The Life of a Middle School Math Teacher...

New Journey

2008-07-31T12:42:00.000-07:00

So, it's been over a year since I last posted! So much has happened. Noah is now two years old! He's completely amazing! He has gotten a second set of tubes and they are really helping. I hope he out grows this pretty soon!

Brandon graduated from seminary. He's now Rev. Brandon. We moved to his first appointment in Tennessee. We're so happy to be out of Atlanta. We seem to be doing better as a couple now that we aren't in Atlanta.

The biggest change since my last blog is we now have a daughter. Her name is Sarah Elizabeth. She was born April 17, 2008. She's wonderful and we are so happy to have her in our family.

I start work on Monday. I'll be teaching 7th and 8th grade Math at Jonesborough Middle School in Jonesborough, TN. I was just hired a week ago today! I don't even have the textbooks and I haven't seen my classroom!! Kind of crazy!

Life is good! :)

ramblings

2007-04-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

Life has just been too crazy to keep up with a post that I don't think anyone reads.

The CRCT is this week. That's our state standardized test. If we don't pass, it'll be the 4th year in a row that my school hasn't made AYP. I'm not sure that we will pass it... we'll see what happens.

On a personal note, Noah had surgery on Friday. he had tubes inserted into his ears. His ears were packed full of fluid and weren't draining. :( He's doing just fine...just a little fussy!!

Well, gotta get to bed!!

Guess blogging isn't going well

2006-11-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

So, I decided to check here to see when the last time I blogged and noticed that it's been ages! I guess I'm not a very good blogger.

I'm now in my second year of teaching. My first year was a learning experience. I'm glad it's over. I feel that I'm doing a better job this year at teaching. It's the other stuff that's going on that makes me feel less effective...

First of all, I had a baby in July. I started school 4 weeks late. My sub didn't do what I expected her to do. She didn't even get through one unit and I left her two units. She also only graded 2 things while I was out. These were her words, "I don't take things home..." I was so mad. Progress Reports were due the week I got back. I have been behind since then. Not only do I have to catch up from being 2 units behind the rest of the teachers and all that grading, but I'm learning to live with a baby at home. Plus, my husband is having a hard time keeping up with his seminary work because of our son. We'll get through this semester some how...

So, that's what's going on with me...

Maybe I'll get better at this posting thing...who knows...

Karoline

Two weeks until school starts...

2005-07-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it is only two weeks until school starts. I was offered a position at Summerour Middle School in Norcross, GA. I'll be teaching 6th Math on the International Baccalaureate team. I'm excited and nervous, all at the same time.

Brandon and I found a home in Lilburn, GA. We signed the lease yesterday. It's a cute little three bedroom in Old Town Lilburn. It has a nice yard for our cat. I hope we're happy there.

So, we're busy packing... I have lessons to plan... life is busy. Nevertheless, life is good, and God is good.

The end of my internship...the beginning of a new life...

2005-04-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

So, internship is not a good place to try to keep up with a blog, thought it would have been a good way to keep track of everything that happened during my semester. It is almost over now. I only have 14 days left with the students. I am no longer teaching any of my classes. My cooperating teacher has taken them back over and is now preparing for the end of grade test. I am tutoring students during 2nd and 3rd period for the EOG. These are 8th grades that are in jeopardy of not passing the EOG. Hopefully they will.

This has been a crazy semester. Not only did I have to do all the stuff required of an intern, plus keep up with the lives of 75 sixth grades, but my husband and I had a rough patch. I wasn't sure if things were going to work out. During that time, if I didn't have my kids and my lessons, I don't know what I would have done. I truly need something to help me take my mind off of what was going on at home. Things have been worked out and were almost back to normal.

I am in the process of apply for jobs. I have been on 8 or 9 interviews and I still don't have a position. I don't think I interview well. Hopefully I'll get a job. I'm so disappointed and discouraged right now. I'm hoping to get a phone call back sometime soon saying I have a job.

I do have some good news. I have been awarded the Outstand Prospective Teacher award. This is given to the top 10% of student teachers/internships in the university. It is a very prestigious award to have. I am very honored to have it, though I don't think I deserve it. I feel that I have done the job that was expected of me. I don't think I've gone above and beyond what any student teacher/intern should have done.

