Timothy Christian

Since I had spent the entire semester in a public classroom, I was interested in seeing what a Christian setting was like. Growing up, I attended three different Catholic schools (in addition to the three public schools I also attended): Our Lady of Loretto (grades 1-5), St. Renee (grade 6), and Mount Assisi Academy (grades 11-12). I realize that Catholic beliefs and Christian beliefs differ, but I must say that being back inside a school that followed a religion was so refreshing. It was comfortable even! While taking my Education courses at Trinity, I always thought that I wanted to teach only in a public school, but after visiting Timothy, I realized that I actually felt more connected to things in a Christian setting. I felt right at home, which was both surprising and comforting.

Dr. Boerman-Cornell was gracious enough to put me in contact with Emily Bosscher, an English teacher at Timothy. Though this is her first year at Timothy, she has been teaching English for thirteen years, and she's quite an amazing teacher! We talked extensively about her teaching career, and I really felt encouraged and blessed to have gotten to know her a bit. From the moment I walked in to her classroom, she welcomed me with open arms. I had not even felt this welcome in all of my student teaching placement. I was so lucky to have been given the chance to sit in on Emily's classes for two days.

During both my time at Timothy and the hours after I left the school for the day, I did a lot of reflecting about the differences between public and Christian school settings. When looking at the two different settings, it is not a matter of which is better, nor it is a matter of one being good while the other is bad. Each setting has its pros and cons - there's no doubt about it. I've noticed that the discipline and classroom management is much more controlled in a Christian setting. I am not implying that each and every Christian classroom contains angelic students who raise their hand and speak only when spoken to - nor do I mean to say that all public classrooms are disheveled and out of control. What I mean to say is that I get the sense that in the Christian setting, there is a higher concern for success and good behavior. I also want to say that it seems as though grades are taken more seriously in the Christian setting, but this can only be said loosely. I've seen students lose, destroy, and ignore homework in Christian schools while students receive over 100% on their report cards in public schools. While a Christian school may have better graduation and success rates in regards to academics, the questions of good grades really depends on students as individuals rather than a school as a whole. There is also something spectacular about students and staff coming together to worship together during the school week.

On Thursday, I attended chapel with the students and staff. I've forgotten the importance of taking the time to pray and worship together. At Timothy, time is set aside twice a week for chapel. Since Christmas was less than three weeks away, one of the teachers delivered a story about Cain and Abel. He always surprised us by having his wife and four children come in to act with him. Not only was he telling a bible story, but he always wanted to show us how his family worshiped together each day. Because this teacher welcomed us all into his family's personal/spiritual life, this shows me that a Christian setting seems to be much more close and comfortable as a whole.

I learned that Emily teaches Freshman and Junior English at Timothy. Emily was teaching her freshmen students Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare and her junior students about African American rights through literature. I gathered that she is great at what she does. The level of commitment and encouragement she puts into her teaching is unlike much of what I've seen in all of the teachers I've observed. Whether students were excelling, struggling, or sleeping, she was there to lift them and explain their worth.

I'm very grateful to have been given the opportunity to observe Emily's class and experience the community at Timothy Christian. For years, I've told myself that I want to teach in a public school setting only. Since I've been to Timothy, I've seriously been considering working in a private school rather than a public school.

Thank You!

November is quite the month to show gratitude for all that we have.

What stands out most to me this past week was our Veterans' Day celebration which took place on Thursday. Northwood puts on such a wonderful day filled with speakers, awards, and presentations. It's so nice that the school raises awareness for all that our veterans do for us every day, but I must admit, I think I took away more from that day than another person throughout the entire school.

To the left is a picture of Mr. Mishler (a custodian at Northwood) and I. I've known him since the beginning of the school year, and we talk almost every day. But this past week, I learned that Mr. Mishler served in Vietnam, and when I saw him speak to a group of seventh graders, I never know the great amount of physical and mental anguish he experienced so many years ago for Americans across the country today.

The Veterans' Day committee, which I served on, arranged for Veterans to speak in various classes throughout the school day. The class periods were reduced to about thirty minutes so make room for a very touching assembly at the end of the school day. Throughout the day, I asked students what they thought about the speakers. While they enjoyed the Veterans' stories, they especially enjoyed Mr. Mishler's story. He brought many items that he collected from the war. For example, he had emptied bullets, a man-made mini bazooka, government-issued monetary certificates, a helmet, a backpack, and photos. He even wrote a poem after he came home, which he asked me to read to the students because it was too hard for him to read.

