This week was amazing!! I finally got to work with my new cooperating teacher in the English department and I am slightly in love. She has so many of the qualities of a teacher that I admire and seek after. From the moment I met her she was friendly, outgoing, valued and asked for my opinion, involved me in her classroom and made me feel welcome. She is passionate, fun, and has a fantastic management ethic. She is in charge and lets her students know it. She does not let them walk over her and yet she is still able to gain strong relationships with her students and create a positive atmosphere conducive to learning. To sum it up, I definitely have a 'teacher crush' on my new cooperating teacher and her teaching style.
I learned this week not to judge my students or predispose them to any specific expectations. I got to interact and meet three new periods of students for my ninth grade english class. I had already met a few of them in my health and fitness classess but many of them were new to me. They were working on a project to introduce the book To Kill a Mockingbird. They were choosing controversial statements and then within their groups either agreeing or disagreeing with them. This project was brought into a group discussion for the whole class. Students were able to add on to other group topics and it became a healthy discussion. I was very shocked by some of the students who were very studious and came up with clear and concise arguments. We talked about being prejudice and what is meant and how it fits into the world that they know and I was very impressed with the ideas they were able to form and the confidence they were able to share personal and intimate opinions and experiences with.
Like I mentioned before I have already learned a lot from my cooperating teacher. I will adopt her sense of presence within the classroom. She demands respect from her students and will not continue talking if they are interrupting her or being disrespectful. She does so in a very commanding and specific way. She knows her students and how to best manage them specifically. She differs her instruction from class to class and knows which topics to avoid and which ones to magnify per each classes overall abilities.
I am very confused as to why there are not set aside activities for the P.E. department at my school. Maybe there are set aside activities per each day and week that I am not aware of, but I feel that each day is just thrown together last minute. Students are not actively engaged and often get bored with what they are asked to accomplish. I want to add suggestions but am nervous as to how the students will respond. I think they are getting too used to being able to opt out of the activities and 'just walk'. I am very disappointed with the amount of activity level that is going on with the young women in my class. Even when we do play group games there are maybe 4-5 girls in the whole class that are actually trying to play. I am going to suggest adding different opportunities for the girls or any boys who would want to participate such as zumba, pilates, yoga, kickboxing or step aerobics and hopefully we will be able to participate in some of these activities. I think that it is our job to provide physical activities that all students can associate themselves with.
Overall this was a great week and I learned a lot from both of my cooperating teachers! I love having the opportunity to associate with different teachers in different environments. Ninth graders are a fun bunch to be around and I learn something from them everyday!
No comments:
Post a Comment