Student Teaching - Week #12

by Madeleine Garcia - Kenwood Academy

Life in the city as a Student Teacher

Ms. E, Ms. K, and me

I am a secondary Spanish student teacher at Kenwood Academy. These past few weeks have been so much fun for me at Kenwood. October 31st was Halloween. My cooperating teacher and I dressed up as Day of the Dead (a Mexican holiday) skeletons. How fun!! Even though the students are older than elementary school students, they LOVED IT!!! This started the week off with a bang.

As a high school teacher, I am able to connect with the students more on the same level. Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated in Mexico where they celebrate death. During this two day holiday, the students spent an entire class period reflecting on people they have lost. It was amazing how seriously they took it and how thoughtful they were of others.

At this point in the semester I am comfortable with my students, and my students are comfortable with me. I believe that students have the best learning environment when they feel comfortable. It was evident in the last test that they took. The pride I felt in my student’s accomplishments gives me motivation to continue being the best teacher I can be.

Life in the city outside of Student Teaching

November 11 was citizenship day at Chicago Semester. We all volunteered at different places. I volunteered to chaperone a field trip to the bowling alley. :D It was a lot of fun, and I won!! WOO!! The children were all Hispanic, so I was able to practice my Spanish as well.

Saturday night, I went with some teachers from Kenwood to Quartinos, a delicious Italian restaurant. The food was great, and if you go with a large group of people, each person can order something different and everyone can share. Afterwards we all went to La Salle Power Company to dance. Teachers can have fun too!!

Since I had never been in Chicago before, I was excited to experience the holiday season downtown. I went to see the Festival of Lights. So many people were downtown in the cold, it was amazing! The lights were unlike anything I’ve seen before; I could see why so many people come to see it.

To celebrate an early Thanksgiving, I attended a family dinner of a friend that I met early on this semester. As I was settling in to Chicago, she was able to show me the ways of the city. Since she is from Chicago, she invited me to come for a home cooked meal. The food was delicious and it was nice change of pace.

Student Teaching - Weeks # 10 & 11

by Jessica Stob Mills - Daniel Boone Elementary School

Life in the City Student Teaching

These past two weeks have been very exciting at Chicago Semester. October 31 came and went and the students were all dressed up in school! It’s weird being too old to trick-or-treat. I know that I haven’t been able to for a while, but I really wanted some of the candy passing between the students.

One of the things we are required to do for Chicago Semester Student Teaching is to create an online portfolio. One part of that portfolio needs to consist of a video lesson. So over these past two weeks we all turned in video lessons. I didn’t really have an issue being video-taped but the whole process really took a long time.

Life in the City at Chicago Semester

With Halloween over and video-lessons turned in, we looked forward to the Hunger Banquet. The Hunger Banquet involved all of Chicago Semester students, faculty and staff, along with a few guests. Without our knowledge, we were placed in groups labeled upper-class, middle-class, lower-class and homeless. After hearing some facts about hunger within the Chicago-land area, we sat at our assigned "table": a five course meal for the upper-class; chicken legs, mashed potatoes, vegetables and dessert for the middle-class; chicken nuggets, beans and rice on the floor for the lower-class; and the homeless had to get their food, which was rice, from another room and beg for more food from others. It was a very thought-provoking, fact-filled evening that ended with us taking leftover food to homeless people on the streets of Chicago.

11/11/11 was not only Veteran’s Day but was also Citizenship Day for Chicago Semester. As the semester progresses, the general students and the student teachers at Chicago Semester spend less and less time together. So, not only was this a day for us to get together but also a time to volunteer. I went to the Urban Art Retreat in the North Lawndale neighborhood. The Urban Art Retreat is a place for under-noticed artists to display their artwork. It is also a place for people from the community to come and do arts and crafts as well as a place for woman in transition to board for a short while. There we cleaned areas that haven’t been cleaned for a while and we were invovled in a small “quilting” art project that will benefit the community.

Life in the City Outside of Student Teaching

Lastly, this past weekend I went with friends to the Haymarket Pub and to Forever Yogurt in the Wicker Park neighborhood with two other CS student teachers, Samantha and Samantha!

Student Teaching - Week #9

by Jessica Stob Mills - Daniel Boone Elementary School

Life in the City Student Teaching



Emily Oaks Nature Center

 This week was an exciting week of student teaching. In science the third graders are learning all about water. So, on Monday we went on a field trip to Emily Oaks Nature Center to learn about this key to life. We all got on a bus, which is exciting for the students because for most of them the only time they ride on a school bus is when they are going on field trips, and began our day outside next to a pond. We didn't just learn about water but also three other keys for life: oxygen, sun and soil. The students had a lot of fun and they learned quite a bit as well. Unfotunately, the rest of the afternoon didn't go as well.  When we got back to school, one student had to go home because of bed bugs, another student threw up, and another had an accident in class. These are all things they don't necessarily prepare you for in school. I wasn't glad that they happened and all in one afternoon none-the-less, but I'm glad they happened so that I got experience with how to deal with everything. 

Math bulletin board

On Tuesday we worked hard to catch up after being away for a field trip the day before.  Wednesday my cooperating teacher was sick so I had to take over and change a lot of my plans and Thursday was catch up day. Friday was a professional development day for teachers. It was a very different week, but it was nice to have it short because the students were excited all week in anticipation of Halloween. 

Life in the City outside of Student Teaching

Normally I drive to seminar class every week, since that’s how I get around. But typical Chicago Semester students take public transportation (really I should say smart Chicago Semester students). I decided this past week to take public transportation to seminar because the cost of parking was just a little too much for me every week. So another Chicago Semester student teacher and I walked to the bus and after the bus got on the "L" (that’s what they call the trains in Chicago, it stands for elevated trains). It took a really long time since we student teach so far North, but I’m glad I took public transportation since it didn’t cost me anything!

What I am looking forward to…

I’m looking forward to seeing all my students dressed up in their Halloween costumes because they are allowed to wear them to school on Monday. Also, I’m looking forward to the Hunger Banquet, an event that’s taking place at the Chicago Semester offices. We’re moving in to our new place this week too, so of course I’m looking forward to that!