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Teaching a speech class is fun most days. Its amazing (and sometimes disturbing) what comes out of the mouths of 9th graders, but I’ve encountered a serious problem lately. My mentor-teacher has been absent a lot lately, and I’ve been responsible for facilitating the students’ speeches. Between the four class periods I teach, I have 9 English Language Learners (ELLs). When preparing their speeches almost all of them request to go to the ESL classroom for help, and I always allow it. But this is a speech class. A mandatory speech class. And there comes a time when they have to stand before…
read more »In one week the entire Mid-Atlantic has seen more snow than I’ve seen in my entire lifetime put together. Drought? I can do. 112 degree heat waves? No problem. But that much snow seems impossible to me. Maybe the Universe will do me a favor and hold off on the snow next winter. If not……
read more »My first day student-teaching alone went great! The lesson plan for the day was really easy. I did a short lecture on job interview skills and resumes, then the kids picked their dream career and began to write their own resumes. Next week we will perform mock interviews. It was a really fun activity and…
read more »First things first… I passed both of my Praxis exams! I had a good feeling about them both but actually having the score report seemed to lift a pretty good-sized load off my shoulders. I can now focus on getting through my student-teaching until TFA decides to again inundate my life with paperwork and errands.…
read more »The University of North Texas closed today, along with several surrounding school districts, because last night the temperature fell below freezing and there was about 10 minutes of rain. By 10am all of the ice on the road had melted and it was warm enough outside for just a light jacket. All it takes to…
read more »If there were two things on Earth that I could hate, it would have to be errands and paperwork. Unfortunately, as of late, these two things have dominated my life. Between working 2 jobs, final exams, final papers, matriculation paperwork, studying for the Praxis, and keeping track of my student organizations, my days are spent…
read more »10 November 2009. I will probably never forget the date. Having promised myself that I would not agonize all day, I refused to check my email or log into the Applicant Center until after 7pm. However the persistant blink of a blue star, shining now brighter than ever before from the scratched exterior of my cell…
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