Saturday, March 16, 2013
The Reflective Teacher #1
Use this space to mention classroom strengths/weakness; successes/failures; expected behaviors/shocking behaviors; etc. Reflect on your experience and explain how that reflection helped or hurt your instruction. Also, if you have noticed a repetitive "something"existent in your teaching behavior...i.e. saying "like" excessively; wild hand movements...mention it here. What you are doing to fix these behavior "ticks" and/or how do the students react to them(did they notice it or did you?)?
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I'll start with the positives, then the negatives, and then end on a happy note so we have a nice little positivity sandwich. First, I have noticed my strengths are talking with students on a personal level and being able to relate to most of them, which is sort of easy since there is not too much of an age gap. I would also say I'm fairly patient but when the time calls for it can present a pretty good mean glare to get them to stop. Another strength is that I can be very lively and entertaining I guess at times, which does seem to make them pay attention more than simply lecturing for half an hour.
ReplyDeleteAs far as weaknesses go, I am not the best disciplinarian and sometimes do feel the classroom getting out of hand. Eventually I get things together, but sometimes it takes a while. Also, on days when I am feeling a little more exhausted and out of it, I find it very difficult to be very engaging with my grammar lessons.
Also, while we are on the negative, my mind was a little blown during my first week of teaching. Contrary to my expectations, students were not interested in learning about five paragraph essays or even things I thought were more fun like similes and metaphors. The lack of attention span was also something I was taken off guard by since I have been among college students for so long. Telling middle school students directions once does not work at all. Telling them three times, having it written down on paper for them, and on the board for them is the definite way to go. Even that does not always work sometimes.
One of my failures was making up my own worksheet, which I thought was clear and actually kind of interesting. It ended up with the students just being confused and in turn, completely botching the assignment. Another failure is when I spent about 20 minutes going over about 10 confused word pairs, showing them examples and video clips and having them taking notes and even write their own sentences using the words properly. But the next day I had a little bell activity at the beginning of class to test how much they knew. They were allowed to use their notes as well. Many of them still did pretty bad on it.
The only "ticks" I have noticed is my repetition of saying, "You guys" and "Okay." I probably have a few more I am unaware of, but so far so good as far as that goes.
My successes in the classroom have been generating quite a bit of student discussion when talking about idioms and similes and metaphors. I had a great deal of student interaction in those lessons and they seemed to feel comfortable answering my questions and giving their own examples. So it made those lessons especially fun. One of my greatest successes I would say is in my reading class though. I have two male students who constantly talk and act out. After talking to them about random things, not even their behavior, they slowly but surely came to respect me enough to be quiet when I asked them to, and especially when I put on my annoyed, disappointed face.
I feel like I have learned more about teaching in the past month than I ever thought possible. My illusions have been shattered, but in their place I have discovered a much more realistic outlook on teaching.
I agree that I've been able to relate to my students, and that I find that to be one of my strong points throughout this experience. However, like you mentioned, I also find myself to be entertaining at times, though sometimes I definitely doubt my maturity level. In order to capture students' attention and liven up the period, I tend to make those silly and sometimes annoying jokes. I receive a very trying laugh. I wonder if my jokes are too elementary at times, which I think might take away from my authority for about ten seconds. Plus, they are at that age where they tend to judge everyone and everything, and because they are seniors and are either going straight into the workforce or going off to college, they like to think of themselves as full grown adults, and at times I feel subjected to a child-like state in the front of the classroom. I'm trying to stray from those jokes, but I can't take away from my own personality.
DeleteAlso like you mentioned, another issue I have in the classroom is disciplining. I have been overly lax about the "no cell phone" rule in the classroom. However, my students and I have been coming to an overall understand among us. Because they are seniors (and therefore adults, naturally), I do trust them to some extent. I try to treat my classroom like the real world in some ways. If they are working silently on something and I see them on their phones, I have been quietly coming up and asking them what they are doing. By now I can tell what answers are sincere, and I usually let the first offence go. However, if I am in the middle of teaching a lesson, there is no excuse (much like there would be no excuse to be on their phones in a meeting or at a conference), and they are written up immediately without knowledge. Though that may be harsh, they will be forced into these ramifications soon enough, and they have spent four years with the same rules, so they are MORE than well aware.
