Like I stated last week, we watched the award winning 2008 thriller Slumdog Millionaire, 5 times today. I have already seen the film, dont like it but still am forced to watch the entire middle section of, 45 mins of it every class period. I saw the Jai Ho dance time after time, and cant get the song out of my head. I have constantly heard the boys of the class talk about if the main girl is hot, and how nasty of a place India looks.
On to the educational part of this blog, I dont really get what the students will take out of this film. I understand it shows "real life India", and this will help students understand what some parts of India are like. But I still think a false stereotype is being created. I really dont think this a good thing, but it is good that a different perspective than what the students are used to is being presented. All other perspectives on India the students have are that of the United States, but this movie shows the life of someone born and raised in the slums of India.
I really hope that while I was gone the teacher focused on how India came to be, and the ideas of Hinduism, and how India connects with the rest of the world were the focus of previous lectures that I wasnt present for.
I am really starting to get a feel for how students interact here at Warren. There are many similar cliques that I noticed were present at my high school as well. Also, I am seeing that students have very good relationships with educators and the educators seem to be interested in students interests and what activities they do outside of school. This could be a sport or a club ran by the school they are in. I feel like this gives students a better chance to learn from their teacher as a healthy student/teacher relationship can go along way.
PS- i graded some more papers too, i do it every day NBD
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Day 5 - India Our India, India We're All For You
Today in our geography class, the topic was India. This was not my most exciting day as it consited of lecture after lecture on the country, and of course a tid bit of grading. Throughout the lectures I once again felt like many things were needed to be added, as I felt like the stereotype of India being a place where every single inch of the country is filled with trash and overpopulated by dirty poor people. While, I know that this terrible thing does occur in the country that still is not the most important aspect. The teacher as also informed us that next Thursday we will be watching Slumdog Millionaire. (very educational?????) Oh well, I watched some pretty bogus movies in my high school social studies classes as well.
The teacher did incorporate some history into class today as well. She included Gandhi, but I'm pretty sure if you asked the students who he was, they would say something like "hes an old peaceful dude from India, who had silly glasses and wore a diaper looking thing" This doesnt seem right to me, but once again the teacher still has more lectures on India to give, and I hope she incorporates all of Gandhi's contributions to India.
I do feel like I am getting to interact with students more, this could be before and after class; or even in the passing periods where I "monitor" the halls. This is definitely a highlight to my observation, as a lot of the kids are easy to relate to with similar hobbies such as sports or the "hottest hip hop song" of that week.
I still havent really got to teach so this still kinda sucks, but I do feel like im learning how to be the best teacher I can be.
PS I got invited to a "ratchet twurking party that weekend". I politely said I would not be attending, and that was inappropriate to offer me an invitation. Still I had to chuckle, and thought to my self "why didnt I have one of those in my high school days?"
The teacher did incorporate some history into class today as well. She included Gandhi, but I'm pretty sure if you asked the students who he was, they would say something like "hes an old peaceful dude from India, who had silly glasses and wore a diaper looking thing" This doesnt seem right to me, but once again the teacher still has more lectures on India to give, and I hope she incorporates all of Gandhi's contributions to India.
I do feel like I am getting to interact with students more, this could be before and after class; or even in the passing periods where I "monitor" the halls. This is definitely a highlight to my observation, as a lot of the kids are easy to relate to with similar hobbies such as sports or the "hottest hip hop song" of that week.
I still havent really got to teach so this still kinda sucks, but I do feel like im learning how to be the best teacher I can be.
PS I got invited to a "ratchet twurking party that weekend". I politely said I would not be attending, and that was inappropriate to offer me an invitation. Still I had to chuckle, and thought to my self "why didnt I have one of those in my high school days?"
Day 4 - DEATH BY VOCAB
The grading continues, I have graded so many papers my hands are beginning to turn numb. Just kidding but seriously, I have graded a lot. I want more interaction with the students and maybe even the opportunity to teach.
I have seen countless lectures today on the Soviet Union's geography, and I feel like I have many things to contribute. I really feel like the teacher uses drilling strategies to get the students to learn. By this I mean the teacher is using a strategy I like to call "Death by Vocab", literally every unit the students have pages full of vocab and definitions.
While this may seem like a bad strategy and way to organize the classroom, the teacher does have a very well organized method that seems to work. She constantly reminds my colleague and I, how good test scores are for her class, so I really have no reason to put down this technique, I just feel like my classroom set up and strategy would be very different.
I also asked my teacher if I could do some teaching in the near future, she seemed hesistant and said they are on a strict schedule but maybe I could conduct a mini lesson :( .............. oh well gotta start somewhere and I still think my cooperating teacher is a very good one.
