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.