After reading your reflection, I feel as though we are having very similar experiences and feelings throughout this. And I could not agree MORE with your last thought, "My illusions have been shattered, but in their place I have discovered a much more realistic outlook on teaching."
"Telling middle school students directions once does not work at all. Telling them three times, having it written down on paper for them, and on the board for them is the definite way to go. Even that does not always work sometimes."
DeleteI love that you commented on this, because it is so true. I learned this the hard way during my very first lesson. At first I was very frustrated because they weren't listening, but I quickly realized that many of them weren't listening because their brains were still thinking about the work we had just done. Even if they were just off in la-la land, it's so much easier to plan on repeating yourself five times and displaying it on the screen than it is to discipline a student for being off task.
I, too, struggle with discipline. I am learning that it is okay if a student doesn't always "like" me. I need them to respect me. Luckily, I have great kids and do not feel the need to discipline often but I want to keep working on dealing with texting, rude comments, etc. I know that I need to continue to work on my "teacher talk" and classroom management. Also, I say "good" way too much. I need to work on expanding my vocabulary, especially with praise. I don't want m compliments to ever seem insincere. My biggest weakness is grammar. I now feel cheated by my high school education-my students are learning grammar that I have never even heard of. The bad news is that I get nervous to teach, but the good news is that I am learning along with my students.
ReplyDeleteMy strength is that I am comfortable in front of the classroom. My students seem comfortable with me and they appreciate when I try to get to know them. I have gotten to know many of them on a more personal level. It is easy to see that they appreciate when I remember a birthday or a favorite color. I think this is so important. They aren't just names in a grade book. Also, I am proud of my lesson planning skills. I was very worried about creating interesting lessons. So far, they have all gone over well. They don't always go as planned, of course, but I try to keep everyone engaged.
I have learned so much over the past five weeks. I can honestly say that I have had a wonderful experience so far. I have enjoyed working with my tenth and eleventh graders and I learn something new every single day. I am learning that I have to adapt my lessons, my behavior, and myself to each and every class and student. They all act/react so differently around and to me. I have gained confidence as well, which is key. I feel more and more like I AM good at this and I often come home smiling, after spending the day with such unique and awesome students.
Why is it that we all seem to struggle with discipline, I wonder?? I feel comfortable in front of the class, but when they are misbehaving I feel a bit powerless sometimes.
DeleteAs far as compliments, I always try to compliment a specific part of a student response. Instead of saying, "good," for example, I would say "that is a good analysis of (thing student said)." I think that helps to personalize responses instead of just telling students they did a, "good job."
I have not had to teach grammar very much, which is lucky for me now, but in the future I know I will have to figure it out. That is another topic I feel like not many of us are prepared for.
ReplyDeleteI think my strengths are relating to students, helping them one on one, and making lessons. I find it very easy to relate to my students and I feel like most of them like me, but I wasn't really worried about that. Even though I mostly have freshman, they are really easy to talk to. My upperclassmen are super easy to relate to, and I love talking to them to help them figure out college stuff. Unfortunately, none of that helps me get them to be engaged when I am trying to get them to analyze poetry. Helping students one on one has always been easy for me. I have always liked tutoring my peers, and one on one problem solving is like an extension of that. I absolutely love making lessons for class, and the transformation that comes when I put my lessons into action is fun for me. I have four sections of English 9 so each lesson goes a little differently.
I think my weaknesses are discipline, being confident, and controlling the classroom when it gets loud. I am a bit afraid to be mean when students are being bad, and I haven't sent anyone to the office even when I probably should have. I am aware of this while dealing with behavior issues, like I tell myself "you should just send him to he office" but then I second guess myself and just let it be. I don't know where this comes from. I worry that I'm doing something wrong a lot. This is what I mean by not being confident. I know that I am an expert in poetry, but worry that I'm not explaining it in a way that is accessible or interesting to the students. This is despite the fact that most of them are turning in really cute poems and do most of he work in class. Maybe I'm just being crazy-over-analytical of myself. I know for sure that I am not very good at getting a rowdy class quiet and keeping them that way. I've talked to my supervising teacher about this and am actively working on it.
I feel like I have succeeded at staying enthusiastic and excited about teaching despite my doubts and worries. I still have a hard time comprehending some of the crazy behaviors I see. I don't understand the students who seem to not care about school at all, but I also realize that those students exist and I will probably never understand them. I don't think I have any "ticks" ... Do I, Taylor?
