A highlight for me this week was being able to successfully lead a discussion in my English class. My teacher told me ahead of time that I would be teaching on Thursday and that she would let me know what I needed to do for it. Thursday morning rolled around and I had still not received any notifications of my teaching. I was extremely nervous as I walked through the school absolutely unprepared. She decided I would just be leading a 15 minute discussion, which eased my brain quite a bit. I was still quite nervous during each of the discussions because I wanted to make sure I sounded intelligent and like I knew what I was doing. Each class period got progessively better and my teacher complimented me for my ability to mold to each class and ask continued leading questions. This was a huge confidence builder and I thorougly enjoyed it.
I have pondered a lot this week about questioning during a discussion. Many of the teaching strategies presented last week were on questioning and I found myself noticing all of the positive and negative aspects of my own questioning strategies. I think being aware of what we are teaching and how we are teaching it is extremely vital to our success as teachers and our students sucess.
I was observed today and it was a fun experience. I had taught two previous periods before I was observed so I felt prepared but every class is different so there was still some anxiety. My students were very supportive and contributed great to the lesson. While visting with my observer he said something that I will never forget. He was a coach and an adminstrator throughout his career so he knew a bit about motivation. He talked about how you always need to motivate your students in order to win the game. He said, 'Teaching is like playing a different ball game every period, and of course you want to win. When the students learn you win, and they win.' I loved this approach to teaching and I will always remember it during my teaching career.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Inadequacies & Admirations...Weekly Blog #6
This week I have been dealing with a lot of personal thoughts of inadequacies. My English teacher asked me if I wanted to direct the discussion during one of our periods and felt completely inadqequate due to a lack of content knowledge and shear fear. I don't fail at many things in my life. I am a perfectionist and always trying to excel and be better. I was shocked at my own self-doubts and was saddened by my lack of ability. I know I am capable of teaching but my inadequacies in my content areas make it very difficult for me to overcome some of my self-destructive thoughts and fears. I told her that I wasn't quite comfortable with the content at this time. She was very supportive and didn't try to push me at all. During that period she had a discipline issue that she had to deal with and I told her I could take over. It was a great opportunity for me to prove to myself and her that I am and was capable of taking over if she needed me to. I was very surprised that I have even been having feelings of inadequacies, because I am usually extremely confident. It is good to know that I will always be able to learn and grow from where I am.
The highlight of my week came from my interactions with my students. One of my 9th graders who is in both of m P.E. and my English classes came up to me and told me that I am her favorite student teacher she has had. She said she ususally hates them because they are 'annoying' and 'don't know how to teach' and I was very relieved to hear her say that. Building relationships with the students is my favorite part and they are definitely the reason that I love teaching.
I was able to practice the standards based grading system that my English teacher uses in her classroom. She gives them a 1-4 rating and then changes it to display a letter grade (A,B,C, etc.) Students need to be at least at an 85% to receive an A and she makes sure that they know and understand where they are at and why. I really like this practice of teaching and I think it is a good way for students and parents to understand why the student has the certain grade that they have. This way if she has any problems with parents she can simply tell them this is what they have proved to me that they know and can do and this is where they are at in terms of the standard. I think it is a great practice to get in the habit of because standards-based grading is the future wave of education.
I was perplexed this week by the lack of school dress codes within the school. I can't remember if I have written about this yet but it appears to be no dress code at the school and it bothers me constantly. The things that my girls come in wearing are completely distracting and innapropriate. I don't know if there is anything I can do or say but I can only imagine how difficult it would be for a male teacher.
The highlight of my week came from my interactions with my students. One of my 9th graders who is in both of m P.E. and my English classes came up to me and told me that I am her favorite student teacher she has had. She said she ususally hates them because they are 'annoying' and 'don't know how to teach' and I was very relieved to hear her say that. Building relationships with the students is my favorite part and they are definitely the reason that I love teaching.
I was able to practice the standards based grading system that my English teacher uses in her classroom. She gives them a 1-4 rating and then changes it to display a letter grade (A,B,C, etc.) Students need to be at least at an 85% to receive an A and she makes sure that they know and understand where they are at and why. I really like this practice of teaching and I think it is a good way for students and parents to understand why the student has the certain grade that they have. This way if she has any problems with parents she can simply tell them this is what they have proved to me that they know and can do and this is where they are at in terms of the standard. I think it is a great practice to get in the habit of because standards-based grading is the future wave of education.
I was perplexed this week by the lack of school dress codes within the school. I can't remember if I have written about this yet but it appears to be no dress code at the school and it bothers me constantly. The things that my girls come in wearing are completely distracting and innapropriate. I don't know if there is anything I can do or say but I can only imagine how difficult it would be for a male teacher.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Teaching: A Sitting & Waiting Game..Weekly Blog #5
This week I have learned a great deal of patience in my teaching sphere. In my English class I was able to read and grade essays for three straight periods and do the same grading a test in my Health class. At times this seemed very trivial and boring to say the least but it was really great for me to experience what teaching will be like. And after I had an attitude adjustment I began to really enjoy reading through the essays. Granted they were all very similar but it was fun to see what they had to say. Even if the grammar was terrible and the language was far too casual for an essay I enjoyed finding the diamonds in the rough. The essays that weren't perfect but for that specific student, were incredible work. Students are so varied in their likes, dislikes and abilities and I loved being able to get to know them a little better through their writing.
I have been perplexed on how to teach something that I am not passionate about. This may be because of the mere fact that I have been asked to teach some classes in P.E. and in Health where I am supposed to use my teachers information and I don't necessarily enjoy some of the activities within the lessons. I know this is something that will be very different once I have my own class but it has been a challenge trying to figure out how to be excited about teaching mental illnesses when I can't do it in an engaging manner. This has definitley been food for thought lately.
