I feel like this was a very eventful week. I took my first field trip, started Math club, AND received a hug from the "MVP of bad behavior."
We started the week just like any other week. Monday morning, Social Studies lesson and activity. It felt like the week would be pretty nonchalant. However, I no idea that things wouldn't be as smooth sailing as I thought. In the middle of the day I had received a text message that said my younger sister had been taken to the hospital because she was experiencing heart pain. For a 13-year-old girl, this is very uncommon. I didn't get to see the text until I was halfway to my senior seminar class. What does this have to do with teaching? Well, I believe it has to do a lot. It teaches how to put personal matters aside for the sake of teaching and it also reminds us as teachers that our students have stuff going on at their homes also. Every day I came in, I had to leave my baggage outside the school; I couldn't be sad or unenthusiastic for something that happened at home and I also needed to remember to extend an arm of grace for my students.
On Wednesday we went to see "The Magic Flute," an opera. It was so amazing! Personally, it was my first opera, ever! The twist to this story was that my cooperating teacher wasn't able to go; so, I was in charge! For most, this would be a scary experience. However, with all my years of summer camp counseling I had it under control. I think the biggest compliment went unsaid by my cooperating teacher. The fact that she felt confident enough to leave me in charge was such a confidence booster! :)
Wednesday was also the same day that I received my hug. I was doing my usual polite conversations with my students and the "MVP" comes up and gives me a hug and says, "Miss Sanchez, you are the best teacher I've met." I almost cried. This is the same student who has temper tantrums and cusses out people, the same one who bullies others and who is infamously known around the school. In a circumstance like this, I have nothing to say but, "Thanks, Jesus." Honestly, it is the ability He gives me to see the beauty within the brokenness. It is His love that overflows from me to others. What a great experience! (And it has significantly changed his behavior in the classroom.)
I am also having a better handle on my classroom management. I've had them redo things like lining up or walking down the hall when it wasn't quiet enough. I know that it's time consuming but it is something that is has to be done to show them that as older students of the school they need to be the example of the school. I have adapted the phrase, "Show me your Bulldog best!" (Since the Bulldog is our mascot and the school has a lot of school pride!)
I have noticed my teacher leaving the classroom a lot more. I'm getting so much more experience to having my own classroom! I can't believe I'm so close to what I want to do for the rest of my life! :)
Monday, October 29, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
The Week of October 15
This was an extraordinary week! On Tuesday, I volunteered to help out at Family Fun Night and read a picture book in Spanish. Turns out my principal was very impressed and asked me to help out again the week of Halloween. Then, I was offered a co-leading position for Math Club! To think that they would ask me, the student teacher, was really rewarding. I know that there's a lot of work to be done now, but it's worth seeing students succeed in the long run!
For the week, we had our usual subjects, but there must have been an energizer bunny in my tea this week! I felt overly passionate about every subject we covered. I'd start talking about something and the next moment I found myself doing something weird and exciting. I even got a comment, (but I'm not sure it was really a compliment) he raised his hand and said, "Miss Sanchez, you teach funny!" In my head, I thought, "What does that mean!?" I brushed it off and just took it in.
Every Wednesday we have 5th grade teacher meetings during our planning period. This Wednesday I felt like part of the team. We were all exchanging ideas of how to teach different things and I think I had a lot to contribute. I had just finished teaching multiplying multi-digit numbers and for some reason it was hard for my students to understand. So I told them that the bottom numbers were popular numbers and that they wanted to high-five everyone!
For example:
897
x 23
Would be 3 high-fives the seven, nine and eight, but then the two gets jealous and also wants to high-five everyone also. they really liked that concept. The teachers did too. I had a few of them tell me that they incorporated it into their teaching. I felt sooo cool!
I also had the opportunity to visit another classroom and see them teach math. It's really odd that many people know who I am. I walked in and I heard, "That's Miss Sanchez." I really hope that was a positive remark.
