Courtesy of my friend Jill

The Ultimate Midterm Manifesto

The summer after my sophomore year of college I did a People to People Program in New Orleans. I loved New Orleans; what an amazing city. I also met some pretty amazing people, including my friend Jill, who is now a graduate student at Oxford (so impressive!). I wish I had read this Midterm  Manifesto when I was working on my Term 2 assignment! Alas, the motivation will have to carry me through Term 3. Happy reading!

- Rachel

Two-fifths of the way there...

This became my theme song at 11:30 pm on Friday night when I turned in my 48 page Term 2 assignment. As I may have neglected to mention, the Teacher Education Program is broken up into 5 Terms, and Term 2 ended when I hit "Submit" to turn in my Term 2 paper. I promise to tell you what the Terms are in my next post. I'm too excited and relieved to talk about anything other than finishing my Term 2 assignment.

The Aftermath looked like this:

I know there are some of you out there who wrote a thesis in undergrad, but as a Music Education major, let me tell you…I was NOT one of those students. I've written large papers before for group projects, but this was the first long paper I wrote all by myself, complete with six sweet Appendices (super fancy), and references to boot. Even though I know I still have more months of work to do before I graduate, I'm really proud of myself for keeping it together this far!

I'm saying that I'm proud of myself now, but this week of stress and anxiety definitely brought out some ugly moments of self-doubt. Thankfully I have a very supportive boyfriend who can simultaneously cheer me up and shut down my negativity (his best line: "You can go to that place, but I'm not going there with you" - serious, yet loving). I also have another great motivator which is the fact that every assignment brings me one step closer to being a teacher! How can I be upset when I know what waits for me at the finish line?

I already get to work with some amazing kids. I'm student teaching with kindergarten students, and they are wonderful for a lot of different reasons, one being that they speak with such candor. It's hilarious sometimes. Here is an excerpt from a conversation I had with a student:

Rachel - What kind of animals do you like?

Child - Not cats, because my first cat scratched me. Just hamsters and fish. I like guinea pigs.

Rachel - Do guinea pigs and humans have anything in common?

Child - They stink and we don’t.

Rachel - Okay, but do we have anything that’s the same? (I point to my eyes)
Child - Eyes, mouth, and nose. But we don’t have fur.

I was trying to see if he could find similarities and differences between humans and animals. He found them alright. 

Best,

Rachel

The Moon and Me

Happy First Day of Fall! 

Fall is my favorite season! I was outside looking for the moon this morning at 6:15, and it was a beautifully crisp, chilly morning. I love this time of year, and the weather makes my walks to student-teaching and to campus all the more pleasant. 

If you're wondering why I was looking for the moon at 6:15 this morning, then you're not the only one. I definitely get a lot of weird looks when I'm walking around my neighborhood with my nose pointed toward the sky. Usually my boyfriend will go with me and make sure I don't walk into anyone, but this morning I was on my own. Bad news: we're approaching a "new" moon, which means the moon isn't visible right now. *sigh*

I have to keep a Moon Journal for my Science Methods class. In this journal, I draw pictures of my moon sightings, noting the moon's color, direction, and height in the sky (among other things). Every week in Science class we share our moon sightings and draw conclusions about the moon's behavior. Here's an example of our weekly moon drawings:

Our professor, NancyLee Bergey, even led us through a moon simulation using pencils, Styrofoam balls, and an unfiltered light bulb. Science class is always full of hands-on activities, which is really preparing me to be a science teacher.

It's about 4:15, which means it's time for me to head to class, but I want to leave you with some great quotes I heard in my kindergarten class this week (mostly from my Classroom Mentor), as well as some upcoming recruitment events for Penn GSE!

Until next time!

-Rachel
 
Overheard in Kindergarten...

“Why do we keep a calendar?"

“U – U is a vowel that says its own name. U as is unicorn, U as in umbrella.” 

“Is it important to know order while you’re counting?”

“My hands are at my side. I’m standing straight and tall. My eyes are facing forward. I’m ready for the hall.”

“Q doesn’t go anywhere without who?”
       “The baby!”
“Right! Who’s the baby?”
       “U!”

This week in Recruitment...

If you would like to speak to a Penn GSE representative at a recruitment fair, see below!

·         Philadelphia residents!

o   Consider coming out to the Philadelphia Idealist Grad Fair today, September 23^rd, to speak to a represent from Penn GSE. The Fair is from 5:00-8:00 pm, at 3301 Market Street!

