My New Home

As a gal who lived in Wichita, Kansas almost all of my life, I wasn't exactly 100% ready to move to such a big state like California. Now how did I wind up all the way on the west coast? Let's rewind a little bit.

During my student teaching semester which was also my last semester as an undergrad, I had to decide which school I was going to work for. My fiancé and I have always talked about how much we loved California for all that it had to offer. We could go on hikes, have beach days, heck, we could simply drive up the street and there would be a bajillion of restaurants to choose from and a handful of places to explore. It just so happened that I have a brother-in-law who is a math teacher in California and his school was looking for an English teacher. I knew that I did not want to spend the rest of my life in Wichita and thought, why not? However, this wasn't until after I did a lot of research on the school before I decided to interview for the position. After three Skype interviews and a written skills test, I found out that I landed the job!

I was incredibly excited to hear the news, but telling my parents wasn't easy. I've been sheltered my whole life and I've never seen it as a bad thing, but I'm sure it scared my parents to think about how their youngest child was suddenly moving away. I was afraid of moving away myself, but because I knew that my fiancé would always be beside me, things became less scary.

On the day that I left my home and my family, I was forced to gather with all my might, every ounce of courage possible --I had to put on my big girl pants.

As we drove off, I immediately felt the sadness of goodbyes and therefore attempted to distract my true feelings with happy thoughts. No worries though, because after about 2 hours in the car, I was so ready to arrive at my destination, my new home.

It was time for me to unpack. You thought unpacking from a mini vacation was such a burden? Try packing up and then unpacking your entire room. I spent hours cutting open boxes and reorganizing my new room. I felt like my tasks were unending. Anytime I finished up one thing, another task would pop up. Luckily, I gave myself a lot of time for the move and to get myself settled. I arrived in California a month earlier than my start date and if you're also moving to a new state to teach, you might want to do the same. Give yourself time to apply for a new teaching license appropriate for the state in which you've moved to, and also time to do all of the paperwork that your school requires you to complete (background checks, fingerprinting, etc).


For all of my classmate back at home, here is a mini update for you! I'm officially a Californian! I bought my first brand new car about 2 weeks ago and if you're curious about which car I went for, here is a photo of me and my 2-week old car!

Some of my other adventures here in California: 

Unlike Kansas, we've got mountains here in California and I went hiking last week. I wish you could see the view from where I was standing, but this photo will have to do for now.

Here's me enjoying the view (from above) of one of the beaches that I often go to.

Here's a better look!

Anyway, that wraps up a bit of what I've been doing here in California. I hope you're doing well and I wish you all a wonderful school year. It's going to be our first and it's going to be scary at times, but it's what we've all been waiting for! Cheers to us! 

Letter to Me: Student Teaching

Dear Quynh,

You are in the last semester of school and you will begin student teaching very soon. Although you know it isn’t going to be easy, you may not expect how extremely difficult it may be at times. During these rough times, know that you have supporters around you and that it is okay to ask for help and guidance. 

First, don’t be so afraid of being wrong. Being a good teacher doesn’t mean that you have to be the smartest person in the room. If you make a mistake, fix it. Take risks in the classroom. Afterwards, you’ll slowly start to see your students taking risks and they’ll no longer be afraid of being wrong because you made it okay. 

Second, know that it is alright if nothing goes as planned. Unexpected things can happen, like last minute scheduled state assessments, or the computers mess up and the dates have to be rescheduled and you lose 3-4 class days. I’ve learned that not everything will go exactly as planned, and although it may seem out of nature to you, remind yourself that all will be fine. Clear your mind, take a deep breath, and charge on! 

Third, say goodbye to your comfort zones! Students love it when you could be dorky and weird. Show them your true personality and have fun with it! There is really no better time to fail or make a fool out of yourself then now.

  

I’m reaching the end of the semester and although it hasn’t been long, I’ve learned so much already. I wish that I had been more comfortable in the classroom, or should I say, I wish I got to that point earlier on. It’s important to feel comfortable as you teach, but it does take time. However, don’t hesitate to follow the third advice as written above. Being in the program has given me so many ideas on how and what I should teach, so do keep a journal nearby at all times to jot down these amazing ideas from those around you. When you begin teaching your own classroom, keep this journal nearby as well because you will continue to be inspired by your students and your colleagues.

Whatever it is that you choose to do in your classroom, do it one hundred percent. And if it doesn’t turn out all that great, revise it for the next year and know that you gave it your best. Everything is going to be fine.

