Student Teaching - Week #6

by Victoria Johnston - Mitchell Elementary



Joffrey Ballet - American Legends

As a Chicago resident I have the opportunity to become a cultured individual. I am taking full advantage of my fine arts pass and attending the weekly events. The Joffrey Ballet was on the agenda this week. Before Thursday I had seen one other professional ballet and that was The Nutcracker years ago. This ballet was an exquisite performance with great variety in every piece. It began with a more classical piece in four movements and moved to a piece that took place under the sea. I think the second was my favorite. I was continually astonished with the fluidity and grace the dancers exhibited and how flexible the human body can be. It was followed by another more classical piece and ended with Frank Sinatra songs broken into nine different sections. I enjoyed the variation of music and costumes, as well as the beautiful theater where it all took place. Thursday we will be attending the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where Yo-Yo Ma will be playing. I think everyone is looking forward to hearing a world renowned cellist.

This coming week I will begin full-time teaching. I am nervous going into this week. Teaching a subject for the first time is always the hardest, but once I move past the starting line, planning and instruction come more easily. I greatly enjoyed teaching science for the first time this week, mostly because I had a great aha! moment in the midst of my lesson. I used The Lorax to introduce a unit on ecology and while reading the book I was able to teach reading strategies as well as briefly show students’ poetry to kick start their poetry unit next week. Another joy has been seeing the admiration from students for me grow. They are quicker to give me hugs and say hello in the hallways. I am greatly blessed to be in this classroom.

While I am nowhere near a master teacher, I can see great progress in my strategies and instruction since day one. My class appears to be learning, but either cabin fever is setting in or they are specifically attempting to test the student teacher. I have been shaping my classroom management and enjoying the relationships I am building with students, but some have been particularly disrespectful lately. It is frustrating at times, and as the teacher, I must be careful to not allow it to affect my teaching in a negative manner.

Last week I wrote about West Town and its changing face with gentrification. I experienced firsthand the wealthier part of the neighborhood today in my volunteer work. Today, I offered my time at a place near Mitchell that has after school programs and throws parties for kids on weekends. I did not realize until today it was more of a business than an organization. While it is a great resource and owned by wonderful people, it allowed me to see the split in resident life styles. It is interesting to see the drastic shift in such a small area.

Student Teaching - Week #5

by Victoria Johnston - Mitchell Elementary


Garrett's Chicago Mix



This week marked one month in Chicago. It is boggling how fast the time has gone and how much has happened. I feel as though I am a blooming expert at public transportation, but I still have run for my fair share of buses. I had the opportunity on Tuesday to explore downtown a little more on my own because we had the day off since it was Lincoln’s birthday and of course the Land of Lincoln must celebrate. I went to a gourmet popcorn shop called Garrett Popcorn that has their own “Chicago mix” consisting of cheese popcorn and caramel popcorn in the same bag. While I was apprehensive to try it, I am glad I did and would recommend it to any visitor.

There was no arts event this week, but throughout the past five weeks I have tried my fair share of coffee shops and restaurants. Besides the stereotypical Starbucks, I have enjoyed Argo Tea, Intelligentsia Coffee, Caribou Coffee, and The Corner Bakery. Every place has distinctive drinks making comparison difficult. This weekend my friends and I tried a Mongolian grill called Flat Top in Old Town. We all had the chance to be the chef and create our dishes with a plethora of vegetables, meats, and sauces. And while it is not unique to Chicago, dining at Taco Bell in Wrigleyville has become a weekly tradition.

Each week brings new challenges and joys in the classroom. Thursday was Valentine’s Day and Mitchell held a dance in the afternoon for 5^th grade to 8^th grade students. I worked the last hour of the dance selling flowers to students and it was wonderful to see my class in a different element. Students that are normally quiet showed off their dance moves and those who caught it enjoyed seeing Miss Johnston briefly dance to Gangnam style.

 I am adding subjects weekly and this week began teaching writing to students and conferencing on their reading. I also had my first observation by my adviser and while it was nerve-racking, I learned so much receiving specific feedback on my teaching. I am enjoying the continuation of relationship building with students, but it is difficult watching students who are bright yet have no desire to learn. That was my biggest struggle this week. My goal is to motivate every student to learn, but I cannot force that desire.

 

Ukranian Village

Finally, for a seminar project I had the opportunity to learn more about the Ukrainian Village neighborhood where Mitchell is located. A prevalent term I learned was gentrification, which is the restoring of run-down neighborhoods by the middle class. While this definition is worded positively, this process pushes local, low-income residents out because property taxes and rent increase. It also displaces the need for organizations that assist the low-income residents forcing them to move elsewhere. In ten years this neighborhood has the potential to be completely middle class moving the low-income families farther to the suburbs and transferring my students to other schools. It is a term I heard repeatedly in my interviews this week and it could change the face of many Chicago neighborhoods.  