We're moving to Maryville, TN for the summer. I am going to apply for a couple jobs. I want to have a full time and a part time job. Brandon and I need the money. Moving to the Atlanta area is going to be very expensive. Hopefully we'll be able to save enough money this summer to be able to make the move.

Brandon got some excellent news. He has received a full tuition scholarship for Candler School of Theology at Emory University. We won't have to pay tuition for any of his seminary career as long as he keeps his grades up. Hopefully he'll be able to do that.

So, in about two and half weeks, we will start the next chapter in our life together. We have lived in Cullowhee, NC for almost 4 years. It has had it's ups and downs. We will miss it, but we are both ready to leave. I hope to keep my blog posted with what is going on.

Adjustment...

2005-01-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

I am adjusting to life as a student teacher. I sure hope that being a teacher doesn't take up as much time as student teaching does. I don't seem to have much time at all. I'm always doing things for school right now. I know once my Technology Portfolio and my Teacher Work Sample are done, I won't be as busy. My technology portfolio is due Monday. So that'll be on more check on the to-do list of licensure.

The last two weeks have been not just a big adjustment period for me, but also for my students. I didn't realize how much of an adjustment it would be since I worked with these same students last semester. The students have gone through a period of trying to test my limits. They were not as focused as they should have been and were turning in poor quality work. They have gotten their act together now.

I had to fix some problems with parents this week. This is an art that I really need to work on. I don't always keep my cool. I'm getting better. It has helped that most of my communication with parents has been through email. I do have a conference next week though...

Ok, back to work on my technology portfolio...wish me luck!

Break is over...

2005-01-01T23:17:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

It seems like it was only yesterday that I took my last final. Two days from now, I'll begin Intern II. There just doesn't seem to be enough time! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...

Well, I did well grade wise last semester. I was able to maintain my 4.0 GPA! YEAH! I only need to do that for one more semester. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I got news on a non-academic grade. I took the Praxis II in November. I got the results over break! I passed! YEAH! I was a little nervous. I left the test thinking I would have to retake it. It was the hardest test I've been through. Well, I called in to the automated system to get my test scores. The computer told me I got a 200. From everything I read, 200 was the highest you could score on the test. So, I thought there was so kind of glitch in the system. There was no way I could have scored a 200 on that test. I called customer service. The operated chuckled at me as she told me that I indeed scored a 200. So, that's one more thing to check off on the to-do list for my teaching license.

I am excited about the upcoming week. There's a teacher workday on January 3. I get to put up bulletin boards and get things ready for the semester. I am not taking all of my classes on at once. I start with my 3 math classes. (It's only two preps.) The following week, I pick up reading (we are doing literature circles the first two weeks, so planning won't be too hard.) I pick up our science class the week of MLK Day. Then I'll teach all 5 classes at least until Easter. Then I start handing them back to Mrs. Moody. I am very nervous about this semester. I hope I do well.

The semester is over...

2004-12-16T22:15:00.000-08:00

YEAH! This semester is over! I only have to turn in a videotaped lesson to my University Supervisor and I'll offically be on break! The best part of this, I can actually use this blog for myself instead of a class. Who knows if I'll actually use this, but I'm going to give it my best try.

So, this has been the hardest semester I have ever been through. Since this is my second bachelor's degree, that's saying a lot. Not only did I have to deal with three very demanding classes, I also have to teach at least one lesson per week. It's been hard to keep up with everything. Now I'll only have stuff for internship to do. I won't have other classes to worry about. I will have seminar, but that won't be as hard as 3 classes and going to school two days a week. Now that I've said that, next semester is going to be 10 times harder...

Over Christmas Break, Brandon and I are going to Michigan. I have a brand new niece to meet! I'm very very excited. So, now I have one of each. Her name is Abigail Lee. She's a month and a half old. we meet her in 6 days!!!!!!

My husband, Brandon, graduates from college on Saturday. It's been a long journey, but we're excited that he's finally done. He'll have a short break before starting seminary at Candler. He starts next fall. So, for now, he'll be supporting me as I finish up my teaching degree and get my license.

Well, I'm pretty tired and I have to get up really early to tutor a high school student in Geometry. His EOC is tomorrow and he's pretty nervous about it. Hopefully I'll get back to this blogging thing...