At 3:30, the assembly ended and students rushed out of school, but I was in no mood to go home. I had met so many wonderful people throughout the day that I wanted to stay and continue socializing with others. Rather than heading home, I stayed late to laminate students' work and go to the Band concert at 7:30. Rather than enjoy the show 100%, I helped the two music teachers out by keeping the students who were performing in the bleachers quiet. What a day!

Be a Life-Long Learner

Another week has passed. Honestly, I cannot believe how quickly time is going by! Graduation is only six weeks away!! I never, ever thought that the time would finally come for me to walk across the stage, but here I am with only a handful of weeks left in my classroom. Leaving Northwood will be a whole new challenge I'm not yet ready to tackle.


Last week, members of the district's administration came in to observe teachers for ten minute segments. I was fortunate to have Northwood's assistant principal visit my room. On Monday, Mrs. P. and I have a conversation about my observation, and she gave me some very helpful advice:

1. Transition into something new at least every ten minutes with students in middle school and below. 
2. Make goals measurable (which I've been doing all semester!), and use higher-level verbs to begin them.
3. State the goal at the beginning of the period and refer back to it multiple times so that students know exactly what they're supposed to be accomplishing for the day.
4. Constantly be checking in on students' progress and understanding.
5. Be attentive of every little comment in the room. Call a student out from the other side of the room so that they know you are paying attention to everything. 
6. Converse with teachers from students' prior grades to see how you can build on what students have learned rather than simply reteach the content.

At the end of our discussion, I asked Mrs. P. if she could observe me again before I leave Northwood, so on November 19, she'll come in during my fifth period to see how I'm improving. The next day, my cooperating teacher told me that Mrs. P. was impressed with my very firm desire to learn how to be the best. 

I have also arranged a practice interview to take place with Mrs. P. and the principal, Mr. W. 

There's not much else to report this week. We lost two days due to a reward days and a teacher institute day. This next week looks to be full, though. 

Failure Is Success If We Learn From It

And so begins second quarter in District 200! I cannot believe how quickly first quarter has gone by! It seems like yesterday I went into Northwood over the summer to introduce myself to Mrs. D., and now I'm more than halfway through my student teaching. Where does the time go? I feel as though I've grown and accomplished so much since the school year started. It's interesting how you can go to school for years to study teaching, but it isn't until you work full-time in a classroom that you actually learn how to teach. Every day that I teach, I also learn - what a wonderful gift!

Report cards went out this week. You can imagine how much work goes into preparing grades. First, I decided to look over all of the grades I had recorded to see which students were missing assignments. Second, I made contact with these students and encouraged them to turn in any late assignments for half credit - some points are better than no points, right? Third, I collected any work that was turned in. Fourth, I administered a number of tests that were never taken due to absences. (It's unfortunate that students miss school so frequently. I have a handful of students who miss at least two days of school a week.) Fifth, I entered all of the grades into the Report Card (RC) template. It is required that I leave a comment on any student who has received a D or an F. Of course, I left comments for each of my students, even if it was just to let parents know that their students were doing well in my class. Finally, I posted the grades so that report cards could be printed out. And boy did it feel great to have my grades posted one whole day early!

One student was kind enough to pose for a picture with his Haunted House assignment, which is due on Tuesday, October 30th. He is one of my most hard-working students, and his drawing is beautiful. More pictures to follow next week. Permission to take this photo has been granted by the student's parents.

There are two struggles I wish to address pertaining to this past week.

First, I have been working on strengthening the boundaries between myself and the students. Of course, I feel that I have set up these boundaries for most students, but there are a number of students who tend to hang around my desk during class or visit me before school or during study hall. I think the two students that have really caused me to lower these boundaries are the twins, Dain and Jake. They are both great kids, but they are also very needy. The kids often crack jokes with me, which is great, but I think they have taken my leniency too far because they have been calling me "Noon" or "Nooney" for a couple of weeks without my correcting them. I hate to say it, but I've let it go for too long when I should have nipped it in the butt the first time it happened. On Thursday, I told them both that they are disrespecting me each time they do not call me Ms. Noonan. On Friday, they said that I was being mean when I told them that they needed to sit in their desks and work on their projects during class time. Dain will often hang around before going to lunch, and when I told him that his lunch period was time I was able to work on my own, he was confused as to why I was telling him to move onto lunch. I feel terrible, but it's my own fault. I have to work on being more conscious of treating all of my students the same.