Reflecting has helped me get my thoughts down and see that I have some great strengths and my weak eases are fixable. I'm still worried that this might not be the profession for me, but for know I know that I really do love teaching kids and apparently I am pretty decent at it.
I think some of my strengths in the classroom definitely include my relations to my students, especially being so close in age. However, I know at times that that can be a major drawback. The majority of the time, the students and I get along very well being close in age: I can relate to their current issues, understand their "excuses," and really know when they are getting overwhelmed with something or are not understanding a topic. However, on the other end of the spectrum, the students sometimes get off topic...on topics that I'm interested in. There are times that I can appropriately insert my opinion, but most of the time I jokingly attempt to end their conversation and get them back on topic. (I always think I'm really funny, and so far I can't tell if they're laughing WITH me because I AM funny, or if they're laughing AT me.) Throughout this though, I think they have come to respect me because I am aware of their "worlds."
ReplyDeleteAnother strength I have in the classroom is actually listening to my students, whether it's during one-on-one time in the classroom work environment or whether a student comes to see me outside of class time. Students are keen to understand when a teacher offers help just to get the question answered, or when a teacher actually wants you to understand something. The Great Gatsby has not been an easy unit for my juniors to understand, but when a student comes up to me during their work time and is really struggling, I stop being a teacher. I explain it student to student in a "language" they will understand. Students have also been coming up to me more often to ask questions about college, my own experience, or advice in one form or another. I feel a sense of pride in that I am becoming their mentor and not just another run-of-the-mill teacher.
In some aspects beyond topics that interest me, the age relation has probably been a weakness as well. I find myself sometimes being too informal for the classroom, because it wasn't that long ago that I was in their shoes. Like I mentioned before, it's weird for me to be a rule enforcer instead of a rule breaker (not that I ever broke any rules...). I'm almost jealous at times that they are just embarking on this new world.
I think some other weaknesses are discipline and actually having a "teacher voice." I've been told multiple times by other instructors that I need to really speak up and be firm with students. Most of the time I feel like I'm screaming while students in the back of the room still can't hear me. That's definitely something I need to work on. Or I need a smaller classroom with different acoustics. I was very strict with discipline at the beginning, before I knew their names, their personalities, etc. I had actually written multiple students up for the strict "no cell phone" policy. Once again though, because I have grown closer to my students, I have been letting that slide more often. I've expected this behavior with their cell phones. However, one behavior that I have not been expecting is complete lack of attitude for anything school related. I have some students who simply give up before they even start. It's hard for me to understand their behavior because I grew up taking all advanced classes where students wanted to learn, or at least took the time to try. The students who don't do work (or even worse, have senioritis) often joke about it, but it really is hurting their grades. It's not because I am a bad teacher though, or I assign too much work; they have told me this. They still respect me, they are simply shutting down. They are done with school, and I'm trying to find ways to actively involve them.
I had the same problem with understanding how my students could simply not care about school work. Like you said, in high school you were motivated and surrounded by other motivated students. Same here. My very first day with my sophomores, I assigned a chapter of Night for homework. Did anyone read? NO. So, there went my entire lesson plan for the following day. We had to spend the day reading the chapter that should have been completed for homework. From this, I have learned to prepare for anything. Maybe they did their homework, maybe they didn't. It isn't a reflection of me, just a different atmosphere. Many of these kids do not have support at home. They have probation officers, horrible home lives, and babies. So, I am more than happy to spend time in class reading if that is what it takes to get them to open the book. It is different than my personal high school experience but I am seeing how to make it work. Also, I started giving them short pop quizzes to keep them on their toes:)
Delete(I'm sorry I like to talk so much...)
ReplyDeleteOne major success I had with students recently was the discussion of the "green light" in Gatsby and what it represents. My teacher had an article about students in a Boston school that had descriptions of their green lights: their hopes, dreams, aspirations, etc. My students and I had a discussion about their own "green lights," and their follow-up assignment was to write a letter to their future selves. Never has it been so quiet in the classroom, and never have I had every single student turn in an assignment since I've taken over the classroom. The day they were due, I collected their letters, in envelopes addressed to themselves, and I am holding them for 1-5 years, based on when students asked me to send them.