Chapter 11--Last Chapter for the semester!! YEAH!!

2004-12-12T19:00:00.000-08:00

Chapter 11 was very interesting. Though I have taken SPED 335, I do not feel totally confident that I can meet the special needs of the students in my classroom. This chapter addressed ways technology can help me help my students.

I really liked the portion of the chapter where we checked our webpages for accessibilty for blind people. I had never realized that internet could be accessible to the blind. It really taught me there's a lot out there I do not know.

Chapter 12

2004-12-06T23:44:00.000-08:00

Putting Chapter 12 after Chapter 13 and before Chapter 11 makes me feel like I don't know how to count. But this is the order the chapters were assigned, so that is the order I will post in.

I enjoyed reading about how to fully integrate technology into the curriculum. I enjoyed reading the lessons that were provided with this chapter. It is amazing to think about all students can learn from doing one of the authentic problems that were presented in The Road Ahead. Not only students learning about technology, but mathematics, language arts, science, social studies...you name it, it's probably in there.

Each one of our subject areas does not exist in a bubble. I believe for a successful middle school program the subject areas need to be integrated as much as possible. These cannot be "add ins." They have to authentic purposes for our students to fully grasp what they are trying to learn and what we are trying to teach them. Giving students work to just do work does not produce authentic learning experiences. Students must be excited and interested to get the full effect of the assignment. That's why these must be authentic.

Chapter 13 Reflection

2004-11-30T10:07:00.000-08:00

I found the article on filtering the internet very interesting. At first I was shocked that someone was suggesting that we do not protect our students for dangers. Then I thought about it as I read on. We cannot create bubble around our students and act as if these things do not exist. There are dangers out there in the world. We cannot protect the students when we are not there, unless we teach them how to protect ourselves.

Now that I agree with the article, I think it will be very hard to convience some community members of this. I can show them the article, but they may not agree with what the article says. I'm sure that things like drug education and sex eduction must have gotten resistance too when it was suggested at first. I know there are still parents that will not allow their students to sit through sex eduction done by the school. Why would they allow their students to use a computer without a filter or list to a lesson on how to navigate the internet safely?

Chapter 10 Reflection

2004-11-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

This chapter brought up some good statistics on North Carolina Schools in our first reading. It noted the statistics on technology/internet/computer use for the state of North Carolina being higher than the national average. I think that is wonderful, but I'm wondering if schools are reporting accurately.

I wonder this because in my classroom where I am doing my internship, we have 4 computers for the students that are online all the time. The teacher also has her computer that is also online all the time. There is also another computer in the room, which is not accessible to the students because it is my personal laptop. It is not online in the classroom. (Only when the mobile lab is there, then I get the wireless connection.) So 5 out of the 6 computers in our classroom can be used with our students. Our largest class is 25 students. We have 1 computer for every 5 students. We have used these computers for 1 week on 1 project thus far this year. Why have the computers in the classroom if we are not going to use it. I am wondering how many of the other classrooms in the North Carolina are expereincing the same thing.

The students do get a 6 week section of keyboarding during the school year. The school also uses programs like Study Island, but this is just an additional activity. It's not an integration of technology in the classroom.

I am very fortunate to be working with a teacher that went to a workshop with the Science House in Asheville over the summer. She is what the Science House calls a "Pioneer Teacher." This intitles her to the use of the Science House materials during 3 weeks through out the school year. This is wonderful for our students to be able to use this equipment. It is also wonderful to see this equipment being used.

So, computers are being used at my school, juts not the computers that are sitting in our classroom.

Chapter 9 Post

2004-11-22T08:41:00.000-08:00

Thing this semester just keep getting more hetic and more hetic. I can't wait until the end of the semester. Only 3 more weeks left. I don't even get a break over Thanksgiving. I have to work on my technology portfolio and all of this homework for this class. I am so far behind not just in this class, but in all of my classes. I can't believe the amount of work I have to do. I feel like I'm drowning.

I enjoyed looking for instructional software for this portion. My favorite that I've used is GeoSketch pad, but it has nothing to do with my unit plan. I also enjoyed using the turtles. Geometry is one of my favorite parts of Mathematics and that could explain why I like both of these programs.