My patience has begun to get stretched very thin as of late. My P.E. students are getting used to having me around and are giving me a lot of attitude during class. This could be simply because I am a student teacher but I am learning how to have an 'appropriate' attitude back to them. What I want to do is yell at them and ask them why they think their allowed to be a brat but clearly that wouldn't be an appropriate way to handle the situation.
The higlight of my week was watching one of my students rise above and be a good example. This student is an 11th grader and is surrounded by a lot of younger students in our P.E. class. He is popular and athletic and gets along well with everyone. There are days when he is defiant but I think it is more the 'cool factor' than anything. While playing sideline soccer this last week I was truly impressed by his kindness. I have another student in the class who is extremely autistic. He hardly ever participates in the activities and enjoys walking rather than being in contact with any of the students. On this particular day, this student started playing sideline soccer. There was an area that got really congested with students and he ended up falling down. I was nervous as to what type of reaction this would elicit. I have seen this student begin crying and run away simply for forgetting to dress down so I was nervous as I was the only one in the gym with my class. This other student, my cool 11th grader went and helped him up and made him feel like it was perfectly normal and that he was proud of him for playing. I was so impressed and I will forever look at this student differently. I hope that I can find ways for all of my students to be advocates for one another and look for ways to be examples of kindness. I will always learn new and wonderful things from my students.
I have been perplexed on how to teach something that I am not passionate about. This may be because of the mere fact that I have been asked to teach some classes in P.E. and in Health where I am supposed to use my teachers information and I don't necessarily enjoy some of the activities within the lessons. I know this is something that will be very different once I have my own class but it has been a challenge trying to figure out how to be excited about teaching mental illnesses when I can't do it in an engaging manner. This has definitley been food for thought lately.
My patience has begun to get stretched very thin as of late. My P.E. students are getting used to having me around and are giving me a lot of attitude during class. This could be simply because I am a student teacher but I am learning how to have an 'appropriate' attitude back to them. What I want to do is yell at them and ask them why they think their allowed to be a brat but clearly that wouldn't be an appropriate way to handle the situation.
The higlight of my week was watching one of my students rise above and be a good example. This student is an 11th grader and is surrounded by a lot of younger students in our P.E. class. He is popular and athletic and gets along well with everyone. There are days when he is defiant but I think it is more the 'cool factor' than anything. While playing sideline soccer this last week I was truly impressed by his kindness. I have another student in the class who is extremely autistic. He hardly ever participates in the activities and enjoys walking rather than being in contact with any of the students. On this particular day, this student started playing sideline soccer. There was an area that got really congested with students and he ended up falling down. I was nervous as to what type of reaction this would elicit. I have seen this student begin crying and run away simply for forgetting to dress down so I was nervous as I was the only one in the gym with my class. This other student, my cool 11th grader went and helped him up and made him feel like it was perfectly normal and that he was proud of him for playing. I was so impressed and I will forever look at this student differently. I hope that I can find ways for all of my students to be advocates for one another and look for ways to be examples of kindness. I will always learn new and wonderful things from my students.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Language..the Good, the Bad, & the Ugly.Weekly Blog Post #4
The highlight of my week was being able to lead a discussion with my students while my teaching was not able to be there. We were discussing controversial topics and I was able to direct the discussions and lead students through an appropriate or away from an inappropriate path. Some students controlled the discussion and other students wouldn't respond to any of the prompts. It was a challenge being able to control the students comments so that they don't completely control the conversation and being able to prompt new students to participate. I loved having the opportunity to be in the lead and find positive ways for students to learn and express their opinons. It is always different per class that you are in, but I was really proud of my students and the positive ways they were able to express their opinons and understanding of the topic at hand.
This week I have learned a lot about the relationship that I have with my students and how it can be positively or negatively impacted. My students recognize me more often and even say hi to me outside of class. It has been fun to get to know them better and enjoy their presence more and more. The biggest thing that I have struggled with my students lately is how to control the language that both they and I use. I battle between finding too formal and too informal forms of language to use. I am young and therefore they associate with me but I also struggle with hearing the language that my students use. They have the smallest form of vocabulary and their favorite words to use are highly inappropriate four letter words. I understand that there is not much we as teachers can do to control their language but I hope that I can teach them more appropriate forms of language to express themselves through so that they can be less offensive.
I have been perplexed with how to handle my teachers talking badly about their students. I know it is normal to have difficult students and is so easy to talk badly about them when they have caused you so much grief. But I want to keep a positive attitude about my students and always try to help them regardless of their previous behavior or difficulties in my classroom. Hopefully this is the type of attitude and behavior that my students will pick up on and be able to emulate throughout their personal affairs with other people.
This week I have learned a lot about the relationship that I have with my students and how it can be positively or negatively impacted. My students recognize me more often and even say hi to me outside of class. It has been fun to get to know them better and enjoy their presence more and more. The biggest thing that I have struggled with my students lately is how to control the language that both they and I use. I battle between finding too formal and too informal forms of language to use. I am young and therefore they associate with me but I also struggle with hearing the language that my students use. They have the smallest form of vocabulary and their favorite words to use are highly inappropriate four letter words. I understand that there is not much we as teachers can do to control their language but I hope that I can teach them more appropriate forms of language to express themselves through so that they can be less offensive.
I have been perplexed with how to handle my teachers talking badly about their students. I know it is normal to have difficult students and is so easy to talk badly about them when they have caused you so much grief. But I want to keep a positive attitude about my students and always try to help them regardless of their previous behavior or difficulties in my classroom. Hopefully this is the type of attitude and behavior that my students will pick up on and be able to emulate throughout their personal affairs with other people.
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