Author Archive for Margaret Brill

Jennifer Backes,  from South Milwaukee, is majoring in Music Education with an emphasis on Instrumental and General Education. Her inspiration to become a teacher comes from long line of educators and a desire to spread her passion of music to others  Her 18-week placement is broken down by the first 9-weeks at Rosenow Elementary in Fond du Lac, and the second at Merrill and Webster-Stanley Middle Schools in Oshkosh.

I have pretty much been teaching by myself most of the time now.  It has been a really great experience but boy does it sure leave me exhausted at the end of each day!  Since you are constantly busy every second of the day, you don’t have time to think about the fact that you have been standing, talking, and/or singing for sometimes three hours straight. You may not even realize that you hadn’t even gone to the bathroom all day! Your mind becomes focused on what you’re doing and making sure your students are behaving. You are constantly scanning and constantly redirecting since you have around 30 kids in one small classroom. It is a good thing I keep a water bottle on me at all times because there was even a point in which I was losing my voice from singing so much! Now I can understand why my cooperating teacher wears a little microphone so that she doesn’t have to speak louder and wear her voice out.

With Valentine’s Day, conferences, and half-days happening lately the kids have definitely been more worked up than usual.  But I have been handling and redirecting my kids pretty well so it wasn’t too bad.  Plus, I received some cute cards from my kids on Valentine’s Day that made me smile so much I couldn’t be upset with them for very long!  I even got into the Valentine’s Day spirit and wrote a short Valentine’s Day song to teach my kids. They loved it because I included instruments as well. Anytime you can get kids to play instruments, they instantly love anything! Even if it is something as simple as rhythm sticks or shakers, they love it!

Of course it wasn’t all easy. There was a boy with Autism who was having some difficulties this week because his routine was off due to the holiday.  He was more worked up than usual and had a harder time adjusting to all of the new noises of excitement and parties. I felt bad because there was an activity I was doing with his class where I drew names from a bag for students to come up and participate. I drew his name and asked if he would like a turn.  He nodded and quietly came forward. I was using a ribbon tied to a stick in which the students just had to twirl it around to create a pattern for the rest of the class to sing. My boy got a small smile on his face as he twirled it around but then the class laughed – not at him but at the fun design he created. However, he assumed they were laughing at him and so he ran out of the classroom. My cooperating teacher followed him and told me to just continue but I felt so bad. After class I had a short break and instead of planning for my next class that would arrive in a half hour I went to the room where he was calming down and sat next to him. I didn’t say anything but simply picked up the nearest book and began to read to myself.  I wanted him to know, on his own time, that I was there for him and that I appreciated him. We remained in silence like that for probably about 15 minutes but then he finally lifted his hand and patted my arm. He didn’t look at me, and it only lasted for a few seconds, but that gesture alone made me smile and feel so warm. His specialist, who was in the room at her desk, saw this as well and smiled and nodded to me. While it may seem like nothing, that was his way of acknowledging me and knowing that I was there for him, and will always be there for him. Words can’t even describe how moving and powerful it was.

Our presence means the world to our students. To take the time to show them that you care can make such a huge difference. I have an easy time connecting with students who have disabilities due to my job experience with CESA 6 and these students especially need to know that they have people on their side. Many students, and adults for that matter, cast them aside and assume they won’t understand or that they are “beyond hope” but that could not be further from the truth. They are people just like you and me who yearn for love and companionship. They may not be able to vocalize it as clearly as we can but they deserve it as well. They may not be able to express their gratitude as easily as others, but they are thankful. And it may be hard for us to know whether or not what we are teaching reaches their ears, but they do remember. We cannot give up on them just because they have a disability. If we do that then we are simply proving that we are the ones with the disability. Scott Hamilton once said, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” As teachers we have agreed to try to touch and reach out to every single student so please do not leave anybody behind.  They all need us.

Jeremy Kautz, from Menasha, is majoring in Mathematics Education with a minor in Spanish (Non-licensable) He wants to become a teacher so he can have an influence on social progress, justice and the creation of a more just and green world. His 18 week placement is taking place at Webster Stanley Middle School in Oshkosh.

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” ~Harlan Hogan

I was hopeful when I walked into Webster Stanley Middle School for the first time, arriving 15 minutes early for an interview with the Principal and my would-be cooperating teacher.   I decided that if I was going to make myself a member of this educational community it was important to get to know the office staff and make a good first impression. I met the principal for the first time as he greeted me and we went to the conference room where I took my place in the hot seat at the end of the table with my cooperating teacher on my left and the principal on my right prepared to fire away with a wide range of questions to get to know me. In order to be prepared for an interview, a perspective student teacher needs to have critically thought about their philosophy of education, how to manage a classroom (in theory) and identify the talents that you can bring the organization.