Getting Students to Talk

Our students probably love to talk and we know this because the moment we let our guard down, their voice level will rise at an increasing rate until we remind them of our expectations once again. However, when it comes down to class discussion or partner-share ideas, we often hear crickets instead. So how can we as educators help students redirect their speech to something a little more productive? This way, we can get students to develop effective discussions in the classroom.

The Center for Teaching and Learning at Stanford University wrote an article titled How to Get Students to Talk in Class, giving educators several helpful strategies and tips to help students speak in class. The article mentions wait time and this is something that is easier said than done for most of us who cannot stand the silence. However, is important to know that silence is okay! Students need time to think, and “If they seem to need more time to think, ask them to turn to a classmate and brainstorm some responses to your question for two or three minutes” (How).  This tip leads up to the next point that the article brings up and they call it “decentralize.” Decentralizing is about “getting students to talk to each other, not just to you” and to do this, “literally tell them to address their comments to each other” and “try not to respond to every student comment; instead ask the class what they think about what has just been said” (How).

An active learning strategy that the article mentions is to utilize something called: solo free write. This strategy requires the teacher to give students time to “jot down some ideas in response to a problem or question before you expect them to have an answer ready” (How). This strategy is going to allow students to map out their thoughts thoroughly first before jumping into discussion. It is a great way to slowly ease students into a discussion and if students get too shy to speak, you could simply ask students to read what they had written. Also, you can tell your students that they should also use the same paper to write down their classmates’ ideas or other interesting thoughts throughout discussion.

Discussions are extremely effective for students and it is a great way for students to learn to communicate with one another and share ideas. Students can learn so much more when they aren’t only learning from the teacher, but everyone around them including their peers. We need to create a safe learning environment for students to speak and engage with one another. 

Works Cited

"How to Get Students to Talk in Class." CTL: Center for Teaching and Learning (2015): n. pag. Stanford University. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.

Engaging Students in Reading

                                             
           It’s often hard to get students to read a novel because nowadays, there is Google, spark notes, and movies that students claim give them the same experience. Getting students to read is usually a battle as they start to doze off or day dream instead of remaining engaged. So how can we as educators help students engage with a text?  We must be prepared to work with reluctant and disinterested readers.

            In an article titled “How to Engage ALL Kids in Reading,” Dr. Katherine McKnight speaks about her colleague who taught the lowest level readers in the 6^th grade and managed to get her students to look forward to reading. Dr. McKnight states “we must provide books that will peak interest in all readers” and she provides a lot of tips for choosing the right book. We need to find books that are “written clearly without long confusing sentences and sophisticated language” (McKnight). As English majors, we get excited about novels that we’ve read but we forget that it doesn’t meet our students’ reading level. We might enjoy the sophisticated language that some books offer but our students can find this quality confusing, hard to read, and end up disliking books. Instead, it’s best to start with a book that is appropriate to their reading level and slowly work up toward higher level books.

            Dr. McKnight also advises teachers to do the following: “choose literature that explores the lives of other teenagers, make sure humor is present, the characters are realistic and the reader can relate to them, and the plot should be interesting and appealing to young adult readers” (1). These are great tips in choosing the right book for our students, but engaging reading strategies need to also be present during the reading.

            In “Instructional Strategies Motivate and Engage Students in Deeper Learning,” Tom Dewing states that “teachers can improve students’ reading and writing skills by getting them to read for meaning” (2). Dewing gives an example of a strategy that could be used to help students read for meaning. He states that first, teachers should “give students a list of agree or disagree statements about the assigned text, then ask students to preview the statements. Afterwards, begin reading and then ask students to indicate whether they agree or disagree. Lastly, have students justify their agree/disagree positions by citing appropriate evidence from the text” (2).  This is a great way for students to form a connection with their own personal thought to a reading. By having students cite the text, it can help students build good research skills for future use.

            Choosing the right text is the first part in helping students start to read, but reading strategies are going to keep students engaged.

Works Cited

Dewing, Tom. "Help More Students Become College and Career Ready by Successfully Engaging Them in Reading Complex Texts in Science, Social Studies, Mathematics and Career/Technical Classes." Instructional Strategies Motivate and Engage Students in Deeper Learning. Atlanta. 2013. 1-2. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

McKnight, Katherine. "How to Engage ALL Kids in Reading." TeachHUB. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.