previous // October 15, 2004
// 10:46 a.m. // next
Today's entry is going to serve two purposes:
1) me finally updating this thing on a Friday -- go me!
2) a back up record of what's been going on so that I can take notes for seminar on Monday
(This has nothing to do with anything, but I'm having issues capitalizing for some reason this morning.)
I've been out observing for the last two weeks. We're supposed to go three days a week, but since we started on a Wednesday and had last Tuesday off, I've only been in the High School a grand total of 4 days so far.
Here's where I have issues. Really, it's not just me, it's my group. There are seven of us that go over to the High School, but four of us had a little bitch session yesterday in the conference room of the school's library (our "home base" in which to have such a thing), and really then, only three of us since this one girl (H) has no idea what the hell she's talking about (and, lucky me, I agreed to be her partner; I've made the decision that from now on, for all intents and purposes, I'm doing this solo but going with H to keep up appearances).
In short, we're all pissed. We were under the impression that we'd be assigned a teacher to follow around, and if said teacher had a planning period or cafeteria duty or lunch or something, we could go sit in on another class. This has not been the case AT ALL. At least not for those of us at this particular high school. The people in our seminar that are at other high schools or at the Junior High have been assigned a teacher and have been -- to my knowledge -- blissfully unaware that, for those of us at the High School, our experience has sucked.
Let me take you back two weeks to October 04. That was the last time we had seminar. Our teacher has had issues with her leg since this last spring, and has been medicated off and on. I think she said she's due for surgery soon. Needless to say, she was a space cadet during last seminar. She even completely forgot WE HAD seminar! Now, don't get me wrong, I adore our teacher, but she has no idea what's going on, no one at the High School has a clue what to do with us, and we're stuck in the middle trying to figure it all out for ourselves. This isn't the way it's supposed to be.
The first day we went in, WC, our contact at the High School, didn't really know what to do with us, so he told us which of the teachers were approved to go sit in on. We picked whoever we wanted, and have basically been floating around ever since. H and I haven't sat in on the same class more than twice, which isn't right since soon we're supposed to be teaching at least two lessons.
Let me back track a second -- we have to do 100 hours, 50 junior high and 50 high school. In each of the 50 hour blocks, we have to teach at least two lessons.
Here comes the problem -- at the High School, there are a lot of new teachers that are untenured, which means we can't observe them. That really limits the number of teachers for us. To add to this, this past week there were a number of substitutes, and it's not right that we observe them either (even though the English chair at the High School suggested to me and H that we go in and give them a hand anyway). So what all this boils down to is, there aren't that many places we can go where the time we spend in the room will count toward the 100 hours.
What we need is a faculty mentor at the High School, someone who will, essentially, tell us where to go and what to do. While I like some of the teachers I've sat in on thus far, I want to guarantee that when I go in next Tuesday that one of them will be my teacher for whichever 50 hours they qualify for. As far as the evaluation sheets for us that the mentor teacher has to fill out (one at 50 hours and one at 100 hours), I think they're bullcrap. At first, I just brushed them off as part of the process, but when a girl in my group actually read them to me and this other guy during our bitch session yesterday and I really listened to what the mentor teacher will be evaluating us on, WHO GIVES A SHIT??? It's not that important during OBSERVATION when all our basic duty is to sit somewhere in the classroom with a notebook and WATCH THE MENTOR TEACHER TEACH!! These evaluations should be saved for when we actually student teach.
And why in the world are we supposed to teach lessons when we're OBSERVING?? That just seems like the most crackpot thing in the entire world! Observing means watching!
Main Entry: ob·serve
Pronunciation: &b-'z&rv
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): ob·served; ob·serv·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French observer, from Latin observare to guard, watch, observe, from ob- in the way, toward + servare to keep -- more at CONSERVE
transitive senses
1 : to conform one's action or practice to (as a law, rite, or condition) : comply with
2 : to inspect or take note of as an augury, omen, or presage
3 : to celebrate or solemnize (as a ceremony or festival) in a customary or accepted way
4 a : to watch carefully especially with attention to details or behavior for the purpose of arriving at a judgment b : to make a scientific observation on or of
5 : to come to realize or know especially through consideration of noted facts
6 : to utter as a remark
intransitive senses
1 a : to take notice b : to make observations : WATCH
2 : REMARK, COMMENT
synonym see KEEP
Needless to say, I'm rather irked at the whole situation. I'm not worried about getting my 100 hours in, but I'd like to know who I'm doing it with. I want two teachers (one 9th grade, one 10th or above) who are tenured and qualified to help me through this process. I have two in mind, but I need to double check the schdule (and why should we have to ASK for one, shouldn't we have received one as a matter of course??) and see what's when so I can finalize a schedule for myself.
Whew! Now that I have that out of my system, I need to go shower and get ready. Have to take Daddy his lunch and MB is coming up this afternoon and I've sworn to myself that I'd get cracking at studying for the CST.
But first, I'm going to watch this person play Plinko!
Almost second guessing my career choice (but not really),
Thanks for reading,
Ter
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