Pre-internship Weblog

Wow, what a trip. Tessa Jordan, Cyril Kesten and myself went to San Antonio, TX for the annual National Business Education Association meetings. This being Tessa’s first trip on a plane, I was going to enjoy this one! Sorry Tessa! Our first flight went uneventful, except for the fact I got “special treatment” while at the airport here in Regina. I got the frisk, AH! It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. However, the last flight, poor Tessa was not very comfortable. We had heard rumor that a tornado or two had been seen in SA and the pilot even made mention the seat belt signs were staying on. He was planning on flying around the storm, but we would still have some turbulence. All I can say is poor Tessa, not having a strong stomach, she felt quite queasy. To me, it felt like we were flying over Lake Superior. Just a little bumpy. Once we landed and got settled into the hotel, I went to hook up my computer. I couldn’t believe it; the hotel charged for internet. AND it wasn’t even wireless. Ok, so this place was the Marriott. Why would they charge for internet when many of their guests are business/professionals. I just couldn’t comprehend this. But being the inquisitive type, I called the front desk to ask them about this. They were generous enough to let us have internet for free for two days. Thanks Marriott

On my first full day, I went to the AT&T Center for a tour of the facilities and to listen to one of the staff for the Spurs Sports And Entertainment speak on sports marketing. This is not a new idea; as long as teams having be paying big bucks for athletes, executives have been coming up with more creative ways to market their products to the public. It was really interesting to listen to the history behind the AT&T Center, the NBA Spurs and the AHL Rampage. The behind the scenes look at the workings of this building and the number of people it takes to make this organization run efficiently is enough to make anyone awestruck. On the way to the Center, I sat with Linda Robinson from Florida. Being able to share these few moments with an experienced business educator was great. Discussing the interesting things she was working gave me ideas for my own classroom. Excited to see her speak the following morning, I made plans to go to a session she was presenting on Google Page Creator. Unfortunately, I had not preregistered for this class and was not able to attend, but Linda was kind enough to forward me her presentation so I could make use of her material just the same.

Later Wednesday, I went to a session on Photoshop. What a neat program. The session was developed in such a way to intrigue those students who would like to solve a mystery. Using the tools and unique features in Photoshop, students are able to solve the mystery of “Who Done It”.

Thursday morning, I was able to take part in the session “Creative Teaching Strategies: What We Have for You and What You Can Give to Others”. It wasn’t bad, but I felt it was more like an advertisement for an upcoming book. I did, however, take some really interesting ideas of which I can use in the classroom as possible fundraising activities. The idea behind this session was to have teachers come together and give there unique ideas of which can then be published in a book. This book will be made available through NBEA next year.

On Thursday afternoon, I took part in the InDesign CS3 workshop. This is another cool product from Adobe. I love it. Never having the opportunity to play around with this program, it was just like Christmas. For those of you who are wondering what this great program is, it is just like Microsoft Publisher, but better. Sorry Bill Gates. There are limitations to every program, but I find this companies products are easy to navigate once you have had the opportunity to learn the tools and the layout. I hope to someday use InDesign in the classroom to teach and for students to use to create unique and interesting documents, posters, flyers… to make extra cash for the school. Why not combine Entrepreneurship and Information Processing!?

One final group of sessions I was able to attend had been put on by the National Council on Economic Education. This organization has developed a program which can assist any business educator on teaching basic business, economics and entrepreneurship. They have prepared a disk with so many wonderful tools and ideas to assist any classroom teacher. And guess what else is on this disk? LESSON PLANS. Ok fellow business education students, this is a gold mine for us. We all know how much time can be wasted (sorry profs.) writing these up. These lesson plans are organized in such a way that you can search the database, select the lesson plans that seem to focus on the outcomes you need to teach and then can be manipulated so you can add your own details. WOW, I am excited to sit down and play with this program. If anyone is interested in finding out more about this, drop my a comment and I can get in touch with you.