Something out of the ordinary happened this week. One of my students was punched in the face by a sixth grader. It happened during recess so I wasn't there. But I had gotten really overprotective over my student. My teacher said I had to just let the office handle it. So I did. I told my own students that we needed to focus on things that would help them and focusing on the punch wouldn't help anyone. That went over well. After the day was over, I found out that my student hadn't punched the other student back. He stood his ground even if he looked like a wimp. I'm so proud! :)
Schmidt
Writing. It's a subject that you like or don't like. There's never an in-between. Many people (myself included) are so traumatized from the red ink on the paper, there is never any motivation to write. One solution Schmidt gives to that is to use "highlighting improvements." She says, "The more yellow, the better." How was this ever a good thing? Back in my day, the more ink the more you had to fix. However, I really like the positive approach she takes to this method. I think this is definitely a method I would love to incorporate!
Currently, I'm not teaching writing because we are just starting writing workshop and my teacher is in charge of that, however, I since last week, I have been asking them to write out some scenarios in their writing journals. It is so great to have them write something out and then act it out. It has inspired them to write more and more so the skit can go on a bit longer.
With this being said, I also have some of those minimalists in my class. The always ask, "How long does it have to be?" I can't wait to try and test those minimalists. One approach I've used is to say that I'm looking for "fifth grade sentences/ideas" not third grade. Taking an approach like that really does challenge the kids to do a better job. Standard 6 states, "The competent teacher has foundational knowledge of reading, writing, and oral communication within the content area and recognizes and addresses student reading, writing, and oral communication needs to facilitate the acquisition of content knowledge."
Something Schmidt pointed out that I had never thought about was the fact that writing is a subject that causes the student to be vulnerable. Whether it be mental, emotional or social, they are sharing a part of their life. It's really a beautiful thing that should be used to the teacher's advantage. Being in a placement of low-income, it is really an eye-opener for me to see some of the issues my students are going through. For example, in health I had the students make a flip-book of different emotions and on the inside flap, they had to write me a story about that specific emotion that they had experienced. It had gotten really intense for some and really personal for others.Writing really is important.
In the students' writing, I have found that they make a lot of spelling/ grammatical errors, but I try not to focus too much on those. I want them to be able to express their ideas without having them focus on their conventional mistakes. After all, the big idea behind writing is " capturing and preserving ideas."
For the week, we had our usual subjects, but there must have been an energizer bunny in my tea this week! I felt overly passionate about every subject we covered. I'd start talking about something and the next moment I found myself doing something weird and exciting. I even got a comment, (but I'm not sure it was really a compliment) he raised his hand and said, "Miss Sanchez, you teach funny!" In my head, I thought, "What does that mean!?" I brushed it off and just took it in.
Every Wednesday we have 5th grade teacher meetings during our planning period. This Wednesday I felt like part of the team. We were all exchanging ideas of how to teach different things and I think I had a lot to contribute. I had just finished teaching multiplying multi-digit numbers and for some reason it was hard for my students to understand. So I told them that the bottom numbers were popular numbers and that they wanted to high-five everyone!
For example:
897
x 23
Would be 3 high-fives the seven, nine and eight, but then the two gets jealous and also wants to high-five everyone also. they really liked that concept. The teachers did too. I had a few of them tell me that they incorporated it into their teaching. I felt sooo cool!
I also had the opportunity to visit another classroom and see them teach math. It's really odd that many people know who I am. I walked in and I heard, "That's Miss Sanchez." I really hope that was a positive remark.
Something out of the ordinary happened this week. One of my students was punched in the face by a sixth grader. It happened during recess so I wasn't there. But I had gotten really overprotective over my student. My teacher said I had to just let the office handle it. So I did. I told my own students that we needed to focus on things that would help them and focusing on the punch wouldn't help anyone. That went over well. After the day was over, I found out that my student hadn't punched the other student back. He stood his ground even if he looked like a wimp. I'm so proud! :)
Schmidt
Writing. It's a subject that you like or don't like. There's never an in-between. Many people (myself included) are so traumatized from the red ink on the paper, there is never any motivation to write. One solution Schmidt gives to that is to use "highlighting improvements." She says, "The more yellow, the better." How was this ever a good thing? Back in my day, the more ink the more you had to fix. However, I really like the positive approach she takes to this method. I think this is definitely a method I would love to incorporate!
Currently, I'm not teaching writing because we are just starting writing workshop and my teacher is in charge of that, however, I since last week, I have been asking them to write out some scenarios in their writing journals. It is so great to have them write something out and then act it out. It has inspired them to write more and more so the skit can go on a bit longer.
