What is something that went really well since I was there and what has been a challenge? Respond to at least one other response.
posted by Chris @ 11:19 PM
16 comments
Thursday, October 20, 2011
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16 Comments:
Something that has gone really well since Chris left is that my relationship with the students has continued to grow. Each day, I am more comfortable with them, and they are more comfortable with me. My teacher teaches an AP World History class, too, and since I'm English, I don't do anything in there. But I decided that to get the most out of this experience, I want to be a part of this class too. I talked to my teacher about it today, and she said she'd love to see this too. I won't be doing lessons with them, but I will be able to sit in on their discussions and help out when needed. I am excited for this!
Something that hadn't been going so well was the communication barrier between my teacher and I. I just did not feel as though I could talk to her when I had a concern. It was really rough, and I was losing sleep over it (as was she). However, my teacher and I sat down today and had a wonderful conversation! I think we broke through the barriers that we were having, and I am excited to see where this takes us now. Not long after we talked, I was already more comfortable with her and was letting more of my personality show around her. I am excited to build a better relationship with her now and to see where this experience takes the both of us. The next two months are going to rock!!
Something that has gone really well for me since Chris left is that I got observed by my principal and the lesson went well. She thought I did well checking students’ understanding constantly throughout the lesson and demonstrating the concept. I was proud of myself because I created a SMART board lesson for the activity, which the kids liked and I was able to incorporate technology in a meaningful way!
Something that I am still working on and find challenging is management, not because I’m not in control of the classroom, but because I have behavior problems sometimes. One of my students is very smart and so needs a bigger challenge in order to stay engaged in class. We’ve figured this out for the most part: we have figured out guided reading groups somewhat and have the student reading books on his level and the centers help to differentiate instruction. The math we are able to scaffold somewhat during instruction because a lot of the curriculum is based on games. During the lesson I taught for my principal, my teacher also observed me. One thing we discussed afterwards in relation to this situation is that I spend too much time during the lesson trying to get the lowest students caught up. What would work better so that the students who understand it aren’t bored would be to simply take note of these students as I walk around and observe students during the lesson. Then when students work on their independent work in their journal pages, I can pull those students who are struggling into a group. We can work on their journal page as a group in the back to catch these students up with the rest of the class while the other students work independently and play the math games they know. (This is what we did the next day in fact.)
The other behavior challenge is my little autistic boy. He was really great at the beginning of the school year and has slowly started having more and more things that set him off and his upsets have gotten worse. Both yesterday and today (for the first time this year), the student had to be taken out of the class by my teacher while I kept teaching the rest of the class. I talked with my teacher after both of these and asked what she would do if she were alone in her classroom and she said that she would have called someone down (a counselor or the SpEd teacher from next door) to deal with them so that the rest of the class’s time was not excessively interrupted. So I feel better knowing I’m doing what I can with the student, but am still working to feel out each situation as it comes.
Last week I started planning the Discrete math classes with my mentor teacher. I had been teaching one section of Discrete up to this point, but she had been doing the planning so this is a new thing for me. There are two additional sections of Discrete and we will be co-teaching this short unit in those periods before I take the whole thing in November. On Thursday my mentor teacher was the lead during 5th period and I was support. After that class she looks at me and says can you lead the next class because I am not feeling so good, so I took 6th period right there. What was scary or different about this is that we were not working from a structured format. The kids were doing an activity and then the teacher would ask questions and prompt the students to get the vocabulary words and the concepts without directly teaching them. This would be much simpler in Algebra because I know that so well, however, I have never really learned Discrete math and I am actually just learning a few days before my students. My teacher had to do the same thing when she first started teaching it also. This means that I am not the expert that I would like to be and I have to think very hard before answering student questions that go beyond the specifics of what we are learning. It has definitely been a humbling experience. It is not so bad after I have seen my teacher teach the same lesson two times and I have a day to go over what questions the students asked and how I should respond, but when I was supposed to do it the next hour without slides to go off of I was not feeling so prepared. However, the lesson went just fine and that was good for my confidence. Don’t get me wrong, the lesson was far from perfect and I would change a lot about my delivery, but overall I think it went well. I knew that I was nervous because I talked very fast and my teacher commented on that after the lesson.
One thing that has been challenging (and has been since the beginning) is the time it takes to plan a lesson or a unit. I know that it will get easier as I build up my resources and have more experience, but it just never ends and I can’t seem to get ahead. I plan for one period of Algebra, one period of resource math (Algebra *) and then we have three periods of Discrete. I put in a few hours making activities and planning lessons for my students and then they are over so quickly and I have to start again.
One thing that has been a challenge the last week or so is that we moved into a new unit in my personal fitness classes. I am introducing students into the weight room so they can eventually write a personal fitness plan. The challenge is that I do not have a lot of available space for the students. The weight room is small and there is not a lot of equipment for the students to use. Usually in a PE class you could use the gym as well but I do not have the gym available to me because of a middle school PE class. I have been struggling to find ways to keep all of the students engaged and interacting with the lessons when there is simply not enough equipment for them all to be using at the same time. I recently started splitting the classes in half and putting half in the weight room and the other half doing cardio and stretching but I still don't feel that the students are getting to most of the lessons that they could. I will continue to try some new things and see how it goes.
One thing that has been goin well is my PAN class. The students are currently teaching eachother a non-sport physical activity. Each students gets three 50 min. class periods to teacher their activity. The first student to go struggled with the concept of telling his peers what to do but I think that that broke the ice for them because the student that went this past week did a really good job! He had planned out activities and really good information for all three classes. The students all really seemed to enjoy it I am excited to see how this week goes as a student will be teaching archery!