I have seen countless lectures today on the Soviet Union's geography, and I feel like I have many things to contribute. I really feel like the teacher uses drilling strategies to get the students to learn. By this I mean the teacher is using a strategy I like to call "Death by Vocab", literally every unit the students have pages full of vocab and definitions.
While this may seem like a bad strategy and way to organize the classroom, the teacher does have a very well organized method that seems to work. She constantly reminds my colleague and I, how good test scores are for her class, so I really have no reason to put down this technique, I just feel like my classroom set up and strategy would be very different.
I also asked my teacher if I could do some teaching in the near future, she seemed hesistant and said they are on a strict schedule but maybe I could conduct a mini lesson :( .............. oh well gotta start somewhere and I still think my cooperating teacher is a very good one.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Day Three at Warren C
Day Three great as expected, as the majority of the day took place in the wonderful Warren Central Media Plex. All classes were required to do web quests in which the students looked up generic facts on the 3 major monotheistic religions. While doing this they filled out graphic organizers that I felt were set up as a great scaffolding tool.
Throughout the day the kids asked for our help and we helped guide them to valuable websites that had the information they needed to be successful on the assignment. I felt that the question the students had the most difficult with was naming holidays associated with Judaism and Islam. Non the less, it was great to interact with the students and help them be successful on their projects.
Also, we got our first experience with grading papers for our teacher. At first I had mixed opinions on our teachers way of grading homework, as it was solely completion based. Multiple times I saw completely incorrect responses to simple questions, but yet I still had to write a little red check mark next to the question and count it as right. At first this bothered me, but eventually I began to evaluate this effort more closely. Each and every day students are assigned work sheets, and with five classes of 25-35 students that creates a workload that is extremely heavy. Therefore to eliminate the chance of dying from grading overload, the teacher grades more for effort. Previous classes our teacher had administered exams and she illustrated to us how she takes an extremely closer look on important/big assignments that cover the most important aspects of history, while these homework assignments focus more on smaller details. This made a lot more sense and assured me that Mrs. Kines grading ideas and class set up works very well.
The only problem I feel that could emerge is if students began to learn that these assignments are based on completion, multiple times I graded incomplete assignments that we had to mark as incorrect. If students began to learn this method they could easily put letters, random dates/names or even draw a picture to receive credit. This would obviously benefit no one, and it is our job as future educators to make sure students get the most out of their assignments even if it is "busy work".
"You stay classy, Indiana University"
Mr. Stanger
Throughout the day the kids asked for our help and we helped guide them to valuable websites that had the information they needed to be successful on the assignment. I felt that the question the students had the most difficult with was naming holidays associated with Judaism and Islam. Non the less, it was great to interact with the students and help them be successful on their projects.
Also, we got our first experience with grading papers for our teacher. At first I had mixed opinions on our teachers way of grading homework, as it was solely completion based. Multiple times I saw completely incorrect responses to simple questions, but yet I still had to write a little red check mark next to the question and count it as right. At first this bothered me, but eventually I began to evaluate this effort more closely. Each and every day students are assigned work sheets, and with five classes of 25-35 students that creates a workload that is extremely heavy. Therefore to eliminate the chance of dying from grading overload, the teacher grades more for effort. Previous classes our teacher had administered exams and she illustrated to us how she takes an extremely closer look on important/big assignments that cover the most important aspects of history, while these homework assignments focus more on smaller details. This made a lot more sense and assured me that Mrs. Kines grading ideas and class set up works very well.
The only problem I feel that could emerge is if students began to learn that these assignments are based on completion, multiple times I graded incomplete assignments that we had to mark as incorrect. If students began to learn this method they could easily put letters, random dates/names or even draw a picture to receive credit. This would obviously benefit no one, and it is our job as future educators to make sure students get the most out of their assignments even if it is "busy work".
"You stay classy, Indiana University"
Mr. Stanger
Monday, February 18, 2013
Day 2 in WARRIORVILLE
As good of a time I had at Warren Central Day 1, Day 2 was 5 times better!
When getting to our first class, I witnessed the teacher introducing an assignment that the class was to complete for that day. The teacher described the assignment perfectly, and pointed out many different aspects that helped the kids out tremendously. After this we went around the room, and did our best at helping students with difficult problems throughout the assignment. The assignment was a geography assignment in which the students read an article about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East then answered a worksheet about the article.
While this class period was great to be able to interact with the students, it was not until next period that the day began to elevate.
During the prep period following the first period, I politely asked the teacher if I could introduce the assignment to the class. Mrs. Kines was surprised with joy, and thought that would be a wonderful idea. She was so kind, and generous to let me participate in only my second week at Warren, and I am extremely grateful.