With this being said, I also have some of those minimalists in my class. The always ask, "How long does it have to be?" I can't wait to try and test those minimalists. One approach I've used is to say that I'm looking for "fifth grade sentences/ideas" not third grade. Taking an approach like that really does challenge the kids to do a better job. Standard 6 states, "The competent teacher has foundational knowledge of reading, writing, and oral communication within the content area and recognizes and addresses student reading, writing, and oral communication needs to facilitate the acquisition of content knowledge."
Something Schmidt pointed out that I had never thought about was the fact that writing is a subject that causes the student to be vulnerable. Whether it be mental, emotional or social, they are sharing a part of their life. It's really a beautiful thing that should be used to the teacher's advantage. Being in a placement of low-income, it is really an eye-opener for me to see some of the issues my students are going through. For example, in health I had the students make a flip-book of different emotions and on the inside flap, they had to write me a story about that specific emotion that they had experienced. It had gotten really intense for some and really personal for others.Writing really is important.
In the students' writing, I have found that they make a lot of spelling/ grammatical errors, but I try not to focus too much on those. I want them to be able to express their ideas without having them focus on their conventional mistakes. After all, the big idea behind writing is " capturing and preserving ideas."
Monday, October 15, 2012
The Week of October 8
This week didn't feel like a full week. We had Monday off and then the students had a half day on Wednesday. I feel like it was a week of craziness, the right things weren't being covered and there was a lot of last minute ideas that needed to be done. I'll tell you, it was quite a week!
Tuesday was our Monday, but I really didn't want to dig in too deep in some topics because I knew we would need two consecutive days. Then to top it off, my teacher had taken a half day due to some family things and when the substitute came in, she offered a lot of "fun" ideas. I told her that she was free to do what she wanted. Our sub's name was Mrs. S. She is a retired teacher from the school. She had been working there for quite some time and I knew she had wonderful things under her belt. So we spent our morning doing Math, Science, Social Studies, then I touched Reading and the rest were Halloween activities. I didn't mind. For me, it was good to see someone not stick to the schedule for a change; it was a long awaited breath of fresh air.
Wednesday was a half day and during most half days we need to cover the schools rules and regulations with the kids. My school is very big on PBiS so we did a few activities that had to do with having a "Peaceful Playground." It was fun because we had the opportunity to go outside and what person doesn't like going outside. (I found that I was super happy to go outside.)
Thursday was semi-normal; Thursday is like a typical Friday for me. It's all the concepts and ideas you start gelling together and putting to practice. The reason it's set-up like this is because we have an officer come into our classroom on Friday and he gives a class on gang, and drug resistance. The kids love having him over, not because they get out of History, but because they really value what he has to say. It's a G.R.E.A.T program, literally.
Schmidt
Something Schmidt points out is the good use of multiple intelligences in both chapters. I've noticed that she is a big guru for that type of learning! I couldn't agree more. Since I'm teaching almost the whole day now, I can see the boredom in some of the student's faces.
A great perspective I got from Chapter 8 was that Students hate the way we teach history. I was chatting with my brother who is now a sophomore in high school and I asked him if he liked History, he gave me this disgusted look and said, "No, that's boring." Who's to blame him, taking AP history courses during high school, I know that all it consists of is searching the book for the answers on the worksheet. One great piece of advice I received was to use the textbook as a resource--that means I have to go out there and look for additional things for my students. Luckily, our text is called "History Alive!" and it's a very interactive book, it comes with an "Interactive Student Notebook" and the students fill in and complete different activities. It's so much better than what I remember having.
"Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little time on the last six thousand years." --Will Durant
One of the big ideas Schmidt gives about art is, "The arts are a way of knowing." It is so true. I think even though most teachers are aware of the multiple intelligences, they limit a student's ability to express themselves through an art just one period a week. I think as a teacher it is so easy to forget about the students who learn through art. Personally speaking, it's easy to find myself looking at what assessments need to be completed. It's not that, that is my preferred method of teaching, but it's what the district requires of me.
Another idea I find myself struggling with is the incorporation of the arts. The book gives me many great ideas but how do I do it? It's something I read on paper, but to put into practice is a whole other mile! For me it's hard to do something that makes the most of all worlds meet. I think it's something that will come with practice; I just need the model.
