Kyle+Davenport


 * Placement:** Holly Grove Middle School, 8th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies, Denise Vargas

During the first days of running my own classroom, I will likely try and establish the tone of the year right from the get-go. I want to let my students know that I care for each of them and want to see them succeed, but it is out of that concern that I keep in place the rules that I do. I have seen in one of the teacher’s classrooms I observed a poster that says: “are you being respectful right now?” Likely my first task of the students will be to observe that poster and keep that question in mind. I will let them know that if they go beyond acceptable boundaries, my first action will be to direct them back to that poster. Aside from that, I want to spend my first day letting my students get familiar with one another and supplying me with material to better know them (and cheat sheets to help memorize their names). I particularly like the authors’ idea about the “silhouette’ and writing down descriptions of each student around the image of their head/upper torso. My only concern would be the need to accommodate a large number of students within a short time period. My solution would be to bring in flashlights and keep the class dim, but that might create issues of people getting blinded. I also definitely want to have the students create a short piece of writing on a topic of their choosing. In this manner I get a hold of: 1. a sample of their writing abilities 2. A bit of insight into their interests and 3. A way of letting them know that they have a say in what we do in the classroom.
 * Tchudi and Mitchell response, 8/26:**

So far as writing myself an online identity, I actually have to say that this is one of the aspects of teaching that I'm not very excited about. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate having tools and different methods to get my ideas and those of my students out. However, I'm not big on making some huge internet profile for myself. I think that having a facebook is enough for me because I like to keep things simple when it comes to online representation. I don't have enough to say to justify a twitter, and I only really feel the need to let the world know what I think if it is about something drastically important. Honestly, I will probably delete my twitter as soon as I have the chance. I know that's not what you all want to read, but that is how it is. As to how I want my potential employers to see me, I will probably begin by creating a linked-in profile at some point in order to present a less personal and more professional representation of myself as a teacher. I hope to publish some footage of myself teaching as an early example of how I work, as well as a couple of possible lesson plan samples for ideas that I particularly like or am proud of. From here I hope to keep in contact with my colleagues from NCSU and pick up on opportunities to get new ideas and methodologies for my own teaching. Other than that, I intend to keep a low profile. I want to have something for my potential employers to see, but other than that I really do not feel the need to put out everything I think for the world. My thoughts (the usual ones at least) are not that revolutionary.
 * Writing Myself into Identity 9/5/2013**

9/12/13
 * Teaching Philosophy**

My educational philosophy stems from the responsibility I hold to my students in aiding them in becoming productive, creative, and articulate members of our society. I intend to let them know on the first day of class each year/semester that I am not all-knowing, I do not possess all the answers they seek in figuring out the questions we discuss or even what they may find on tests. I would not benefit from telling them those lies and robbing them of a chance to find their own truths. Instead, I want to offer them an opportunity to learn how to find knowledge, and when that fails to suffice, how to assemble it and create it in ways that will benefit them long after they have left my classroom. In the opportunity I pose to my students, I want them to understand that I also have no intention of standing in front of the class and simply giving them facts to regurgitate on tests or in later writing. However, I will ask them to bear with me as some of this classroom preaching will become necessary before we can move on to other methods of learning and teaching that we all find more fulfilling. For the time I stand on my soapbox and spout basic information though, I promise to entertain them as much as possible in how I deliver the building blocks of our future monumental accomplishments. In helping my students become accomplished writers, I hope to bring them the understanding the crafting written work takes time, and that mistakes have to happen in order for them to become more skilled. I believe that the purpose of writing is to make our voices heard, and that with frequent opportunities my class receives to write, they can become more comfortable with their own style. Along with this skill, I intend to emphasize the differences that occur when writing for varied audiences. My students should feel comfortable speaking and writing in their own dialect during class discussions or activities. However, when the time comes for them to create a research product or a final draft resembling a thesis, they will have a firm understanding of the grammar, diction, and other requirements of Standard American English. Through all of these pedagogical practices, I intend to maintain a respectful, constructive atmosphere suited to the needs of my students and allowing for appropriate amounts of noise and movement for purposes of each individual class. My pupils will understand the difference between criticism and outright negativity, and any faltering into the latter category will be met with swift, private consequences appropriate to the offense. This level of respect toward each other and myself becomes especially important when I begin to introduce the different technologies and web 2.0 tools we will use throughout the year. I will set the rules in no uncertain terms that any misuse or abuse of these amenities will result in their swift disappearance from our classes. Regardless of whether I realize it or not, every action I have and every word I say impacts my students. I want my classroom to become an environment wherein I have no reason to ever give off anything but my best teaching practices and my most positive attitude.

