Teaching FellowsPortfolio

Christina BanksFall 2008

Table of Contents

Cultural SocialsLeadership/Professional DevelopmentCommunity RelationsField Experience (Coming Soon!)Program SupportActivity Report Card

Cultural Socials

Reflection“The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas”

I attended the musical, “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas”, at Stewart Theatre, on September 30th. I went with Kat Bryant. The musical is set in the late 1970s in Texas. It is about a brothel run by Miss Mona. This brothel had been in operation for over a century until a television reporter brings attention to it and it has to be closed down for political reasons. The play looks the repercussions of the brothel’s closing on all of the character, the girls, the “customers”, the sheriff, and Miss Mona.

I really had fun watching this. The set design was two story, professional, and colorful. The acting was first rate considering the actors had only had a couple of months to prepare. The music was outstanding. Laura-Nelle Parnell, who played Miss Mona, had an amazing singing voice and the song lyrics and dance numbers were priceless.

There are two points of significance that I see in going to see “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Firstly, I think it is very important for future teachers to learn and see as much as they can before they begin to teach and all throughout their teaching career. I want to be able to relate to my students on as many different levels as possible when I’m in the classroom. Being knowledgeable also helps teachers to gain the attention and respect of their students. Secondly, I think it is important for me as math teacher to be respectful of my coworkers. That includes Drama teachers and Band Directors just as it includes Science and English Teachers.

Overall, I think that this Cultural Social was a success. Not only was it significant for me as an education major , and it was really enjoyable.

ReflectionDance Company Production

I attended NCSU’s Dance Program fall concert, at Stewart Theatre, on Thursday November 20th. I attended this concert with Zack Ross, Nicole Ware, and Kat Bryant. The concert consisted of eight numbers titled Funny, Everything Prevents One, To Remain Silent, Anthem, Dinner, Grace, Close Your Eyes, and Wait for me here.

I’ll be the first to admit that I know absolutely nothing about dancing so I wasn’t as excited about going to this concert as I might have been about another event. I was, however, pleasantly surprised. The choice of music was interesting enough to hold my attention. I really loved the dance to To Remain Silent because I love the piece of music, Requiem in D minor.

The significance for this event, I feel, is much the same as for the musical. It is really important to have an open mind and be informed. Even though dancing is something that I really don’t like, I will have many students over the years that love it. Even being able to mention that one dance that I enjoyed at a concert I attended in college might be the key to developing a successful student teacher relationship with one student. In my opinion building relationships is what this job is all about.

Leadership/Professional Development

ReflectionTesting Seminar

During our seminar on November 10th we heard from a speaker on testing. Our speaker told us about how new plans are in the works for the Praxis. Soon it will be a portfolio instead of a test. That way potential teachers will have to prove more than just content knowledge to get a license. This will encourage future teachers to be more well rounded, but I really hope that they don’t drop a content test all together because I wouldn’t want someone teaching my kids who couldn’t actually pass a test on their subject.

She also discussed how crucial it is to ask different types of questions when testing students. This gives them more of a chance to prove themselves. For example, a student may not be able to answer a fill in the blank question about something but if it were an open ended question they might be able to explain the topic correctly in their own words. We then divided into smaller groups and looked at tests in our subject area. Our job was to asses the test. I think this was a really good exercise because it gave us a chance to hear what other people think. The only problem that I saw with our small groups was that they weren’t small enough. Music majors had to be grouped with Social Studies majors. That large of a group also didn’t give people enough time to both state their opinions and justify them, so even after the group is finished discussing, we all still have the viewpoints we started with.

I think that the more time we spend in groups like this the easier it will become. It is very important as an education major to practice working in committees because group work in inescapable in the education field.

ReflectionNational Board Certification Seminar

During our seminar on November 17th. We heard from a speaker about National Board Certification. Carolann Wade, the coordinator for National Board Certification for Wake County Schools, came to talk to us. She discuss the process for getting National Boards, told us how much it would cost, and gave us some statistics about people who actually get their national boards. Hearing details about the labor intensive process and the low percentage for success in the first attempt, I was a little discouraged, but a 12 percent pay increase makes it seem worth all the effort.

After hearing from Mrs. Wade the other math majors and myself were able to talk to a high school math teacher who had actually received his National Board Certification. I really like what he had so say. He was honest with us about the fact that it isn’t an easy process and that it isn’t a fun process, but at the same time he made it seem worth while. He also took the time to let us ask questions about anything we wanted to know. He has been my favorite speaker that we have had so far, in all three of my semesters at NCSU.

Learning about National Board Certification is obviously significant to any education major, but this seminar was unique because we are hearing about it so early. We can’t even apply until we have been teaching for a few years. Because it is such a difficult process, I think it is good to be already thinking about it. That way when the time comes we will be mentally and physically prepared.

Community Relations

The Shack!

ReflectionShack-A-Thon

On Wednesday September 24th, I spent the night in the Teaching Fellows Shack with Nicole Ware and Kat Bryant. The shack looked really cool this year with it’s bell and chalk board. There were good things and bad things about sleeping in the shack. Some of the positives were drinking hot chocolate, hanging out and talking to people, and not having to do homework. The only negative I can think of was that we picked the windiest night of the year to stay in the shack. I woke up numerous times to the sound of our chairs blowing across the brick yard. We took turns chasing them down and I ended up sleeping with a chair on top of me because we had to squeeze them in the shack with us.

Habitat for humanity is a really worthy cause. I think that helping people is really important quality that we as teachers should be trying to instill in our students. As future educators we should be beginning to set a good example now and be a positive force on the NCSU campus. Community Service is something that if begun early enough can become a habit. More teachers should see the importance of Community Service and find ways to include it in their classrooms.

Shack-A-Thon was one of those events that is simple, but still makes you feel like you are doing some good. I will definitely spend some time in the shack next year too.

Program Support

Dead Week With Dawson’s Creek Scary Story Night

The Cookout

The End!