So far
it has been an interesting experience at my placement school. I am still going through the process of
learning students’ names, but my cooperating teacher is helping with this by
having me hand out papers and other comparable activities.
I am
working with an Honor’s English Eighth grade class and it is amazing to see the
difference between the Honor’s classroom I work with at this school and the
classrooms I work with in my Co-Op position.
There are many similarities, but both communities seem to support the
educational process in different ways, but this also may be the difference
between the tracking (either intentional or unintentional) that tends to happen
with “higher level” classes.
The
students seem to be getting used to my presence in the classroom, although they
also seem to forget I am there when I am not walking around the room. It is kind of amazing the different
conversations that I get to eavesdrop on (innocently of course, they just don’t
really have a low volume button, do they?)
I do prefer to actively participate and walk around the room. I get rather antsy when I am not doing
something productive, as we have moved past the days of being able to just sit
and watch our students.
As the
genius that I am, I already showed my students how infallible I am when I chose
to staple my finger while we were posting their relationship-building
activity on the wall. Thankfully,
there was only one student with me when I did it, and she didn’t laugh, or at
least not vocally, but I can almost guarantee everybody knows what happens. Thankfully, if everybody knows already (there
goes my imaginary audience again), they chose to be polite and only laugh while
my back was turned.
For
personal goals, my most immediate one is to learn my student’s names and simply
get to know them better. I am very close
with this goal and am actively working toward it, but it is definitely going to
be an ongoing process. I find that it is
a bit harder for me to memorize names that are unique and not a part of my own
cultural background than it is to memorize typically “WASP”names, but that's a good part of the fun as well: getting exposed to new cultures.
I am
going to start discussing potential unit plan ideas with my cooperating
teacher, but I am placing more of a focus right now on making my presence known
in the classroom. I feel like getting to
know my students is going to be the best way of getting myself ready for next
semester. My cooperating teacher is
really great and seems to already have at least a basic overall plan for the
semester, so it should not be much of a challenge to get my unit plan figured
out.
I can relate to your dilemma with getting to know names Mr. Thompson. It is definitely a challenge to get to know your students names and backgrounds during the first few days but at the same time that is one of the many great things about us as teachers! Who else can memorize hundreds of names in a couple days. Also, we as teachers are pivotal social agents, and understanding our students names and backgrounds is the very tool which begins a positive environment for learning.
ReplyDeleteI also particularly like your goals, immediate and long-term. Becoming a presence in the classroom is the best way to get to know your students, as you said. When interacting with our students, we inevitably unveil their backgrounds, but also their learning background, which is the building blocks of our students. Being conscious of our colleagues goals, in conjunction with our own, is a great activity for us as educators. Good luck to you, my friend!
I particularly appreciate your desire to start by getting to know your students' names. One of the simplest, yet most important, ways to begin to make a difference in the lives of kids, is by showing them that you know their name. This is a thing far too often underestimated in this world, for, living in a world of numbers and quantified data as we do, it shows we as teachers-in-training know that we see them not merely as figures or items in a list, but real people, well worth caring about.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I think you right in at present focusing primarily on making your presence known. It takes time to build relationships, and you are probably not going to be a welcome presence after only one day of observing. And I really believe that the more you can establish yourself now during this semester, the better prepared you will be for the next. Good luck!
I think it is good for the students to know that we are not perfect and do not actually have a boundless knowledge of all things, but you don't have to staple your hand to prove it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think that students tend to be so focused on their own worlds that they at times don't realize that there is a teacher right there. I had a student copying another student's bell work, and he did it knowing I was there. He said that he had completed it and just lost the notebook paper. I knew he was telling the truth because I had helped him with all of the assignments. I told home that I would allow it this time, but next week he should do all of the bellwork on one sheet and take better care of it. He needs to be responsible for his work. If I wouldn't have seen his completed work, the he would have had no proof he wasn't cheating.