During the conference, there were three keynote speakers who addressed the entire group; John Kasich, William C. Bosher and LaDonna Gatlin. These professional speakers were a great touch to the conference. It can sometimes be nice to hear form people who are not directly involved in the conference. I feel it gives the delegates an outsiders view of the conference and helps us to bring their viewpoints into context and make them applicable to us. The final speaker LaDonna Gatlin impacted me the most. Gatlin, who was part of the famous Gatlin Brothers in the 70’s, decided to leave the group and “sing her own song”. For so many of us, we are focused on doing “what is right”. If anyone has ever met me, they know I never do “what is right”, I don’t know what it means to “colour within the lines”. But listening to LaDonna speak on this encouraged me to keep doing what I feel is right for my children, my husband and most importantly for me. As a mother, it is so natural for me to do what I think my family want me to do, not realizing that I end up not doing anything for myself. Well, fellow moms, you have to do what is right for you. It is ok, no one is going to tell you at the end of the day, “You didn’t spend every waking moment pleasing your kids, your husband and the school administration”. If you take time for yourself once in awhile, you are better able to do things for all the other people who are important to you. As a teacher, this means you can be better rested and therefore more focused on your students and their needs. I know some of you may be saying “Ah, Michelle, what do you know? You haven’t been in the classroom, dealt with parents, had to run to all your children’s activities and then coach the soccer team. Well, guess what, I have. As a mature student, who has two boys in hockey and soccer, married to the football coach, coached volleyball (during football season), worked at the school as a teaching assistant, volunteered for numerous organizations within our small town and still maintained my house, I can say, I have done it. You know what I learned? The more activities I get involved in, the more wound-up I get and the less time I have for myself. Because I have less time for myself, I never reflect and therefore do not produce high quality products. You know what else? All these groups and activities will get done without me, BUT my children only have one mother and I only have eighteen years with them at my house before they leave the house for future prospects. Sure, I am five hours away from them right now, while I am studying. But I know this is to also help them. It goes back to what LaDonna said, you must take time to do the things that are important to you. Going back to school is something I had wanted to do, I love teaching and helping students find those “a-ha” moments. Going back to school has helped me see who I am, what kind of person I am and what kind of a mother I want to be. I want to be that mother whose boys say “Mom, I want to be just like you. I want to do the things that make me happy, so I can share this with others”.

All in all, the NBEA conference was awesome. I am excited to go again next year. I know what it is like to get in a rut, like you are doing the same things over and over and getting no where. For this exact reason, you as fellow teachers must take advantage of the professional development seminars available to you. We spend the entire you having our cup drained and before you know it, the cup is empty and we are expected to still produce more. But you know what? No one is filling our cup. You have to get that cup filled in order to keep sharing with others. Take advantage of the local professional developments available to you. They may not be directly applicable to you, but if you learn to take a genuine interest in it, you might find something. When national conferences become available, try to get involved or at least attend. If this isn’t possible, find someone who is. Once they get back, they can share with you. There were only two of us from our class that were able to go to the NBEA, but by the time we got back, most of our classmates were excited to get involved for next years.

As a final wrap up to this great semester, my pre-internship and my final university classes (for the moment), I can’t think of a better way for me to have spent it than with fellow professionals sharing the ideas they have a passion for. I am already preparing to go to Chicago next year and have warned my husband of my intent. So for those of you who are planning on going next April, see you in the Windy City. For those of you who are not sure, seriously consider it. And for those who are just not able to, find someone who is going and stay in contact with them. Education is a profession that involves the sharing of ideas, supporting fellow colleagues and learning new and exciting things. Take advantage of the wealth of knowledge available to us!

Assessment seemed so simple when I first began this journey in education. It didn’t seem at all complicated; teachers mark assignments, test, projects, reports, etc. either right, wrong or with the comment “could you expand on this please”. This, of course, was based on what my schooling was like way back in the eighties and nineties. Since delving into the subject, I have begun the process of analyzing how my teachers assessed my work and how teachers today are doing it. Education has made a dramatic change from being subject centred only, to student oriented. This has change their views on assessment as well. If the process by which teaching students has changed, then the assessment must be re-evaluated, as well, in order to ensure the goals, objectives and standards are being met. This brings up the issue of affective assessment. What does it truly mean? For me, affective assessment is the ability for a teacher to take the material being taught, developing a unit plan, subsequently the lesson plans, and developing a scheme or a strategy that encompasses material that is being taught, the academic level of students in the class and creating an assessment strategy that

1) encourages students to want to learn or strive for understanding,

2) develops, in students, the self-discipline required to work successfully,

3) ensures the material being taught is assess effectively for understanding, completeness or comprehension,

4) is an effective means by which to assess a given objective, and

5) nurtures a desire for the student to continue in their process of learning either in the subject at hand or in other areas of their academic or personal life.