And second, I am continuously working on strengthening my classroom management skills. I put a new a new consequence plan into motion because their talking has been somewhat excessive, to say the least. On Thursday, one of my seventh graders, Mikey, was talking, just as he does every. After asking him to quiet down several times, I told him he would have to serve a detention with me. I had finally done it! I had given out a detention just like everyone had been telling me to do! "Nail someone with a detention. That way, everyone will know that you are serious in your discipline." After class, I told Mikey that I was going to call his mother to see when it would be best for him to serve his detention. He seemed sad as he went on to his next class, and I felt terrible. When I told Mrs. D. that I had assigned a detention, she said to make a call home, but to tell his parent that we would hold off on a detention. What?! I was shocked! Mrs. D. second-guessed my decision and overruled the detention that I had just given out, even though she was one of the main people telling me to give out a detention when necessary. Why had she gone over my decision? Didn't I stick to my ground rules and give a detention as I said I would if someone wasn't following directions? Of course, now I feel that I should not give a detention ever again. I am confused as to what I should do.

Classroom Confidential: The 12 Secrets of Great Teachers

Chapter 6 - Great Teachers Know a Hemingway When They See One: Getting to the Heart of Writing

Luckily, I have the great privilege to teach writing in my classroom!!

Make your writing blow people away.

Schmidt opens the chapter with these mouth-watering (for me, anyway) words: "Some kids love to write. The verbal/linguistic region of their brain is positively teeming with polysyllables and highly polished phrases snatched from the radio, pilfered from adult conversations, or hoovered up during your last read-aloud session. These kids have an insatiable appetite for paper, as long as there's a pencil nearby. You know who they are - the ones who linger in the room at recess time, pouring intense, secret thoughts into their journals. Or write a class play, even though you're not in the market for one" (113).

Skinny to Steroids When we begin a new Spelling unit, we do a 'Stretch It' exercise that runs along the same lines as this exercise. This week's sample sentence is "They observed it." We normally do this on the board together as a class. I ask the students to answer five questions: who? what/which? when? where? and how? Here is an example of how the exercise goes:

• Who? The twins, Bobby and Billy, observed it. 
• What/Which? The twins, Bobby and Billy, observed the bats.
• When? Late last night, the twins, Bobby and Billy, observed the vampire bats. 
• Where? Late last night, the twins, Bobby and Billy, observed the vampire bats from the observatory deck at Brookfield Zoo. 
• Why? Late last night, the twins, Bobby and Billy, observed the vampire bats from the observatory deck at Brookfield Zoo because they had won an exclusive all-night pass to spend the night in the Bat House. 

This is a really great exercise that I use quite frequently in class. The students also have a great time completing it. Some students choose to write an additional sentence on their own, which is great. 

There's a Jewel While I always try to compliment and encourage my students, there is always room for more. I really like this exercise because if I call students' work out, two things happen: first, the writer feels like what he or she is doing is wonderilf, and second, the other members in the class see that if a classmate can write so well, so can they. It is also my goal to maintain a safe writing environment for my students. If I can not only teach but show my students that their writing is welcome in our classroom, I feel that my Hemingway's, Gaimon's, Shakespeare's, and [fill in the blank] will come into the light. 

I have bookmarked this chapter and intend to use as many of the writing activities as I can throughout the remainder of the semester!

October - My Month to Howl :)

I came into school one morning this week and this was on
 my desk! :) My kids are the best. 

With Halloween being about a week away, I feel more energetic than I have all semester! Since Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year, I tend to go the extra distance to make it super special.

My students seems to be having a good time in class - it's clear that they enjoy my over-the-top Halloween moods! One of my students asked, "Ms. Noonan? How can I get into the Halloween spirit?" I about fell to the floor, acting as if he asked me the more sincere and important question a person could ever ask. This week, I plan to give him some ideas on how to better get into the spooky season.

Banner and lantern

Mrs. D. and I have done some decorating around the classroom. We didn't go too crazy, but during the week of Halloween, I intend to really kick up the spookiness with haunted music, treats, and a festive contest to go along with our descriptive writing assignment (which I will talk more about in next week's blog).

I am currently putting together 175 treat bags to pass out on Halloween. They are adorable. Pictures will follow.

My desk

I never really thought that the middle grades were anything out of the ordinary, but over these past two months, I learned that I was mistaken. One of my most eccentric students, Nate, came into class Friday morning wearing his mother's coat. He said, "Ms. Noonan, because I was late this morning, I had to wear my mom's coat to school." At this point, I'm trying not to laugh too hard, but then he continues. "And when I put my hands in the pockets, I found these." Nate pulls out three empty, mini bottles of alcohol. I was stunned! Did I let him get caught having them? Did I risk getting caught with them? Aside from the panic, I couldn't contain my laughter at this point. I took the bottles from him and gave them to Mrs. D. Nate then asked if he could please put his mother's coat in his locker. I let him go and shared yet another laugh with Mrs. D. about the whole situation.