I did my best at introducing the assignment, and only did a few things wrong, however Mrs. Kines was extremely happy for me, was very encouraging, and gave great constructive criticism.
So far our relationship is very good, and I am enjoying my field experience so much. I am glad I was assertive and gave myself the opportunity to participate in class last week. I feel that each and every time I come to Warren we are becoming better educators, and the window of opportunity is growing to participate more in the classroom.
When getting to our first class, I witnessed the teacher introducing an assignment that the class was to complete for that day. The teacher described the assignment perfectly, and pointed out many different aspects that helped the kids out tremendously. After this we went around the room, and did our best at helping students with difficult problems throughout the assignment. The assignment was a geography assignment in which the students read an article about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East then answered a worksheet about the article.
While this class period was great to be able to interact with the students, it was not until next period that the day began to elevate.
During the prep period following the first period, I politely asked the teacher if I could introduce the assignment to the class. Mrs. Kines was surprised with joy, and thought that would be a wonderful idea. She was so kind, and generous to let me participate in only my second week at Warren, and I am extremely grateful.
I did my best at introducing the assignment, and only did a few things wrong, however Mrs. Kines was extremely happy for me, was very encouraging, and gave great constructive criticism.
So far our relationship is very good, and I am enjoying my field experience so much. I am glad I was assertive and gave myself the opportunity to participate in class last week. I feel that each and every time I come to Warren we are becoming better educators, and the window of opportunity is growing to participate more in the classroom.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
First Day at Warren Central
Thursday was my 21st birthday, and I couldnt of celebrated it in any other way, I woke up at 6:15 a.m to start my observing/ field experience at Warren Central in beautiful Indianapolis. Going into the first day I had some ideas on what to expect. These ideas were much different from what really occured, and I had a wonderful experience!
To start off we toured the facilities and I was blown away by the Media Center and the Career center, personally I think the career center was the most impressive and the ideas and resources that go along with it are outstanding.
My teacher was Mrs. Kines, WHO WAS TERRIFIC!!!!! She graduated from Indiana University, and the majority of ther classes were World Geography, a subject that I am extremely interested in, and feel very knowledgeable about as well.
I had some interactions with the students during a class period where they needed help on test corrections. This time tested my geography knowledge as the test was on Eastern Europe, however I succedded and broadened the few students knowledge.
A down side to the day was that for two periods, the students took essay based exams. This was extremely boring and quiet, as it was impossible to interact with the students. However, I realize this was the first day and Mrs. Kines told us to be prepared for better activities next week. (Pumped!)
Seeing students interact during passaing periods was great too, this time I really got a feel of how high school students interact in today's world, and the diversity of Warren was glorified.
Overall I loved the experience, and am extremely eager to go next week.
Till next time!
Mr. Stanger
To start off we toured the facilities and I was blown away by the Media Center and the Career center, personally I think the career center was the most impressive and the ideas and resources that go along with it are outstanding.
My teacher was Mrs. Kines, WHO WAS TERRIFIC!!!!! She graduated from Indiana University, and the majority of ther classes were World Geography, a subject that I am extremely interested in, and feel very knowledgeable about as well.
I had some interactions with the students during a class period where they needed help on test corrections. This time tested my geography knowledge as the test was on Eastern Europe, however I succedded and broadened the few students knowledge.
A down side to the day was that for two periods, the students took essay based exams. This was extremely boring and quiet, as it was impossible to interact with the students. However, I realize this was the first day and Mrs. Kines told us to be prepared for better activities next week. (Pumped!)
Seeing students interact during passaing periods was great too, this time I really got a feel of how high school students interact in today's world, and the diversity of Warren was glorified.
Overall I loved the experience, and am extremely eager to go next week.
Till next time!
Mr. Stanger
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Hello! My name is Hogan Stanger and I'm a junior at Indiana University majoring in Secondary Social Studies Education. My main content areas to focus in are History and World Geography.
I'm starting this blog to share my learning experiences throughot my first block at the Wright School of Education. During this set of education based classes, I will start my first experience inside the classroom of a secondary level school. I am extremely excited to share my observations, experiences and knowledge I gain throughout this semester.
Thanks for checking out my blog, and I'll talk to you at my next posting.
I'm starting this blog to share my learning experiences throughot my first block at the Wright School of Education. During this set of education based classes, I will start my first experience inside the classroom of a secondary level school. I am extremely excited to share my observations, experiences and knowledge I gain throughout this semester.
Thanks for checking out my blog, and I'll talk to you at my next posting.
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