Another success is generating discussion and having them explore their own curiosity. At the beginning of class, I usually have students ask me questions, but in turn I ask that other classmates answer them, and I'll clear up any incorrect information. This also works great with an activity my teacher calls "Hot Seat." One student will sit in the front of the room and take on the role of a character in the story. We treat the classroom like it is a press conference, and students ask questions: maybe something they don't understand, or incentive, or random inquiries. By doing this, they are exploring the book a little more, and there really aren't any right or wrong answers.
One failure I think I might have had is making up my own vocab quizzes. (I'm actually very nervous about their upcoming quiz Monday.) I try to construct the sentence using an actual synonym within the sentence, but my students really aren't getting the gist of them, and most of the time the mode is 5/10, though 1's are not uncommon...at all.
I have the habit of saying "you guys" much too often. I also say "dude" a lot in some cases, and that relates back to the lack in age gap. While my students don't seem to mind, I know that is not very professional, and I think I stress myself out more than I should over it. I try stay away from the "you guys," but saying "class" or "boys and girls" sounds too juvenile. Then again, saying "ladies and gentlemen" or something along those lines is too formal. Well, that and they are definitely not worthy of those titles juuuuust yet.
I'm really enjoying my experience thus far, and I'm actually getting to know other teachers on a personal level as well. They give me their insights, sometimes helpful and sometimes daunting, but all with good intentions. I know teaching isn't exactly an "easy" profession to go into right now, but I find myself taking pleasure in the little things that each day presents me with. My classroom, most likely along with everyone else's classroom, isn't ideal, and definitely not what I had in mind. But in some ways it's much better than I imagined my student teaching would be. I actually feel like this is my classroom, and I'm coming to terms with what that scary real world just beyond graduation will be like. My students are funny, which has helped me ease into this new environment, and I'm looking forward to what these next five weeks will bring.
I have really been trying to stay away from "You guys" as well, as I mentioned in my post. Like you said, I can't really seem to find a professional but relaxed middle ground to address the class as a whole. I almost want to say "You all," but I know it will just come out as "Y'all" and then I will die of embarrassment, as I often do when my Indiana accent comes out randomly.
DeleteI also had the same problem of not speaking loudly enough! My first week teaching went kind of horribly because I had a student, who is always rude and disrespectful even to my cooperating teacher, get up in the middle of my first lesson and tell my cooperating teacher that I was too quiet and it was putting her to sleep. Not the best for my ego. Fortunately, since that first lesson, I have gotten more confident in myself and now (I think) talk loudly enough and often make jokes and funny faces, dances, etc. in front of my students. Just takes time I think and lots of practice!
Prior to my student teaching experience I thought I would struggle to be myself (well my teacher self) in the classroom, partially because I was still a little unsure what that entailed. I also had no idea if my style would mesh with what my students were used to. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly I settled in and developed a professional relationship with my students. I see myself as an understanding and kind person, which I expected would show. Yet a large portion of my personality rests on sarcasm (thanks Dad) and I was afraid of how this would effect my reputation and disciplinary actions. Now, being over halfway done with student teaching, I can see my personality showing through more and more. This is probably one of my biggest strengths because I feel comfortable in front of the class. When I’m not concerned about modeling a particular teaching style or if my sarcasm is too mean, I can focus on more important things.
ReplyDeleteThough I am comfortable in front of the class, I occasionally find myself using terms that are way above grade level for my seventh graders. I don’t do it all the time, but I have had to clarify or rephrase things that I have said so that my students get it. As a preventative measure, I often re-read texts that are at or just slightly above grade level (such as the reading textbook) and highlight or note how to phrase particular things. For example, I caught myself talking about verbs in the “gerund” and “progressive tenses”. I’m sure you can imagine all of the blank stares I received during that portion of the lesson. I caught it early on and after I explained what I had meant, the blank faces changed to “I get it” faces. Another aspect of teaching that I struggle with, at least with this particular group, involves eliciting responses to critical thinking questions. If the answer isn’t straightforward over half of my students practically refuse to respond. I often feel like saying, “Yes, you do have to use your brain today”. I have a few perfectionists that I believe are so afraid of getting the answer wrong that they don’t answer at all, while others are just plain lazy. Typically I try to ask questions to nudge them in the right direction, and eventually they will start thinking critically, but I have to start all over the second we switch questions. I don’t know if this is a new concept for them, but I am struggling with extracting answers that go beyond the surface level, despite my constant prodding. Suggestions?