New Year et Bonne Année.

Well it's a new year and a new start for all of us. I'm so excited to start student teaching full time. I feel that everyday I am learning new things and challenging myself. It is amazing what the students themselves can teach you, and I feel that I'm very lucky to have the opportunity to begin my journey as an educator at a young age. I see the students looking up to me and that I can try to explain concepts to them in terms that they will understand.

Also, the first two weeks of my new year have been so jam packed with new happenings, decisions, responsibilities, and life changing situations. My high school was faced with a death and a suicide. Moreover, the students are under extreme stress due to their final exams. I felt lucky that my cohort was approached earlier this year by teachers who talked about the idea that we will be facing serious situations within the schools. Many of our students are facing difficult situations outside of the classroom, and as a teacher I have to keep that in mind.

I'm also excited to be looking towards the future! I have and currently am learning SO much this year, but I can't wait to learn from my life experiences teaching as a "real teacher." haha We'll see if I get through the second semester first! ...But it is fun trying to develop some new teaching techniques that engage and improve student learning. For example, our Educational Technology class has taught me how to take advantage of technology and it's use in the classroom. I created an online webinar about the web2.0 resource Bubblr (http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr/) with my partner. The webinar opened up my eyes to how interactive I can make the language classroom. Also, I am going to use web resources like Google Maps to truly "wow" my students and show them that learning languages can be exciting!

So, overall, there is much to come in the upcoming semester.... I will keep you updated and keep on trekking through (especially in this snow... maybe I should take up skiing...)

"Those crazy bloggers..."

Originally, I was totally opposed to blogging because I felt that people add too much personal information to an area that it is open for everyone to read. However, I am more open to it now after seeing presentations in our 504 Friday classes. Many of the guest speakers were very successful and used blogs to act as teaching aids for their students
I saw that students participate, and they are able to see their work in one location ( which is also nice for parents).

I was looking at a teaching blog called http://21classes.com/ and found it very interesting. I urge you to visit it and look at the teacher blogs. I was amazing that FOURTH graders blogging!! (I feel old…) Moreover, I looked at http://classroomblogging.wordpress.com/ and it talked about another topic we discussed in 504 - Making PowerPoint presentations more effective!! The blogger highlighted very similar ideas that were presented in class, and now I truly feel that I cannot create a PowerPoint presentation without thinking before I create ☺

One thing that I was disappointed about while researching teaching blogs was that I did not find while many sites created by language teachers. The lack of foreign language teaching blogs disappointed me because I was looking for teaching ideas. However, I will continue the search in hopes for an inspiring language blog!

LEAVES LEAVES LEAVES… C'est l'automne, un temps pour le changement

I feel that my teaching pedagogy has been improving everyday. (That's right! My very own pedagogy.) It is not easy to observe all the time, especially when you know you would manage a classroom differently than your mentors. However, I do feel that I have been learning a lot from my experiences. I am getting a better at learning my students’ names, which I found out is VERY important. Moreover, I feel that my two classes with the methods teacher and field instructors are extremely valuable in learning how to be successful in the classroom without the aid of my mentor.

Last week I tried teaching a full lesson to a class of around thirty-five students, it was not easy!! I had a girl throwing food across the room and others starting their own conversations before I moved onto a different activity. I learned that I need to keep the kids active, manage the classroom, and be well prepared for what I will be teaching! It was quite the day… but practice makes perfect, right?

On a very exciting note: I visited a middle school French class in Dearborn and it was so much fun!! I originally started the program in hopes that I could student teach at the middle school level, but there weren’t any French middle school teachers participating with the MAC program. Nonetheless, the one-day visit really opened my eyes to what is available to me. I teach every level in the high school so I see a wide age-range of students, and I loved interacting with the middle school children. They were so tiny and just getting excited about the language! I want to continue visiting the different schools (which I think is a wonderful opportunity to have within our program requirements), and I am interested to see schools that are a little more economically disadvantaged than Pioneer – I want to see how these schools are able to engage students when resources (such as paper and technology) are not available.