I've also been working extra hard on my classroom management techniques. I don't know if it's because I'm a student teacher or simply because we are going into second quarter, but many of the students in my classes cannot get a grip on their excessive talking. I gave each of my new classes a seating chart. I then explained that the noise level has been unacceptable. If not for myself, then I need to look out for the 75% of my students who actually make use of their time in school. I have had students ask to go work in the hallway because they cannot concentrate in the classroom. This is not fair to anyone. I've only had this talking problem for about two weeks now. Before then, there were no issues. Am I doing something different? Are students just getting more comfortable in my classroom? Whatever the reason, I've taken the necessary steps to change their behavior. I've been noting which students are acting up so that if a conference comes out of it, I have sufficient evidence that the student has had an ongoing problem. I also note down the steps I take. For instance, I'll warn a student, ask him to apologize to the classroom, have a one-on-one, make a phone call home, etc. I've also taken another step to hold students for ten minutes from lunch (I've done this twice this past week). The students know that I will resort to detentions if I have to, but until I actually assign one, the students may try to test me some more.

I'm looking forward to the next two spooky weeks!!

Classroom Confidential: The 12 Secrets of Great Teachers

Maybe it's time for me to step back and kind of take a close look at where I've been this semester and where I'm going. Midterm has just passed. I'm halfway done with student teaching! I'll be graduating in about two months (something I never thought possible), and I've come a really long way. But something is happening to me. The momentum that's been keeping me going is sort of fading. Is this because I've been sick? Am I just having a rough couple of days? Am I tired? Am I in the right place?

The last week or so has been tough for me. I've already been sick three times this semester, and the more things that keep rolling downhill, the more lousy I continue to feel. But no matter what takes place, I need to continuously remind myself that teaching is what I was put on this earth to do. And I must add that after reading chapters eight and nine in Schmidt, I'm again reminded of how wonderful the world of teaching is.

Chapter 8 - Great Teachers Are Gossipmongers: Putting the Social Back in Social Studies & Chapter 9 - Great Teachers are Drama Queens: Using the Arts as a Second Language

What's nice about Northwood is that all the teachers work together. There are many times that I've been teaching when the kids have said, "Hey! We remember this from this other class." When the students tell me that, I try to either add to what they've learned from another class or send them to that other class with something English-related. I've mentioned Channel 1 in previous posts. Channel 1 is generally watched at Northwood during the fifteen minute period before/after lunch. Because Mr. W., the history teacher, started showing it during his class each day, I decided to read newspaper articles relating to current events with the students. By doing this, I keep both the kids and myself up-to-date on what's taking place in the world around us. And in the instance when Mr. W. isn't able to show Channel 1, I then show it to my kids during the shortened period.

Many of my assignments require some sort of artistic elements. For example, our first major writing assignment required that we make a classroom newspaper, which I believe is an art in itself. Not only were the students required to write original articles, but they were also asked to compile the newspapers with mine and Mrs. D.'s assistance. They were asked to draw illustrations, create charts, and take photos (which they were quite successful doing). Our second writing assignment dealt with writing short stories. When I created the rubric for that assignment, I decided to assign 10 points (of the 75 total points) to physical creativity. On my last blog post, I included a picture of a locker one student created to go along with her story. Another student put his story on a poster board. His story was about a girl who was sick with leukemia, and the poster board symbolized the ad for a bake sale raising money for her medical bills. And another student, whose story was a historical fiction piece, typed her story out in an old-fashioned script.

I have final taken the role of Lead Teacher in the classroom, so now I'm teaching three eighth grade LA classes and two seventh grade LA classes. In the spirit of Halloween, I have come up with two very artistic assignments to go along with our theme of descriptive writing:

• Eighth grade: Students are required to make a blueprint drawing of a haunted house. I have created my own haunted house to serve as a sample for students. Their haunted houses will be drawn onto larger white paper. Not only will students have to draw all of the rooms in their haunted houses, but they are required to write six paragraphs describing six different rooms in the house. They must describe one bedroom, a sitting room, and a lab. They will then choose the three other rooms to describe, and if students want to describe more rooms, they will be awarded additional points. Rather than having my students write a six-paragraph essay, they will be describing something that they created on their own. 
• Seventh grade: Students are required to make a spooky menu out of colored paper, drawings, stickers, etc. To begin, students will be asked to think of some of their favorite foods and restaurants. They will then learn that they have been asked to create the menu for the spooky new haunt in town.