·         College students at…

o   University of Virginia: Check out your school’s Professional and Graduate School Fair tomorrow, Wednesday, September 24^th, from 12:00-4:00 pm!

o   College of William and Mary: Check out your school’s Graduate and Professional Career Fair on Thursday, September 25^th from 1:00-4:00!

o   Fayetteville State University: Check out your school’s Career and Graduate School Fair on Thursday, September 25^th from 1:00-4:00!

o   Smith College: Check out your school’s Fall Career Fair on Friday, September 26^th from 3:30-6:00 pm.

Introductions

Greetings!

My name is Rachel, and I'm excited to be writing this blog about the Teacher Education Program (TEP) at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE). I'll start off by telling you about the Teacher Education Program, why I chose it, and then close with some information about myself. 

The Teacher Education Program at Penn is divided into two strands: the Elementary and Middle Level strand, and the Secondary strand. I am studying Early Elementary Education, and will eventually be certified to teach PreK through 4th grade. My friends who are pursuing Middle Level certification will be able to teach 4th through 8th grade in a specific content area like Science, Social Studies, Literacy, or Math. The Secondary certification is also in a specific content area (Science, Social Studies, Literacy, Math) for grades 7-12.  

A little over a year ago I began researching different graduate programs for education and was originally drawn to Penn GSE's Education Policy program. After a lot of reflection, I realized that policy was absolutely NOT what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I have always loved teaching and working with students in the classroom, so the Teacher Education Program at Penn was a great fit. Here are the top reasons why I chose Penn's TEP:

• Full year of student-teaching: Most student-teaching experiences take place over the course of one semester. At TEP, I get to student-teach two days a week from the first day of school until the last day of school before winter break, and then four days a week until the end of the year. 

• Penn Mentor: Every student-teacher works with a Penn Mentor, who is a retired teacher from the Philadelphia area. My Penn Mentor taught for over 30 years at an elementary school in West Philly, and is a huge source of advice and inspiration. As I progress through my student-teaching, she will be observing me and giving me feedback on how to improve.

• Cohort Model: I am one of 27 students in the Elementary/Middle Level strand, and we take all of our classes together. Needless to say, we got to know each other pretty quickly, and I love learning from my classmates' diverse educational backgrounds and experiences. It is important to have an academic community, both as a student, and as a teacher, and the cohort model gives me just that. 

• Location: I love Philadelphia and the students that live and go to school here each day. It was important for me to find a Teacher Education program that was steeped in the context of Philadelphia and its unique school district. My student-teaching placement is a public elementary school in the School District of Philadelphia, therefore I am learning how to teach in an environment similar to one I hope to teach in. 

Why do I love Philly and its students so much? So glad you asked. 

Two years ago I moved to Philadelphia to serve with City Year as an AmeriCorps volunteer. City Year is a national non-profit that places diverse teams of 17-24 year olds in high-need urban schools. City Year Corps Members tutor students who are off-track in attendance, behavior, and/or course performance (math or literacy), provide after-school programming for all students, and work with teachers to help keep students on track in school. 

During my City Year, I served as a Corps Member in a 6th grade classroom at a public K-8 school in East Germantown. I cannot overstate how much I LOVED working with my 6th graders. Everyday presented new challenges and opportunities, and since I wasn't the classroom teacher, I had a lot of freedom within the classroom. I was able to work with individuals and small groups, to create and implement a positive behavior management system, and to form unique relationships with all of my students. 

Being a City Year Corps Member was a life-changing experience, and it put me on the path to becoming an elementary school teacher. I continued to serve another year as a Team Leader with City Year, in which I was able to co-lead a team of 18 Corps Members at a public middle school in North Philly as they worked with their own students.  

Before I moved to Philly for City Year, I attended Lebanon Valley College in my hometown of Annville, Pennsylvania. I studied Music Education, and I come from a family of musicians. I have two musical parents, two brothers, and three sisters - all with enough musical talent to put together a family band (which I've always wanted to do, but the idea never took off). Philly isn't too far from home, which is another reason why I love being at Penn. Sometimes those weekend trips home take can help take my mind off of all the homework I should be doing! 

Hopefully this post introduced you to the Teacher Education Program at Penn GSE and gave you a little bit of background knowledge about who I am. 

Until next week!

- Rachel 

Pre-Introductory Blog Post - Disclaimer

Hello!

My name is Rachel Beazley, and I am a student in Penn GSE's Teacher Education Program. My program started in early July, and I will graduate in May 2015 with an M.S.Ed. in Early Elementary Education and certification to teach grades PreK-4. I'm writing this blog as a way to document my year at GSE, as well as to inform anyone out there who is curious about Penn GSE, particularly the Teacher Education program.

Before I introduce myself and delve into more exciting stuff, I just wanted to include a little disclaimer and to let everyone know that this blog is going to be full of my own views and opinions. I promise to be honest, but do not promise that my views will always align with those of Penn GSE, my professors, or fellow students.

That being said, let's move on!

- Rachel