As mentioned above, this strategy is a package deal. It is impossible for teachers to separate learning and assessment. This is the partial answer to the question; how is affective assessment related to teaching and learning? In order for assessment to be relevant and reliable, it must be based on the material being covered, the students and their needs and what is considered to be success in mastery of the subject material and skills. How we assess these successes is part of planning the process by which we teach. Since students learn in many different ways, it can be expected they can be successful in testing based on their learning styles. An example of this would be of a student who learns effectively by manipulating and working “hands on”. A written exam, testing how that student would repeat the process may not be affective in actually assessing their comprehension. A better way may be to have to student repeat the actions, in a hands on test. Developing separate assessment strategies for all the students in the class for a given project would not be a very wise choice. Teachers today find their time is limited as it is. Creating 26 assessments for 26 students would require a lot of time and energy. Instead, I would recommend adjusting how you assess students based on the projects they are doing and using many forms of assessment throughout the semester. If assessment is done all the time using only one form, students may not gain the valuable information they need in order to improve in their work.

Business education seems to be a subject that has been based on write or wrong answers. Through my learning process of assessment and the understanding of affective assessment, I have realized the potential that is available for students to gain the cross-curricular support. Assessment does not have to be based only on right or wrong. Nurturing a students English skills through response journals, letter preparation, case studies and group work can develop some of the necessary skills required to work in a business environment today. As the students are investigating business issues, they are developing a greater sense of social comprehension and global awareness. These are only two examples of how the horizontal curriculum can be addressed. With cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains needing to be met, collaboration with colleauges who teach your students in other subjects can help to ensure your teaching strategies are affective in encouraging students learning process in other areas.

While completing the IPP, I realized early on that a number of the qualities listed on the page have been used in my performance review for work. I was able to take some of the information found on my previous Home Depot reviews and answer some of the characteristics based on my supervisors responses. I do understand teaching contains some significant job attributes as compared to working retail, but the basic employability skills and qualities can be the same.

The following is the quantitative results of the profile:

A. Professional Qualities and Development – 62%

B. Interaction with Learners – 97%

C. Classroom Management and Discipline – 56%

D. Planning and Organization – 48%

E. Teaching Competence – 46%

F. Personal Qualities – 71%

As a future educator, I am eager to continue in professional development, not only for employment purposes, but for personal satisfaction. One of my greatest downfalls is that I am hard on myself. I do not give myself enough credit for what I do. Especially when I have worked particularly hard. This is something I am going to strive to overcome.

As someone who has been away from the school system for sometime, I feel I am not as knowledgeable in my field of study as I wish I could be. I must continue to read professional literature and to challenge my personal convictions in order to encourage growth and development; reflecting on these details.

It is difficult to ascertain how I will be as a classroom teacher. When I taught before, I didn’t seem to have much difficulty handling 28 students in the French class, especially when the class consisted of two grade eight classes combined. However, with diversity in students, classroom management will be ever-changing. Keeping and open mind, alert and staying organized will be a great help in management. Another important aspect is the ability for me to step away from a situation and allow others to take over. I understand that it is important for teachers to take responsibility for their own class, but it is equally important to realize there are many others in the school who can help; the administration, other colleagues and the many program co-ordinators who work in association with the school.

Last semester, I had set a personal goal to become a better writer. I am not able to write my thoughts in a constructive and clear way. I have definitely gotten better at this, but I will continue to work on this; both in oral and written form.

Teaching competencies are something I believe must be practiced. Currently, I have not had much opportunity to practice this. With each lesson plan developed and every class I step into, I hope to bring this characteristic up to a level that is outstanding. As I continue to watch how other colleagues teach, read material on teaching and put these theories into practice when in the classroom this spring, I hope my cooperating teacher will guide me in this area to assist me to be cogniscent and open to new teaching practices.

During the next four months I am eager to refine the items listed on the PDP which in turn will help to prepare for my internship in the fall and continue on to my future career.