band music. I could tell that the problem was more than just the music was too hard. It was basics like poor basic instrument technique. I felt badly that she'd never been taught how to properly breathe while playing the trombone, etc. We went into a room and started with some basics. I told her that the four main aspects of hitting a good note are posture, breath support, mouth position, and thought process. I took her through all the basics of improving these four things then we went on to play her band music and see what else we could fix. The lesson overall was fine and I like to think she learned something, but what I learned was that the biggest problem was a lack of motivation. This student was unsure of whether she wanted to continue band in the next school year. My goal from that point changed from teaching her the basics so she could play her music better to teaching her the basics so that she could play her instrument better in order to enjoy it more. About myself, during this lesson, I learned that one of the most frustrating things for me is trying to relate to a student who simply, "Doesn't want to.//"

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> //18 March 2010 Due to coming in during the busy week of the spring band concert, the opportunity to make a bulletin board was difficult to find. However, I did use the internet to make myself more prepared to teach my lessons on Friday the 12th. I'm a brass player myself, so I have a good knowledge of the basics of the instruments but the specifics of each one are not quite there. I used the internet to research things like finger positions for different notes and also the different problems that students run into at the beginning of learning each of the specific instruments in order to be able to teach the students in a way that was most beneficial to them.//
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Creation of a bulletin board/PowerPoint or your use of the internet for researching material for a lesson... **


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The lesson you cooperatively teach with the Field Based Supervisor... **

//11 March 2010 Today I helped Mr. Miller teach elementary school - aged children band lessons. The three of us sat in a room (the student in between us) and he and I guided the student through that weeks lesson. The first few lessons, I observed Mr. Miller's technique. After a while, it was my turn to teach. I was super nervous to teach my first lessons, but I found that the more lessons I taught the easier it got. This was the day that I definitely learned that the methods courses we take through the music department are the most beneficial courses to my teaching that this program offers.//


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">An observation/interaction of your choice... **

//16 March 2010 Our first activity of today was setting up the "cafetorium" (the school's combination of cafe and auditorium) for the spring band concert. It was interesting to see the process of setting up the instruments and also tho think about how different this process will be from school to school. Followed by the set up was the actual dress rehearsal for the concert that evening. The rehearsal went well. I mostly watched because I didn't want to insert myself too much because I wasn't sure how helpful I'd be at the concert so I wanted to make the rehearsal as accurate as possible. It was good to see how one would run a rehearsal as intensely monumental as this one with 4 different major ensembles performing. After the rehearsal, after all the students had gone to their next class, an announcement was made that we were about to have a lock-down. He and I ended up sitting backstage in the cafetorium while we waited for the safety bell to go off.// Back to Syllabus and Contents List

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">30 hours of field-based classroom participation = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> **Date** || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> Hours ** || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> Description of my activities/participation in the classroom.... ** ||
 * 10 March || 8 || observed FBS in his daily activities ||
 * 11 March || 8 || observed FBS and assisted in teaching private lessonsw ||
 * 12 March || 8 || observed FBS and taught private lessons both with and without FBS assistance ||
 * 16 March || 8 || observed FBS, assisted in set-up for mass spring band concert dress rehearsal, ||
 * ||  || observed spring band concert ||
 * 16 March || 8 || observed FBS, assisted in set-up for mass spring band concert dress rehearsal, ||
 * ||  || observed spring band concert ||
 * ||  || observed spring band concert ||