My cooperating teacher has said to her students numerous times over my first two weeks how important first impressions are especially when they are being mischievous.  Getting off on the right foot with your cooperating teacher is also incredibly important. In order to put my best foot forward, I prepared for my first day of class by contacting them via e-mail. I also prepared a binder which would be central to my organization for the semester. They mentioned to me in our conversations during the preparation period that they admired my preparedness, organization and also level of engagement. I firmly believe that being engaged with the students and in the classroom as early as possible is important to build a report with both the students, the cooperating teacher, and the school community. I am very excited to be working with my teacher and her students at Webster Stanley Middle School for an entire 18 weeks.

In my first two weeks I have been engaged, helpful, and personable. I have been able to share some technical expertise, assisting with technology and teaching the cooperating teacher how to make use of the Google’s many features. I have also been able to observe many different classroom dynamics, seeing how age, and maturity can affect a classroom is easily noticeable in the 6^th 7^th and 8^th grade classes that I am in. A few of the classes we teach are contained to 10 students at a time, in order to ensure that students whom struggle in math have the opportunity to improve their techniques, study habits and provide additional insight to supplement the lessons of their regular math class. I also am able to observe the effect class size can have on the student’s behavior and learning outcomes.

One of the highlights of my first two weeks was being a chaperone on the last Webster Stanley Ski Club trip to Nordic Mountain. In anticipation for this day, I loaded my skis and (sisters) boots into my car so I would be ready to hit the slopes when we arrived. To my dismay, I do not wear size 10 women’s boots, and my skis would not accommodate them either! While trying to decipher the cause of my discomfort, I nearly did the splits in front of one of my co-worker and many of the student skiers.  But despite the mishap with the boots, I had a great time skiing and getting to know my students outside of the classroom.

Jennifer Backes, from South Milwaukee, is majoring in Music Education with an emphasis on Instrumental and General Education. Her inspiration to become a teacher comes from long line of educators and a desire to spread her passion of music to others  Her 18-week placement is broken down by the first 9-weeks at Rosenow Elementary in Fond du Lac, and the second at Merrill and Webster-Stanley Middle Schools in Oshkosh.

Words cannot even begin to explain how much fun I have been having at my first student teaching placement!  My cooperating teacher is fantastic and really inspiring!  I am learning so much from her and love everything that she does!  All of the other teachers have also been very nice and welcoming as well.  But the kids, oh how I love them!

As the music teacher we receive every student within the school.  So instead of having to learn about 30 names we have to learn around 400.  We have 16 different classes in order to see every student.  During my first week I wrote and sang a song of introduction to each class so they knew a little bit about my family and me.  I coordinated my song with pictures that I had on a Prezi as well and the kids loved seeing what my family members looked like.  They were as quiet as mice while I was singing and then erupted with questions afterwards.

They are all so adorable! They will hug you, tell you how beautiful you are, and tell you they love you, and even make you a flower from a Kleenex that you really really hope hadn’t been used.  I can’t help but smile every time I go into the school!  But it’s not even that, it’s just being there in general and sharing my passion for music.  Seeing them sing loud and proud or even just seeing them sway back and forth to music brings a huge smile to my face.  And I love walking down the hallway and having them shout, “Miss Backes!” after me.  This is certainly what it is like to be doing something you love!  Even the ridiculously early mornings can’t bring my spirits down!!

The fourth and fifth graders are putting on Pirates: The Musical for their concert in March.  So we auditioned kids for the various roles and now have been working with them on speaking/memorizing their parts.  The third graders are singing a selection of Pirate themed music for the concert so I chose the songs and have been teaching them to the classes.  I’ll be leading all of the grades in their greeting songs at the beginning of every class.  The younger grades (kindergarten through second grade) had their concert in December so it’s really nice because we have been able to do whatever we want with these classes.  We teach a variety of songs, do a bunch of music activities, and just have fun exploring different options with them!

Within my second week of teaching the kids have now gotten used to me being around and I have learned many things that I was never even exposed to in any of my classes throughout college.  Being a music education major, you don’t really receive much insight on teaching since all of the education classes are centered on the main subject areas.  The music methods courses are definitely beneficial and I have implemented much from those, but there are some experiences that you just never even think about until it happens.

I have a handful of students with varying levels of hearing loss.  Many of them have cochlear implants use FM transmitters them hear.  This is little microphone that we clip to ourselves so that our sound travels directly into their ear.  With so many noises happening around them it is hard for these students to decipher and pick out certain sounds.  So this FM transmitter allows the specific sound on the other end of the microphone to travel directly to them.  I never imagined having this many students with hearing loss.  There is one student who is even completely deaf and no FM transmitter would be able to help her case.  She, as do a few others, have an actual sign language interpreter.  I have been working alongside their interpreters to determine placement within the classroom (where the interpreter should stand depending on what I’m teaching/using that day) and also communication with the students.  It has really made me realize how truly sad it must be to not hear the sounds of the world around us.  We take it for granted so often that we don’t know what it must be like to simply live in a silent and/or muffle and distorted world.  Because of this, I have adapted my lessons to better include the hearing impaired by thinking about sound waves and vibrations.  I brought my violin in to work on vocal exploration and I had the hearing impaired feel the vibrations of my instrument as I played.  Their interpreters also used their hands to show the direction of the pitches I played.  It has been an incredibly eye opening experience that I never really thought of before.

