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.