Standard 1 of the Professional Teaching Standards states, "The competent teacher plans and designs instruction based on content area knowledge, diverse student characteristics, student performance data, curriculum goals, and the community context. The teacher plans for ongoing student growth and achievement." I think that this standard encompasses a big idea of multiple intelligences without mentioning it. It's not only about the instruction, but also how the assessment is used. In the book, Schmidt talks about authentic assessment. She really challenges me when she says, how can you make learning interactive then turn around and give a 100 multiple choice question test? It's so true, and knowing how my students are some times I need to modify the things I do. For example, I know some of my students are intimidated by words, sounds funny, but it's true. So I have him draw or tell me about how he understands, my students create posters and write stories. This past week I gave a History test, and part of my test was to draw out a comic strip showing me how two different tribes would trade. It's interesting to see soooo many different answers.
Tuesday was our Monday, but I really didn't want to dig in too deep in some topics because I knew we would need two consecutive days. Then to top it off, my teacher had taken a half day due to some family things and when the substitute came in, she offered a lot of "fun" ideas. I told her that she was free to do what she wanted. Our sub's name was Mrs. S. She is a retired teacher from the school. She had been working there for quite some time and I knew she had wonderful things under her belt. So we spent our morning doing Math, Science, Social Studies, then I touched Reading and the rest were Halloween activities. I didn't mind. For me, it was good to see someone not stick to the schedule for a change; it was a long awaited breath of fresh air.
Wednesday was a half day and during most half days we need to cover the schools rules and regulations with the kids. My school is very big on PBiS so we did a few activities that had to do with having a "Peaceful Playground." It was fun because we had the opportunity to go outside and what person doesn't like going outside. (I found that I was super happy to go outside.)
Thursday was semi-normal; Thursday is like a typical Friday for me. It's all the concepts and ideas you start gelling together and putting to practice. The reason it's set-up like this is because we have an officer come into our classroom on Friday and he gives a class on gang, and drug resistance. The kids love having him over, not because they get out of History, but because they really value what he has to say. It's a G.R.E.A.T program, literally.
Schmidt
Something Schmidt points out is the good use of multiple intelligences in both chapters. I've noticed that she is a big guru for that type of learning! I couldn't agree more. Since I'm teaching almost the whole day now, I can see the boredom in some of the student's faces.
A great perspective I got from Chapter 8 was that Students hate the way we teach history. I was chatting with my brother who is now a sophomore in high school and I asked him if he liked History, he gave me this disgusted look and said, "No, that's boring." Who's to blame him, taking AP history courses during high school, I know that all it consists of is searching the book for the answers on the worksheet. One great piece of advice I received was to use the textbook as a resource--that means I have to go out there and look for additional things for my students. Luckily, our text is called "History Alive!" and it's a very interactive book, it comes with an "Interactive Student Notebook" and the students fill in and complete different activities. It's so much better than what I remember having.
"Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little time on the last six thousand years." --Will Durant
One of the big ideas Schmidt gives about art is, "The arts are a way of knowing." It is so true. I think even though most teachers are aware of the multiple intelligences, they limit a student's ability to express themselves through an art just one period a week. I think as a teacher it is so easy to forget about the students who learn through art. Personally speaking, it's easy to find myself looking at what assessments need to be completed. It's not that, that is my preferred method of teaching, but it's what the district requires of me.
Another idea I find myself struggling with is the incorporation of the arts. The book gives me many great ideas but how do I do it? It's something I read on paper, but to put into practice is a whole other mile! For me it's hard to do something that makes the most of all worlds meet. I think it's something that will come with practice; I just need the model.
Standard 1 of the Professional Teaching Standards states, "The competent teacher plans and designs instruction based on content area knowledge, diverse student characteristics, student performance data, curriculum goals, and the community context. The teacher plans for ongoing student growth and achievement." I think that this standard encompasses a big idea of multiple intelligences without mentioning it. It's not only about the instruction, but also how the assessment is used. In the book, Schmidt talks about authentic assessment. She really challenges me when she says, how can you make learning interactive then turn around and give a 100 multiple choice question test? It's so true, and knowing how my students are some times I need to modify the things I do. For example, I know some of my students are intimidated by words, sounds funny, but it's true. So I have him draw or tell me about how he understands, my students create posters and write stories. This past week I gave a History test, and part of my test was to draw out a comic strip showing me how two different tribes would trade. It's interesting to see soooo many different answers.
