Mini-Lessons	Student Activities  Student Role*: problem solver, critical thinker, creator, collaborator, communicator	Teacher Activities Teacher Role*: guide and facilitator	Media Specialist Activities Media Role: support, guide, and facilitator
#1: Weekly Reflections	sorts sample reflections ranks sample reflections defends rankings creates defining traits of sample reflections creates rubric	reviews writer's crafts which include: time focus, repetition, contrast, inner story, point of view, parallelism, setting, sensory details, poetic license models effective writing leads class discussions	assists students with rubric creation manages technical aspect of Moodle models effective writing observes class discussion and notes key topics Inquiry skills: observing, reading, viewing, writing, discussing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activities Day Two	Inquiry Skills	Materials	Assessement
Students visit a classroom and observe. As a homework activity, they draft a Reflection.	Observing, writing	Observation form (attached below)  Non-examples (attached below)	Participation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This entry is from January 2007. The cadet that wrote it is currently a sophomore in college and is pursuing a teaching degree. I have included comments in red to help you see why this entry scores at the TARGET level on the rubric.
An Inch Wide...

I've heard several teachers (not just Mr. Pounds) say that the problem with high school curriculum is that it's "a mile wide and an inch deep, when it should be an inch wide and a mile deep." I happen to agree with this statement, which also can be summed up with the idea: "quality over quantity." Masses of information are completely useless when they have no meaning to the individual. She makes a direct connection to a discussion we had during a cadet teaching class. She also ties in things she has heard other teachers speak about. This shows me she is thinking like a teacher. She is thinking beyond the fifty minutes a day she spends in her assigned classroom each day.

My freshmen English class that I'm cadet teaching for this semester is currently reading the book King Solomon's Mines. In the very first week of the semester, my supervising teacher has given me the opportunity to make the experience at least a couple of inches deep (in addition to the delving she does).

The first day discussing the book, I was surprised to find out that not many of the students in the class knew who King Solomon was. Growing up in my Sunday School-centered family, I never thought about the fact that those who don't regularly teach the preschool class at church may not actually know about this Biblical character. So, I compiled an assortment of fun facts about King Solomon and presented them to the class a few days later. In the midst of writing the facts on the overhead and explaining them to the class, I came to a problem.

"King Solomon wrote three books of the Bible: Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes," I recite.

"Ek-lee-what?" a student asks.

"Ecclesiastes," I reply, "It's..."

How do you describe ecclesiastes?

I told them it was largely about wisdom and Earthly knowledge and left it at that. Shortly thereafter, I thought of a way to present a small piece of Ecclesiastes to them, since they had been curious.
She chooses to use dialogue to make her description vivid. This is an excellent technique. It allows the reader to hear the voice of the students and the exchange with the teacher.

I brought in the song "Turn, Turn, Turn" by the Byrds and created a handout with the song lyrics on one side and the actual words in the King James version of Ecclesiastes 3 (which are almost word for word identical). We listened to the song in class, while they followed along on their handouts, and then we discussed the meaning of the song and the context (considering it was written during the 60's).

Sure, it may not be life changing information, but it takes an element of the classroom novel and digs deeper and deeper and deeper. Right now I'm working on a bulletin board in the class with the information about King Solomon that I shared in class, along with new facts, maps, pictures, etc.

Even if only one or two students ever even glance at the bulletin board... the point is more that it's there. This episode shows she has learned something about students that she did not know before. She has learned that many students do not share a common knowledge base. She has learned that in order for students to go "deep" they must first have common knowledge.

No structural or mechanical errors are evident. She has an organized entry. There are no spelling errors. There are no grammar issues. I scored it at 100%.

 

This entry was written near Christmas in 2006. This student is now completing her associate's degree in dental hygiene. She enjoyed her cadet teaching experience and worked well with children, but decided that teaching was not what she could see herself doing day in and day out. Maybe this entry her make that decision. My comments appear in red.

Patience, patience, patience...

I like this beginning. It announces the topic and communicates the feeling that the cadet was having. Exasperation.

This last week tested my patience the most of any. I went over to the elementary early one day to help Mrs. T with one of her Christmas activities that she does with her students every year. She had me help the students make a gingerbread man ornaments while she was helping them make gingerbread man cookies.

To make the ornament the children had to glue all sorts of tiny decorations on the gingerbread man they picked out. For one thing, first graders don't care how neatly things are done, secondly they don't know how much glue to use when needed, therefore this was one thing that tested my patience. This cadet has difficulty with sentence structure. Her sentences are wordy and frequently include more than one thought (i.e. run-ons). The problem does not impair understanding. I have always been a neat and organized person and this bothered me a bit at the beginning.

After everyone finished making their ornaments and their gingerbread man cookies had been baked, it was time for Mrs. T and I to help them decorate their cookies. We put the frosting on and they put the M&M's, raisins, or red hots on the frosting to help them stick. Everything started out as planned, but then the frosting began to get a little messy and the children began to demand vests, or boots, or other complicated things on their cookies. This too tested my patience like the ornaments had. Focus is solely on the event of making the cookies. She is not talking about what the students are learning or even what she is learning. She has included details, but her entry is not vivid. I do not get a clear picture of why she is feeling impatient. Instead of saying "the frosting began to get a little messy", she should have elaborated with something like "the kids had frosting absolutely everywhere. They had it on the tables, on the chairs, in their hair, and on the end of their runny, itchy noses. I could hardly look at them without wanting to hose them off, and I definitely did not want any of them touching me with their slimy hands."

When everything was over with and all the cookies had been decorated, I realized that as the day went on I dealt with all the chaos pretty well. My patience had been tested and I had gotten a little frustrated, but over all I had a great time. I learned that first graders have no sense of neatness or organization so I had to get over the fact that things weren't going to be perfect! I ended up having an awesome time! Her entry twists a new direction here at the end. It is positive. The entry has some reflection and some thoughtful analysis, but it doesn't get beyond the classroom experience. It is and adequate entry, but missing the mark. I scored it at 80%.