Ben Guest’s Blog

Second-year on the left; first-year on the right...

nobody@vox.com(Mississippi Teacher Corps) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:16:27 -0700

Coaster

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Results

nobody@vox.com(Mississippi Teacher Corps) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:49:26 -0700

Here are the results of the meeting Germain, Ann, and I had this morning to go over the upcoming summer training:

Suggestions:

1. Set aside time in the spring to:

a) get feedback, suggestions, thoughts from the current first-years.

b) give the first-years time to do initial planning for the summer. Check.

2. Assign first-years Delta Autumn in June (preferably during the first week of orientation). They should have an assignment tied to the reading, perhaps a blog post. Reading it in the fall is too late. Check.

3. Have an assignment (blog post/paper/something else) tied to The First Days of School. First Days is a great resource, but too many first-years never pick it up. Check.

4. Expand the crisis-management role-plays (these were cited most often as being the most helpful component of the summer training) to include more situations. Tie this workshop to a course (EDSE 501) rather than as an outside workshop. Look at doing some workshops with the entire group so people get a feel for standing in front on 30 "students." Check. There will also be a blog reflection assignment tied to this.

5. Incorporate the wiki completely. All lesson plans, worksheets, tests, etc. should be posted in an organized manner and agreed upon format. See the biology wiki lesson plans that Nelson, Wilcox et al. did last summer for a good example. Check. Pete will review the format and general organization of the LP wiki with the first-years during orientation (how's that for recognition?).

6. During summer school, allow the first-years to visit and observe other classrooms. Check, with some general parameters. There are also some logistical concerns about how to work this...

7. Continue, and perhaps expand, the veteran subject-area workshops (utilize the TEAM for this). In addition to tips and tricks, also have them review the subject-area frameworks, how to LP using these, etc. Check.

8. Session on how to manage the paper flow (ask Savage to do this in June). Check.

9. Have summer school include both 50 min and block periods (we did this last year in July). Check.

10. Push the start time of EDSE 500 back by 30 minutes. Check. Bus leaves Holly Springs at 1:00. Ann's class will start at 3:00.

We also had a long discussion about how to increase the rigor of the summer school and how to measure this/hold teachers accountable. It was decided that we need to talk to the first (soon to be second) years and ask for their input on this.

Finally, the summer school day will be shorter this year. The basic schedule (not final) is as follows:

8:00 to 9:40-1^st Period

9:45 to 10:35-2^nd Period

10:40 to 11:50-3^rd Period

(11:10 to 11:30-Middle School Lunch [HS students in class])

(11:30 to 11:50-High School Lunch [MS students in class])

11:55 to 12:45-Clubs/Tutoring/ACT Prep/Detention

12:45-Dismissal for Students

1:00-Bus leaves for Oxford

3:00 to 5:00-EDSE 500

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Suggestions

nobody@vox.com(Mississippi Teacher Corps) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:26:01 -0700

I will be meeting with Ann and Germain tomorrow to go over the summer training (as mentioned previously) and, specifically, to offer suggestions based on the feedback from the first-years. Here is my list:

Suggestions:

1. Set aside time in the spring to:

a) get feedback, suggestions, thoughts from the current first-years.

b) give the first-years time to do initial planning for the summer (next MC/HS planning meeting is April 1^st. We will finalize subjects and classes at this point.)

3. Have an assignment (blog post/paper/something else) tied to The First Days of School. First Days is a great resource, but too many first-years never pick it up.

6. During summer school, allow the first-years to visit and observe other classrooms.

8. Session on how to manage the paper flow (ask Savage to do this in June).

9. Have summer school include both 50 min and block periods (we did this last year in July).

10. Push the start time of EDSE 500 back by 30 minutes.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Summer Training

nobody@vox.com(Mississippi Teacher Corps) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:01:28 -0700

Recently, the first-years competed an anonymous evaluation reflecting back on the summer training and offering thoughts on what worked and what should be improved. In the four and a half years I have been Program Manager this was the most helpful evaluation any group has completed. People were thoughtful, honest, and most importantly, specific in their suggestions for improvement.

In the next few weeks, I'll be meeting with Germain (the co-director of the Mississippi Teacher Corps) and Ann (the lead instructor for the summer training) to review the feedback from the evaluations. Here are the suggestions I will offer for this year's summer training (please note that increasing both the rigor of summer school and the length have already been discussed and agreed upon):

1) Assign first-years Delta Autumn in June. They should blog about it, or complete some other assignment related to the book. Reading it in the fall is too late.

2) Create an assignment (blog/paper/something else) for The First Days of School. First Days is an enormously helpful book, but, currently, it is only given out as a resource. Many first-years don't read it.

3) Expand the crisis management role-plays (most often cited as the most helpful component of the summer training) to include regular situations as well as extreme situations. Make this a part of the summer coursework, rather than a workshop.

4) Incorporate the wiki into the summer coursework, with all lesson plans, worksheets, and exams, posted in an organized fashion and an agreed upon format.

5) During summer school, allow first-years to visit multiple classrooms to observe other teachers.

What else?

Read and post comments | Send to a friend