Chapter 8 Reflection

2004-11-14T19:43:00.000-08:00

I have just finished everything for Chapter 8. I am a few days late, but that's what happens when you have a cold, a job fair, the Praxis II in less than week, and all these classes with things due. It's been a very busy couple of weeks. Only a few more weeks left in the semester! Thank goodness!!!

I really enjoyed actually incorporating technology into my lessons. It was interesting to see how it just logically flows into my lessons. It seems like the technologies I have put in the two lessons I've written belong there. Granted, I am a Mathematics teacher. Technology and Mathematics go very well together. I wonder if my classmates are finding this as easy as I am.

What I liked best is I haven't used the technology that all teachers over depend on in Mathematics yet. I do not have a calculator in use in any of my lessons. I do have it listed as a supply in my first lesson, just in case. I do not have it planned as a use.

After our initial class on the Technology Portfolio, I'm a little less worried about it. It is going to take a lot of work, but I do not think it is going to be hard. It will be time consuming, but it is not going to be difficult. I think I want to do mine online. I think it will be an easier way to organize. Papers have a way of becoming disorganized, even after you organize them. I find it a lot harder to become lost in webpage organization. Maybe it's because I'm a Math person.

When I was at the Gwinnett County Job Fair on November 6, I saw some people hand a CD in with their resumes. It was a portfolio of some sort. They had a paper copy with them as they walked around the job fair. The principals and teachers at the job fair saw hundreds of potential teachers. By giving the school as CD of their work, these teachers have ensured that their portfolios are going to be remembered by the people that are hiring for the county. I think it was a wise thing to do, and I intend on doing the exact same thing for my next job fair.

Chapter 7 Reflection

2004-11-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

This unit was a good review of Access. It's been years since I've used this program. (Since I had Computers in Business in 1998 with my first Bachelor's.) It was a great refresher on how to use a program that is often over looked. When you say database, most people think of Excell. Everyone forgets about Access.

I have used Access to create a database of all the middle schools in Gwinnett County, Georgia. I included the principal, the school name, street, city, state and zip code. There are 20 middle schools in that county. I created my cover letter and using mail merge, personalize each cover letter to each principal. I have a job fair on Saturday in Gwinnett County. When I'm at the job fair, I'll have a resume, cover letter, transcript packet peronsalized for each school in the county.

Chapter 6 Reflection

2004-11-02T10:03:00.000-08:00

I'm having to catch up on everything. We did Chapter 6 about 2 weeks ago and I just remembered I never did the reflection on it.

I enjoyed the video project. It was very fun to put together. I had never been video taped like that before. It was a good experience learning how to make prompts and read from them. I also enjoyed editing. My husband is excited because now I can video tape him kayaking and he can edit it and put it on his webpage.

I liked that we got to use the Macs. Some may of us are afraid of Macs. I have had some experience on Macs, but I'm more comfortable with PCs.

I am wondering how likely it is for schools to have the equipment for students to be able to check out. These video camaras are very expensive. The schools do not even have a computer for each on the of the students. How can they justify buying a video camara?

Reflection over Chapter 5

2004-09-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

This has been a very overwhelming week. It is the middle of the semester. I am ready to be done with the semester, but the end is not insight yet. I am tired. I feel so behind in everything. I am digging my hole deeper and deeper. I don't know if I'll ever get out. I am ready for fall break. Just another week and a half...

This weeks reading was interesting. I liked the aspect on reading images. Too often images are seen as decoration and not part of the text, but images can add so much to the text. I enjoyed looking at the pictures in this reading. A whole lesson can be created using just one of those images. The use of images will deepen students learning.

I have enjoyed working on the newsletter. I think this will be fantastic way to communicate to the parents what my students are doing. Parent/teacher communication is vital, and usually done when something is going wrong, or at least that is what I have witnessed in my classrooms. It is also a good way to showcase the students' work.

Chapter 4 Reflection

2004-09-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

This week's reading has been the most valuable so far to my content area. My content area is Math. I have learned a lot of ways I can use technology within my classroom when I'm a teacher.