Monday, October 8, 2012
The Week of October 1
I cannot believe that I've been at my placement for over a complete month now. It seems like just yesterday I was at orientation, preparing for the unexpected. However, I guess the saying is right, "time flies when you're having fun!"
For this week I took four-fifths of the class. I must say, it's pretty exhausting! Teachers are the real deal! A glance into my day starts off at 8:15ish, when I usually arrive at school. Once I'm there I plug in my flash drive to the SMARTBoard, the morning assignment goes up, my lessons are ready to be opened at the right time and my desk is in order. The students come in at 8:40, put their backpacks away and start on the assignment. During this time, I take attendance and lunch count. At 8:50 we stand up and say The Pledge of Allegiance with the rest of the school and we're off to start our day!
Social Studies
The unit we've been covering has to do with Native Americans, their tribes, regions, and cultures. It's been a really great topic to teach since many of the students have a typical view of "an indian." It has really been great to see them change their opinion as to what a Native Indian looks like or behaves like. The most successful lesson I had included four groups of students researching a specific Native Indian tribe. They became the experts and on Thursday we had a video producer (played by yours truly) come to the classroom and cast roles for a documentary she was filming. In every "interview" she would bring up certain stereotypes and ask them if it were true. They gave all the information they learned: what men did, what jobs women had, different foods they would eat, what kind of house they lived in ect. Their assignment for that was to write a letter to a director telling her why making assumptions of people was so wrong. It was great!
Math
In Math we've been learning about Geometry. The topics vary from how many sides does this shape have to how many degrees are in this shape. We're a bit all over the place! Geometry is a review to them and they let me know it all the time. I use that to my advantage. When I post their objectives for the day it starts off, "Today is October 2 and you will be experts at:" They recept very well to this. I also use that phrase as noise control. When they start chatting, I just say, "I'd move on, but it sounds like some students don't want to be experts." They have been doing well.
Science
Of all the subjects this one has brought the most controversy (and my most favorite)! We are doing our Chapter about Reproduction and Change. A touchy subject, if you will. On Monday we read through how cells replicate and divide. I had a student stand up and say, "Teacher, the cells make babies?" I my response was a no and I explained how cells are like copies not babies. Well, this one question turned into daily tormenting that cells make babies. I'm personally glad that they want to argue because that gives more room for instruction and guiding. It allows me to give them assignments that involve research and ways to explore the world. I had a few students tell me that when they become scientists they were going to prove me wrong. :) No complaints from me!
Reading
Reading single handedly is the most difficult subject to teach. The curriculum calls for a daily, uninterrupted 90 minutes of Reading. Within these 90 minutes, the students receive a 20 minute mini-lesson on a skill like how to summarize. We go into guided reading groups and everyone is to read silently. My teacher has established that the students can only read silently for 20 minutes and then they need to do one of the group assignments. It was only my first week, but I felt soooo unprepared. Hopefully, I'll feel more comfortable with this subject in the upcoming weeks.
So there ends my day. Quite cookie-cutter perfect, huh? Please don't be deceived! I know I've talked a lot about how classroom management has been an issue. Well, I've found something that works quiet well for me..
For this week I took four-fifths of the class. I must say, it's pretty exhausting! Teachers are the real deal! A glance into my day starts off at 8:15ish, when I usually arrive at school. Once I'm there I plug in my flash drive to the SMARTBoard, the morning assignment goes up, my lessons are ready to be opened at the right time and my desk is in order. The students come in at 8:40, put their backpacks away and start on the assignment. During this time, I take attendance and lunch count. At 8:50 we stand up and say The Pledge of Allegiance with the rest of the school and we're off to start our day!