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 * Timeline of School Stuff:**


 * Ideal Classroom Picture:**



My Name

Most people have humorous stories or great family moments that defined their name, or at least some inspiration by a famous actor or character from a book. Mine ended up coming from tragedy and a little bit of miscommunication, although I wish it hadn't. The story doesn't start with my father, but he is of course the conduit through which I became involved during the whole situation. My dad, George R. Davenport, has worked for the emergency medical services of NC for most of his life, and during his heyday working as chief of the Duke Life Flight ambulance program, he had a chance to develop relationships with many of the surgeons and doctors that worked for the Duke Hospital. Among them, a Vietnam veteran and a volunteer firefighter by the name of Sam Perry. Sam and my father became close friends, and I remember my dad telling me how he used to be the person Sam could confide in when he needed someone to talk to about the things he saw in Vietnam as a pilot performing medical evacuations. They would also work through Sam's loss of his first born son, whose name I ended up inheriting. Kyle Perry died at a young age due to a hunting accident wherein he had forgotten to unload his rifle at the end of a trip and a bump in the road caused the firearm to misfire on the rifle rack and killing Kyle instantly.

The miscommunication took place when my dad promised Sam that he would name his unborn son (me) after Kyle. So when I came into the world, I almost immediately received the name Kyle Marks Davenport. However, thanks to a phone call later that night we all learned (although I think I was busy being a baby at the time) that Kyle had actually been the middle name of Sam's son, and that his real first name had been Marcus. So my name was an accident. Go figure. My middle was an honor to my Grandmother Davenport, who had passed away shortly before my birth and never got a chance to meet me. Although, to my knowledge she looked forward to nothing more at the end of her life than seeing her George's boy come into the world. The name Marks comes from her maiden name, although I wish it had been spelled Marx as I have a healthy respect for the sociologist and his ideas.

The name Davenport has several meanings, but the most popular recent interpretation came from the furniture manufacturer A.H. Davenport and company (thank you Wikipedia) who produced sofas so popular that they ended up just being crowned "Davenports". The original family name comes from a weird combination of the Dane river near Cheshire and the word port, which we accept as meaning a town near water. I don't really worry about what the name means, but rather how people use it. For the longest time I would not have known that the name Kyle had two syllables in it unless my mom reminded me so. I was always "Kal" to everyone, even my dad. My Name Poem

Born out of tragedy Out of the love between a father and son out of the brotherhood that two men can share

A reminder of the love we can feel for people we have never even met

A measure of strength of taking every day and using it to become better of never letting a chance go by

Kyle Marks Davenport proof that although we can't choose what our names came from we can decide what people remember them for

Because I'm doing Social Studies, my unit theme will not be as cut and dry as it might for a Language Arts unit. However, I want to focus on overcoming hardships through the later half of the unit (The Great Depression and World War Two) and stick to the dangers of greed for the first half (World War One and the "Roaring" Twenties). For the first theme, I hope to bring in excerpts from "All Quiet on the Western Front" and possibly a little from "The Great Gatsby", although I am especially hesitant about the difficulty involved in the second book. I might bring tie in the book or movie "War Horse", but I need to read/watch that before I consider using it. With the second half I have a much greater selection of material available, and can draw from a number of literary works. I am 100 percent certain I will use "Night" when describing the holocaust and WW2, and I hope to bring in some documentary footage from National Geographic if I can get a hold of it. I also want to focus on using primary documents, as I want my students to come to their own conclusions on history rather than just accepting someone else's. So far as activities go, I think I will need to limit my group work due to the talkative nature of my students and their tendency to wait for one person to finish and copy their work. It's unfortunate, but that's the situation I'm dealing with. I will include some group work to keep from being unfair to the students, but most of their work will be individual or in pairs. Much of the work will revolve around reviewing and drawing conclusions from primary documents, and I hope to combine this with their Language Arts curriculum by involving writing from the point of view of different people from different eras like newscasters, soldiers, and government leaders.
 * Thematic Unit Focus**

My reasoning for this unit stems from a few different sources. Firstly, this is one of the most important periods in the growth of our country and our actions here defined an entire generation. On top of this, the actions taken during World War 2 and The Great Depression determined the scope of our government and military powers long after their end. I want students to see how we can collectively trip, fall, and get back up again as a country to meet the challenges of our day.


 * 11/7/2013 Poem writing**

//Triceratops//

They will not need to call the cops They will not need their brooms and mops Because I am made new today and I still have my triceratops

There will not be a drawn out fight, another woeful, endless night Trevor tells me that I'm ok That every little thing will be alright.

He misses his brother and feels the need for friends advice that he should heed He knows that there will be a way And we know the right signs to read

I still have my triceratops.