There is one thing that is bothering me, and has been bothering me since I did my first field experience. I am finding that students are too dependent upon technology and not enough on themselves. Students are lacking the knowledge of the basic facts. I know of 6th grade students that use their fingers to add on if a calculator is not available. These students are also lost when it comes to the basic multiplication and division facts. The students are very knowledgeable about the calculator and how to use it. However, it takes longer to perform these basic calculations on a calculator than it does to do them in your head. I think it is hard to justify the use of calculators when it is replacing what I consider a very valuable life skill of knowing the basic facts. Are these students going to carry calculators with them in a grocery story to ensure they do not go over the budgeted amount? I see the value of using calculators in doing some calculations, however, I think that our elementary teachers have become too dependent on their students using the calculators instead of teaching them how to preform these operations.

I have enjoyed creating the spreadsheets in Excel. I can see this being used as a valuable tool in many of the content areas.

Reflection Chapter 3

2004-09-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed the readings this week. It was over some material that I was a little more familiar with. I really liked the idea of a paper-less classroom. I think it would be fantastic to turn in all assignments electronically. I know there are few ways to do that. It can be done via email, posting on a web page, or through beaming. It would cut down in the paper that we use in a classroom, and also make technology an integral part of our class. I would love to find more web sites through www.yahoo.com and www.hotbot.com. Some of the sites I found were wonderful. They included applets that would go very well with my unit plan. I would like to search for more such web sites.

Weekly Reflection Over Chapter 2

2004-09-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

I have enjoyed learning all about linking computers. I am furthering my knowledge of computers and web design. I started my journey in CS 130 last semester. This class is taking what I learned in that class and taking it farther.I found the copyright rules very interesting. These will be hard to remember, so I plan on keeping that list on hand. My questions for this week is we have learned how we can make the internet accessible to our students with out actually being online. There are students that do not have access to computers outside of school. How can we fix this? What resources are available for these students?

Reflection on Chapter 1

2004-08-31T22:53:00.000-07:00

Note to self: Do not put off reading until Tuesday night.

I really enjoyed this reading, even though I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of material that was covered. I understand that it is an introductory overview to the course.

I really enjoyed the piece on constructivism. I do agree with the author about the lack of change in curriculum to encompass technology instead of having technology as an addition to our classrooms. I am in a classroom with four computers. We have not used the computers once this year. The science class is going to be doing a web-based scavenger hunt next week, in the computer lab next week. I wish that we could use computers more.

My cooperating teacher is in a program called Pioneer Teachers. Three times this year our class will be getting a set of graphing calculators, various scientific data collectors, and some lap tops. I have been told very little about the program by the teacher. She is very excited about getting to use this equipment. I am excited about it too. It is just too bad that we only get it for 3 weeks out of the 36. At least we get to use the technology. There are teams in the school that a teacher did not go through this training, and they do not get to use this form of technology.

I was also amazed at the rate that technology grows. It is no wonder that my husband's parents can't even grasp technology. Each time we go to their house, we have to explain how to do different things, such as download an attachment from an email. I may laugh at them, but I remember the struggles I had with learning how to access my email account at Central Michigan University in 1995. It was my freshman year. I had only just heard of email a few weeks before going to college.

An example of the change in our society: When I started at Central Michigan University in 1995, most students did not bring a computer to school. The internet was not considered a reliable source by most of my professors. MLA did not have a way to source internet documents at the time, so my professor and I made up a way so I could site something in one of my papers. Times sure have changed.

First Post

2004-08-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in my Computers in Education class. It is the first night in class. This is our first activity in class to create a blog. I had never heard of a blog before this evening. This should be interesting.

For those of you that are in my class or just randomly found my blog, I'll tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Karoline Berg. I am currently working on my Bachelor's of Science in Education at Western Carolina University. My major is Middle Grades and my focus area is Mathematics.

I have recently begun my first semester of internship. I am at a near by middle school. Though my focus area is Mathematics, my cooperating teacher also teaches Reading and Science. It will be interesting when I start the second semester of my internship when I full take over the class. I have not taken a science class since 1996. My cooperating teacher has two different math classes. She has a regular sixth grade math and an advanced math class (seventh grade math for sixth graders). There are two sections of sixth grade math and one second of advanced math. I am really excited about getting to work with both of these classes.