Copiers: Friend of Foe?

The copier is one of those great teaching assets that you don't really know about until you are given the opportunity to interact with one during observations, pre-student teaching, or student teaching. 

There should be a class that deals with the mechanics of goes with teaching. Not methods, pedagogy  or actual teaching craft. A class dedicated to, copiers, printers, computers, projectors, and other actual physical tools we use in teaching everyday. 

A good part of this class should be dedicated to understand what the copier is, how it functions, and how it can benefit you, the teacher. 

The copier can be a teachers friend in several different ways. It can function properly for one, it can staple the large amount of copies if you are making a packet or test. It has the ability to print right from your computer if the school has it set up that way in our wonderful technological era. 

However, with the pros there are the cons. Cons can start with the dreaded "Out of Order" sign which has you either scrambling all around the building to find a copier that works, which then you may interact with co-workers that you hardly do outside staff meetings, and this also means changing your lesson drastically because you needed that worksheet for the students. Another con is the copier is paper jams and it gives you simply instructions it seems but has you opening up to the guts of the thing, turning knobs, lifting levers, and anything that could be seen with open heart surgery to find that one sheet of paper. The number one rule when doing this, DON'T RIP THE PAPER. 

Here is a list that might help you out in the future. 

1. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
1. I know for me, I can be a little shy when asking other for help and would prefer to do it myself. But with the copier, unless it is a personal copier that can be found just in your classroom just for your use, this copier is used by everyone. So if you mess it up it will be not just inconvenient to you. No pressure. 
2. Know what the terms collated, 1-1 1-2 2-2 sided and other terms mean. 
3. Test before you act. 
1. It's a good idea that until you really get to know your copier you to use test pages before you print out 32 copies and half the text is cut off.
2. Also no one like a waster, so a page or 2 extra is alright, not 10. Don't kill trees. 
4. Procrastination will be the end.
1. Don't ever save your coping to the last minute unless you have a good idea the period before the class.This also can help promote you thinking about the lesson a few days ahead, a good skill to have. 
2. Also those pesky out of order signs come up when the copier really knows you need it, its like red lights when your late for something. Copy when you can. 

Following these tips can help you if you are learning to be a teacher, observing in class, or preparing for student teaching. 

The moral of this story is to not shy away from learning this all mighty machine. It may look daunting, it may seem complicated. You will mess up, you may have to do things you never expected to do. But just remember, this is all in the name of teaching and just part of the job. 

Why Does Moving Desk Cause So Much Confusion?

Today in class the room was set up for a socrative type discussion for the AP Psychology class. While in the regular psychology/sociology class, they were not doing that activity, they were starting on group projects, so they have something to do the next day while Ms. Hollenbach was not there. 

Hollenbach called right before the students walked into the room, "There is going to be a lot of chaos in the next class because the seats are different. They won't be sure what to do." Sure enough not a moment after, the first student walks in, looks at the room with growing wide eyes and utters, "Uh..." "Just find a seat." Is the answer, and the continuous answer as the rest of the class files in.

Why is it so confusing for students if there is something as simple as a desk change? Understandably, there is something the students themselves don't know about, they like routines. They like the same thing the same way everyday. This may be attributed to the factor that students need to feel a sense of safely, and routes provide a layer of that. So even altering a routine, such as the way the desks are set up, may cause a bit of a scuffle.

But that doesn't fully answer the question of why when something such as setting gets change, their concentration and common sense may be left outside in the hallway. What do you think is the reasoning?

Blogging is still kind of new to me so here I go. I was asked by my host teacher, Ms. Hollenbach from Palmyra Area High School, to create a blog about my experience of my pre-student teacher preparation and when I student teach in the spring. My honest thoughts about student teaching are a mix of anxiety, excitement, fear, and any other that goes along those lines. I am very excited to be learning everything I can so that I don't trip up so much when it come to my turn to be in the "front of the class" for student teaching and then hopefully in the not to distant future, my own class.

While I have been observing, I can tell how different each class is, even when it is the same amount of content or subject. The AP Psychology classes are  the same content wise, but are seemingly different. The later group seems like they have the potential and can be more talkative, but this also can come from being at the end of the day. It also something different is that the later class is also the one class with one boy. The other AP Psychology class has no boys. This to me is a bit strange, but it might also have benefits, meaning that there is a type of homogeneous way to things, and this apply to ways of thinking. But I would be curious to see if the class with one boy has more in depth discussions because there is an outlier in the group.

I have also seen what it is like to see the different level of classes on one subject. The AP Psychology and General Psychology classes are just about around the same type of information at the moment, so its interesting to see how my host teacher differentiates the information for each class. You can see deeper levels of thinking in the AP Psychology class, while the General Psychology class there doesn't seem to be as much.