How am I dealing with being a SMACer by day and having a real life by night? Well…. it involves very little sleep, a lot of multi-tasking, and focusing on what is best for me. Not an easy task!! BUT having a good cohort and positive friends to help me along the journey is always a good thing ☺

p.s. I always forget how beautiful Fall is in Ann Arbor. I have been absolutely loving the weather, and (even though I am up before the sun rises) I love seeing the changing colors of the leaves and feeling the cool breeze walking home at night.

...Oh, and T-shirts won the SMAC poll. More to come on how we will set up the design and ordering! If you have any ideas, please let me know. Gracias ~

Storybook Creating

Oh my goodness! We created mini movies in our Tech Workshop course.
Take a look at what Kate and I created with modeling clay. It is a little out there, but an interactive way to teach students! Good luck on understanding the German phrases!

Living and learning. Taking things one step at a time...

It's the first week back...and I've had a lot of realizations.
I've decided that the best way to live this year is in the moment, and take things one step at a time. After all, change is a good thing, right?

It seems a little surreal, but the first week of Fall semester is over! I've been through moving into a new apartment, getting to know my way around a humungous school, and meeting lots of new people. I’m working on keeping up with schoolwork and meeting old friends who have come back to campus for their own master’s programs. I personally am trying to keep a positive attitude and keep my spirits up by focusing on a goal towards a bright future.

As a side note, I don’t think I have evvvvver had such a full schedule starting from 6am and ending with classes at 7:45 pm!! (almost everyday…) It's incredible that I can keep going sometimes, get homework done, annnd go out and socialize in order to remember that I still have a life.

But in a few week... it's crunch time!! Pat and Eugenie’s classes are almost over, and the thirty page research papers need to get finished. AH! :) we'll see how long it takes to get those done....

A final thought: I need to figure out how to actually help my mentor teacher. I don't feel very useful simply observing. I do enjoy the fact that I am learning, but I want the students to know I am going to be a part of their class structure! So we'll see... I'm going to investigate this week.

BBQ Time.

As of tomorrow (after our wonderful little technology course) we will be done with our summer term!! ...sort of. Two research papers have to be written in August, but nonetheless, it's Friday and time to celebrate!!! Our class is having a barbeque, and I love that everyone is so optimistic and friendly! It is definitely important to get to know each other because I know that over the next year I will definitely need the support of my fellow students.

We talked to the previous MAC cohort today (aka last year's class), which was a nice change in the normal schedule. There was one language teacher that talked to us, and I actually learned some good info from her conversation with us!! I was really happy to hear that she actually used what we are learning in technology class with her students! I didn't think I would be able to apply a lot of the complicated online/web systems we're learning about. My brother was always the "computer whiz" and I never thought I could actually utilize what is out there. Well, watch out!! I plan on using some of the tools learned in our class with my own students. I know that it will engage them, and I should utilize the technology course while I have it!!

I just have to figure out how to remember all the steps, instructions, and sites we get in our tech course.... zut alors!

On a side note... I'm happy Chloe is bringing veggie burgers to the BBQ :) MmmmMMM.

Confusion...

The summer segment of our program is almost over and it's hard to believe. The past few weeks have been filled with lots of change, meeting new people, new information, deadlines, and technology (oh, and chatzy! ...how could I forget).

I feel that I am on a system overload and need to process all the information being given to us in order to finish the August deadlines, and start the new school year with a bang! I'm excited to see where it will lead me...

As for the technology, all I can say is that I am really, really glad we have a Mac computer for school related business (and its so convenient to carry around). Also, I am intrigued to see what kind of technology I'll be using during student teaching at Pioneer. But... I am a big promoter of forming personal relationships and the human connection. I hope that I'll be able to utilize technology in just the right amount to promote learning, but going overboard.