Social Studies
The unit we've been covering has to do with Native Americans, their tribes, regions, and cultures. It's been a really great topic to teach since many of the students have a typical view of "an indian." It has really been great to see them change their opinion as to what a Native Indian looks like or behaves like. The most successful lesson I had included four groups of students researching a specific Native Indian tribe. They became the experts and on Thursday we had a video producer (played by yours truly) come to the classroom and cast roles for a documentary she was filming. In every "interview" she would bring up certain stereotypes and ask them if it were true. They gave all the information they learned: what men did, what jobs women had, different foods they would eat, what kind of house they lived in ect. Their assignment for that was to write a letter to a director telling her why making assumptions of people was so wrong. It was great!
Math
In Math we've been learning about Geometry. The topics vary from how many sides does this shape have to how many degrees are in this shape. We're a bit all over the place! Geometry is a review to them and they let me know it all the time. I use that to my advantage. When I post their objectives for the day it starts off, "Today is October 2 and you will be experts at:" They recept very well to this. I also use that phrase as noise control. When they start chatting, I just say, "I'd move on, but it sounds like some students don't want to be experts." They have been doing well.
Science
Of all the subjects this one has brought the most controversy (and my most favorite)! We are doing our Chapter about Reproduction and Change. A touchy subject, if you will. On Monday we read through how cells replicate and divide. I had a student stand up and say, "Teacher, the cells make babies?" I my response was a no and I explained how cells are like copies not babies. Well, this one question turned into daily tormenting that cells make babies. I'm personally glad that they want to argue because that gives more room for instruction and guiding. It allows me to give them assignments that involve research and ways to explore the world. I had a few students tell me that when they become scientists they were going to prove me wrong. :) No complaints from me!
Reading
Reading single handedly is the most difficult subject to teach. The curriculum calls for a daily, uninterrupted 90 minutes of Reading. Within these 90 minutes, the students receive a 20 minute mini-lesson on a skill like how to summarize. We go into guided reading groups and everyone is to read silently. My teacher has established that the students can only read silently for 20 minutes and then they need to do one of the group assignments. It was only my first week, but I felt soooo unprepared. Hopefully, I'll feel more comfortable with this subject in the upcoming weeks.
So there ends my day. Quite cookie-cutter perfect, huh? Please don't be deceived! I know I've talked a lot about how classroom management has been an issue. Well, I've found something that works quiet well for me..
Yes! it is my very own Noise-O-Meter! I found the idea on a website and decided to make it my own. The students were a bit caught off guard when I explained this to them. I told them that this was my expectation of them and it was something I should have to continually remind them about. It is really nice to just say, "ladies and gentlemen, level 0 please" and they diligently obey.
As for my "troublemaker," he had a fabulous week. We decided that he needs more positive reinforcement than the rest of the students. He responded very well to it and he got to move his desk back to his group. He was pretty pumped about it.
Monday, October 1, 2012
The week of September 24
This week, I conquered three fifths of the day. (Like my math, there?) It has really been a time for me to learn about myself, my teaching techniques and other stuff. There are some really hard days and in all honesty, I just want to go to bed. There are things that I really don't want to do.
My biggest issue is still classroom management. There are so many mixed models out there. For example, when the teacher is teaching and a few students start chattering the teacher has two options. 1. They stop their teaching and ask the students if they would like to share with the whole class what is more important than the subject they are learning. 2. They continue teaching hoping that the students will realize that they really need to pay attention. I get very frustrated, not at their chatter, but at the million questions after, "what do we do,again?" "Wait, I don't get it." "Can you help me?" It's instances like this where I take advantage and say well, this is why it is so important not to talk during the lesson and pay attention. Then I get the infamous, "I wasn't talking. It was my neighbor." Then the whole conversation loses purpose because you get into a different subject. The students need to learn how and when to be quiet and how and when they can be loud.
The curriculum is not too bad for the school district. However, it keeps changing. I'm in the middle of a geometry unit and the new pacing guide tells me that I should be teaching multiplication. The problem is that the students have monthly math assessments that are made up by the entire team the district. Stuff that we should be covering in class. Well half way through the unit, it is tough to just change things around.