Student Teaching - Week #4

by Victoria Johnston - Mitchell Elementary

Preparing the ice rink at Millennium Park

This weekend I checked an item off my “bucket list” by going ice skating in Millennium Park. I grew up around the ice and love to ice skate, but before today I had never skated outdoors. There was something thrilling about skating with the city skyline in the background, the Bean above me and a line of rotating spectators. My friend Cait and I spent $10 on skate rentals and tested our spatial senses by weaving through the crowds and chains of high school girls holding hands. We even witnessed a proposal in the middle of the ice that received many “awwws” and applause.

Progressive Dinner

A unique activity I also participated in was the Chicago Semester progressive dinner. About twelve apartments signed up to cook an appetizer, dinner or dessert and any student who wanted to partake meandered from room to room tasting a variety of foods from tacos to banana bread. It was a great opportunity to form relationships with people in the program I rarely see as well as see the sights of the Canterbury Court Apartments.

I have been in my student teaching placement almost a month now. The time has flown by and I have gotten to know my 36 fifth graders much better than I thought I could in that time. I finally feel like a teacher. While it is a learning curve to maintain classroom management in a group of 36 students, I am developing my own styles of teaching as well as quickly learning the dos and don’ts of teaching mathematics.

As a fundraiser for Valentine’s Day, the Mitchell student council is selling something called “lolligrams” that students can buy to send to friends or give to family. I received two from one boy in my class and another from one of the girls. I definitely feel the love from my students already. Seeing my students come to me with questions (even if I don’t always know the answer) before my cooperating teacher also is a small reminder I have been accepted as Miss Johnston, their teacher. With that title comes more responsibility, though. My comfort teaching math is just beginning but next week marks my first language arts lesson. Each week brings new surprises and challenges and I excitedly await what this new week will bring.

Student Teaching - Introduction

by Victoria Johnston - Mitchell Elementary

The city at night

Three weeks. That is how long I have lived in Chicago. In some ways it feels as though I have been here for months and in others my studio apartment seems like a hotel room. Adjusting to life in the city has been much different than I expected. I would consider myself a city girl by definition because I enjoy populated areas to rural areas, but Chicago is a whole new world to me. At home, in Tucson, AZ, I am within miles of almost anywhere I could ever want to go, but here I am within blocks.

Ghiradelli ice cream

The number of people in this city somehow still astounds me. I knew Chicago was large and visited prior, but residing in such a populated area is still a shock some days. I will say I enjoy having Ghirardelli Ice Cream about half a mile away and will proudly admit I have been there twice in three weeks. Part of my excitement for this semester is also the arts events I can attend this semester. This week there was some confusion with the meeting time, but next week I believe is a ballet. Beyond the weekly events I already paid for are opportunities to see almost every band I enjoy, the Blue Man Group, and go ice skating in Millennium Park. Ice skating was one of the first things to make the “Chicago Bucket List” but I have yet to go because of, what feels like, Arctic temperatures. Two weeks ago we had MLK Jr. day off and the Shedd Aquarium was free for residents. I was able to experience summer temperatures and visit sea/lake/river creatures of all kinds. It is amazing the variety of attractions a large city offers from paintings to dolphins.

Beluga whales at the Shedd Aquarium

 My main reason for choosing Chicago Semester is student teaching. I have completed the traditional classroom portion of my degree and now I have the opportunity to learn the art of teaching under another teacher. For this experience I have been placed in Ellen Mitchell Elementary on Chicago’s west side. This school is a writing and literature magnet school and is part of the Chicago Public School district, one of the largest in the nation. Despite its public school status, Mitchell is rather small. There is one classroom per grade level and ages range from Pre-K to 8^th grade. My fifth grade class has thirty-six students and they are now squirrelly because recess has been indoors for about two weeks. Despite their rambunctious attitudes recently, I am enjoying each student for their unique gifts and quirks. My favorite moment yet was earlier this week. One of the girls called a boy fickle and a third student shockingly asked, “Isn’t that a bad word?!”

Mitchell Elementary School

In the past three weeks my time in the classroom has been slightly limited because today was a professional development day, we had MLK Jr. Day off and my first Friday was spent at another PD seminar, but I already feel at home in Mitchell. My first math lesson has come and gone and I am learning just how many things I must consider before standing in front of my fifth graders to teach. I am excited to see what surprises come next in the classroom and on the streets. For now, though, I will sit contentedly knowing it is Friday night and my wake-up call tomorrow extends past 5:45 am.