I also have quite a bit of students with learning disabilities and/or emotional disabilities.  Now this is something we certainly do not get enough of within our education courses.  I am so thankful to have my job through CESA 6 where I work one-on-one with children with these disabilities because I would definitely be at a loss with what to do.  From my experiences, I have been able to determine when these particular students begin to escalate and can generally bring them back down before something happens.  However if I did not have this training, then I would not have been able to recognize these signs to diffuse them.

Most teaching and the skills you acquire come with experience.  You can take all of the classes in the world and still not know what to do.  Experience is key.  You have to make both mistakes and successes in order to know what works and doesn’t work.  This not only applies to the above situations but also to management in general.  Since I have been teaching quite a bit more this past week, some of the students have been testing me.  Because I’m the new teacher they expect me to either be more lenient or feel uncomfortable with discipline.  So when two were acting out and distracting my class, they were stunned when I called them out so quickly. Naturally, they were not happy with me during the rest of the class but they remained on task and did as I instructed.  This was a good experience for me to go through because it also allowed the rest of the class to realize that I wasn’t going to be a pushover.  While I am new and younger than their other teachers, I still expect them to follow the same rules that every other teacher expects of them.  They can be as upset with me as they want, but eventually they will understand and respect me for it.

Despite the misbehavior that you will always run into as a teacher, at the end of the day I love it.  I love seeing my students enjoying the music I teach them, enjoy the activities I create, and even tackle me with hugs upon seeing me.  I’m their role model and I certainly intend to be a good one.

My name is Melissa Walters and I’m a senior in the College of Education.  I will be graduating from the Dual Education program in May of 2013 with degrees in both general and special education for students in first through eighth grades. After spending four years in the Fox Valley, I’ve decided to do my final semester and student teaching closer to home in the Milwaukee Public Schools. Since I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a teacher. While growing up, I spent a lot of summers with my aunt who has been a teacher for many years. She was someone to whom I always looked up to and wanted to imitate.  That led me, eventually, to a preview day for the Department of Special Education at UW-O.  From then on, I knew I wanted to be prepare to teach all learners and that Oshkosh would be the best place to help me reach that goal.

Having grown up in the Milwaukee area, I knew that I would want to return there after college.  This desire led me to a program called the Institute of Urban Education, IUE.  Through this program, I was connected with a cohort of other students from other UW schools and supervisors familiar with the urban setting.  I will be in two different placements throughout the 18 week session.  The first is at Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary in a resource room for students in fourth and fifth grades. The second placement is at Bethune Academy in a general education, second grade classroom. While teaching in both placements I will also attend weekly seminars with the other members of my cohort and supervisors and instructors from the Institute. Looking forward to my placements, I am both excited and nervous.  I am excited to be in the classroom after a long break from school.  I strongly agree that educators should be lifelong learners so being outside of structured learning was difficult for me.  Being back in the classroom both as a teacher and a learner is the place where I feel I reach my prime. The anxiety arises in the environment that I am entering.  Until this point I have only ever taught in the Fox Valley.  Part of my entrance into the IUE was to research and write a report on MPS as a district.  This first shone a light on the vast differences between Oshkosh/Fond Du Lac and Milwaukee. Not only are there racial and cultural differences, but there are also major differences in socioeconomic statuses.  These are all things that I will need to recognize not only as a person but also as an educator.  As the beginning of my student teaching approaches, I have an open mind and an open heart, both ready to embrace every opportunity that I encounter.

Hello! My name is Jeremy Kautz and I am very excited to share my student teaching placement experiences. I am from Menasha, Wisconsin where I went through their school system and then attended UW-Fox Valley and UW-Oshkosh. My Bachelor’s Degree has a Major in Mathematics Education with a Minor in Spanish (Non-licensable). I want to become a teacher because I want to be an agent for social progress, justice and the creation of a more just and verdant world.

I will be spending my semester with Mrs. Dobke at Webster Stanley Middle School in Oshkosh, WI for the entire 18 weeks of my student teaching experience. We will be teaching many seventh grade math classes, including a co-taught math class with an LD specialist, Mrs. Bilitz. I am very excited to get to know my students and colleagues that I will be working with throughout the semester. In our building we have another Mathematics Student Teacher, his name is Jordan. Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. I want to take this semester to really focus on becoming a valuable resource in the school community focus on organization and being involved in professional development opportunities.