Tag Archives: My Job

Pillars of Middle School & The Power of Language: Update for Wednesday, 6 October 2010

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My Job, Your Job

To start, I showed you the MJ, YJ chart and asked if there was anything on it you couldn’t live with.  There wasn’t so these are the guidelines we’ll live with.  In an effort to ensure each of you are as focused as possible for the duration of each class, I did add an item about the use of electronic devices – phones, laptops, MP3 players, and what not – to the TC side of this chart.  Here’s what I added:

“Use laptops and other electronic devices only for class work related tasks (taking notes, for instance)”

The entire MJ, YJ chart is below for your reference:

The Pillars of Middle School

After one tour of a middle school I thought the time was right to have you examine the pillars of middle school.  After a brainstorm-walk-and-talk, we listed your best answers to the question “What are the 5 key components of an exemplary middle school?”  The list you developed was very close to the one agreed upon in the middle school literature – as noted in this NMSA (National Middle School Association) Research Summary from December 2007, “Characteristics of Exemplary Schools for Young Adolescents” –  and as highlighted in my brief PPT presentation:

Language Article Placemat

In an effort to wrap up our look at “Chapter 4: Language” from the Communication fort he Classroom Teacher text, I asked you – as a member of a triad – to complete a placemat to review your ideas on the piece, then to summarize the triad’s thinking using a 3-2-1 organizer:

  • 3 – Key ideas from the text
  • 2 – “Language-related” actions to take on practicum
  • 1 – Point to ponder/question

Here are the directions for Placemat and the 3-2-1:

Here’s a really cool, old school placemat:

I think that covers it.

Cheers,

– Lawrence

Is Teaching For Me? & Name-Based Intros: Update for Monday, 13 September 2010

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Weekend Rating

We started class with Weekend Rating, a process that involved rating your weekend from 1 (the worst) to 11 (the best).  The rating scale is based on a classic scene from my favourite film, This is Spinal Tap. Here’s the scene:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbVKWCpNFhY[/youtube]

This writing about weekends reminds me of a funny skit from SNL’s Weekend Update hosted by Dennis Miller.  In this skit Victoria Jackson unveils her movie rating system and rates the film Three Men and a Baby:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdLg2gavvQA[/youtube]

I don’t think we’ll be adopting Jackson’s rating system anytime soon!

Is Teaching For Me?

After considering moments when you felt most like a teacher, I noted that the overarching goal of the program is to answer the question “Is Teaching for Me?”  Hopefully, over the course of the year, you’ll have many moments where you feel a lot like a teacher and those moments will lead you to conclude that teaching is an excellent career choice for you.

Name Interviews and Introductions

To get us started – and model the name info sharing process – I talked a bit about my name, Lawrence Delmar Holbrook.  Here’s the PPT slideshow I used to support my short presentation:

After that, I partnered you up using the Random Reign of Terror cards – a set of playing cards with a name of each class member on a different card.  Partners interviewed one another about their names and then, when called upon, introduced their partner to the class with one or two interesting facts about one or more of their names.

Administrivia

We went over the following items:

Course Outline and (Projected) Calendar for EDUC 310 / 316: I’ve tried to emphasize those things that you expressed interest in learning during a previous lesson and create a logical sequence for addressing each course’s objectives.  Here are the outlines and the calendar for your reference:

Ropes Course: In past years the MY cohort has visited the UBC Ropes Course as a team building activity.  I asked you to consider if you would be interested in taking on this challenge again this year.  Most folks indicated they would be and I have booked the venue from 1:30 to 4:30 on Tuesday, 28 September 2010.  More info to follow.

Factors That Influence How We Teach Tasks: Today was the due date.  I thanked you for handing them in on time via email.

E-Coach Applications: Please complete the form, get me to sign it, and submit it to John Yamamto in TEO.

Flash Drive to Future Classes: We will be filming speeches in upcoming 310/316 classes.  Please have a flash drive handy so you can save a copy of your videotaped speech on it.  You should get a drive with a minimum of 2GB storage space.  At the moment, you can get a 2GB drive for $10 at London Drugs or for 4GB drive for $12 at Future Shop.

My Job, Your Job

Working in groups of 4 I asked you to outline the job of the students in EDUC 310 & 316 classes.  Furthermore, I wanted you to indicate what you thought was the job of the instructor in class.  This is an effective way of getting all learners to consider their responsibilities.  When all the ideas are colleated in a middle school setting, it’s a good idea to have the students look them over, adapt or remove any that don’t seem totally reasonable, and then get the students to sign off on the “rules.”  Then, when you see a student off task or behainvg inappropriately, you can ask him or her what their job is right now and refer to the My Job, Your Job chart that’s posted in the classroom.  Here’s a handout with some more info on the activity:

That’s all for today.

Cheers,

– Lawrence