The student I talked about last week had lunch suspension for 3 days and he had a couple of meltdowns in class. We decided to form an alliance in efforts to help this guy out. The school Dean, Social Worker, Homeroom Teacher, P.E. Teacher, last year's Homeroom Teacher and myself all joined efforts to find ways to keep him motivated and on task. I think we came up with a couple great ideas. I cannot wait to implement them! :)
Schmidt
In the chapter entitled, "Teachers can Speak Tongues," I really wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. As I started reading, I realized it had to do with parent communication. I really learned a lot of things I didn't know before. Having experiences that vary from summer camps to administration I thought I had an advantage to communicate with parents. Thankfully this chapter shed some light on the situation. Standard 8 states, "The competent teacher builds and maintains collaborative relationships to foster cognitive, linguistic, physical, and social and emotional development. This teacher works as a team member with professional colleagues, students, parents or guardians, and community members." This is exactly what Schmidt talks about in her chapter. She notes that parents and teachers are commonly ships sailing at night; we pass one another awkwardly and don't know how to interact. It's all about being enlightened. Each brief encounter we have with a parent allows us to see a bit more into the life of the child. "Parents quickly discover that by talking to the teacher they get a more accurate picture of their child at school and what they can do to encourage learning." Basically, it's a two way street. We want to learn about the student, but we also want to share. Share the student's growth and knowledge, not just the negative stuff.
After this chapter, I think about the stuff we send home, how to make it look, how to think like a parent. The list of the 10 essential notes on effective communication stood out to me the most. Parent teacher-conferences are in November and we've had quite a interactions with parents already.. It will sure be exciting! I now know that I need to be more blunt and to the point with the parents and not beat around the bush. I cannot be afraid to contact them but I also cannot bash their child for their behavior.
My biggest issue is still classroom management. There are so many mixed models out there. For example, when the teacher is teaching and a few students start chattering the teacher has two options. 1. They stop their teaching and ask the students if they would like to share with the whole class what is more important than the subject they are learning. 2. They continue teaching hoping that the students will realize that they really need to pay attention. I get very frustrated, not at their chatter, but at the million questions after, "what do we do,again?" "Wait, I don't get it." "Can you help me?" It's instances like this where I take advantage and say well, this is why it is so important not to talk during the lesson and pay attention. Then I get the infamous, "I wasn't talking. It was my neighbor." Then the whole conversation loses purpose because you get into a different subject. The students need to learn how and when to be quiet and how and when they can be loud.
The curriculum is not too bad for the school district. However, it keeps changing. I'm in the middle of a geometry unit and the new pacing guide tells me that I should be teaching multiplication. The problem is that the students have monthly math assessments that are made up by the entire team the district. Stuff that we should be covering in class. Well half way through the unit, it is tough to just change things around.
The student I talked about last week had lunch suspension for 3 days and he had a couple of meltdowns in class. We decided to form an alliance in efforts to help this guy out. The school Dean, Social Worker, Homeroom Teacher, P.E. Teacher, last year's Homeroom Teacher and myself all joined efforts to find ways to keep him motivated and on task. I think we came up with a couple great ideas. I cannot wait to implement them! :)
Schmidt
In the chapter entitled, "Teachers can Speak Tongues," I really wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. As I started reading, I realized it had to do with parent communication. I really learned a lot of things I didn't know before. Having experiences that vary from summer camps to administration I thought I had an advantage to communicate with parents. Thankfully this chapter shed some light on the situation. Standard 8 states, "The competent teacher builds and maintains collaborative relationships to foster cognitive, linguistic, physical, and social and emotional development. This teacher works as a team member with professional colleagues, students, parents or guardians, and community members." This is exactly what Schmidt talks about in her chapter. She notes that parents and teachers are commonly ships sailing at night; we pass one another awkwardly and don't know how to interact. It's all about being enlightened. Each brief encounter we have with a parent allows us to see a bit more into the life of the child. "Parents quickly discover that by talking to the teacher they get a more accurate picture of their child at school and what they can do to encourage learning." Basically, it's a two way street. We want to learn about the student, but we also want to share. Share the student's growth and knowledge, not just the negative stuff.
After this chapter, I think about the stuff we send home, how to make it look, how to think like a parent. The list of the 10 essential notes on effective communication stood out to me the most. Parent teacher-conferences are in November and we've had quite a interactions with parents already.. It will sure be exciting! I now know that I need to be more blunt and to the point with the parents and not beat around the bush. I cannot be afraid to contact them but I also cannot bash their child for their behavior.
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