Cheryl: It is interesting that your student with Autism's behavior has been getting worse. Do you have any experience working with students with Autism? While I was in pullman I actually worked for a family with a child that had Autism. I worked with him on social skills and variety of other things like developing fine and gross motor movements. Have you noticed if this student has self soothing techniques? The reason I ask is the boy I worked with had a small ball and when I noticed he was getting worked up past the point where I could bring him back when I gave him the ball he was able to bring himself back down. When he was calm again I would take away the ball and we would continue with our lesson. I was also wondering if there had been a lot of changes in the classroom more recently? I found that small changes I didn't really even notice would bother the boy I worked with. But when I gave him warning that things were going to be different and reminded him about it he was better able to handling the changes. I love working with students with Autism but it is hard because each case is so different and each student's own personailty changes their behaviors that it is not a disorder that is easy to label what exactly will help. It sounds like you are communicating with your teacher though and that you are doing good job and working with him. Good Luck!
Kara –
I am so excited that you seemed to have had a break through talking with Allie. It was frustrating for me to see you upset every day after school working hard on lesson plans and activities that you never got to use. I look forward to seeing a more relaxed version of you sitting around the kitchen table.
I know that students really appreciate you because I hear them talking about Ms. Wilson’s student teacher as really nice and that they like her, though it also tells me that you are correct in assuming that several students do not actually know your name. I have found this true in my classes, well in my senior classes because they have started admitting that they don’t actually know my name, even though their peers all around them seem to know it and refer to me by name. Oh well. Perhaps when we leave they will have it down.
Something that has gone really well since your visit is that I feel like I have become ever more a part of the school community. I’ve been able to create bonds with the students in the other four first grade classes, because the first grade teachers go teach. I have also created close bonds with the staff at the school, who have graciously taken Sierra and I under their wings. I feel like a member of the staff, rather than just an extra person at the school. Also, parents at the school have been so open with having me in the classroom and I can tell that they are appreciative that I am with their students every day. I feel very lucky to be in a school where I know that I am appreciated and feel like I belong there.
A challenge since you have left is that students are getting into more fights, tattle telling and we have even had two cases of students biting each other. I am not sure why these problems are becoming more common, but it may be that students are more comfortable in the class and their true colors are really coming out. The biting situations have occurred outside our classroom, however, the problem is of much concern to the parents and our staff. Today we had the nurse and counselor talk to our students about why biting is not a method that should be used to solve a problem. I am trying to stop any situations before they are escalated, however, they are taking away from the learning and were not a problem the first 30 days of school.
Alyssa,
I really love your idea of having students teach each other a sport. I think this is a great way to get students involved in their learning and make their learning more exciting, because it is not the teacher teaching. I also think this will give you a great outlook on what teaching methods your students may learn best from or what they tend to enjoy most, because you are able to observe them as learners. Sometimes while teaching we are not as focused on each students’ needs, because we are too focused on time or classroom management. This activity reminds me of Dr. Morgan’s class and having to teach our classmates a game. It was a challenging experience, but I was able to learn a lot about myself as a teacher and a learner. Best of luck with the new unit!
Since Chris has left, I have been able to set up literacy centers in my classroom! This was one of my main goals to complete after talking with Chris, my teacher and I am so happy that the first week of conducting centers went well. It was a serious challenge getting them organized, but I was so pleased with the outcome. We are having a door-decorating contest currently in our school for the month of October, and our door theme is “spiders”. The kids were very excited about this theme, so my teacher and I decided to do a mini lesson on spiders, and soon this became the inspiration for my literacy centers! One small group I read “Charlotte’s Web” to, the other group researched different spider books and began a rough draft on an information based paper, and the last group worked on their own spiders they are creating for the door-decorating contest. Throughout the week I was able to successfully move all groups through each center. The transitions were difficult, but the work the students produced and the great “team” atmosphere was so inspiring to see and I was so proud of the planning my teacher and I did, because it really paid off!
My low since Chris has left has been a few behavior management problems in the class, and I really let these two students get to me on Friday. It was probably one of the most difficult days I have had here so far. Yet, that is saying a lot, because reflecting on my experience this class has been absolutely amazing! This one particular day though was difficult because the more consequences I followed through with, with two particular students, the more tears and pouting I saw. I ended up sending a student a note home for his parents to see, and this Monday I had to talk to the mom face to face, which was very intimidating for a student teacher, but I got through it! The mom was great, and really understood where I was coming from with her child and said she would work on the issues at home as well. It felt great to communicate with his parents, but was still a very nerve racking experience.
Alyssa-
Thank you so much for your help! The student does not really have any self-soothing techniques that I can discern. I know last year in his classroom, the teacher had a “cool down” area where he could go. We sometimes ask the student if he would like to sit on the couch when he is getting worked up so he can cool down, but often this can cause even more of a problem because he perceives it as not being able to participate any longer. When you worked with the student in Pullman, did you teach him self-soothing techniques or did he already have them? I am unsure how or what we would do with this student (he’s in first grade). I cannot currently think of any changes really in the classroom. We’ve been trying to figure out if anything has happened at home that we don’t know about, but have not heard anything. I will look more closely at the classroom now though with that in mind. Thanks for your ideas and support!
Congratulations on your PAN class lessons! That’s very exciting that the kids are enjoying the lessons and a really creative way to get them involved! For your weight class, is there any weight type activities the students can do that doesn’t require equipment, such as squats, push-ups, sit-ups, etc?
Alyssa,
I am also a fan of the students teaching to the other students. Do the students like it, or do they view it as something they'd rather not do? I would love to do something like this in my classroom where students read a book and then teach that book to the rest of the class, but I'm not sure on the logistics of it yet. I think it'd be a fascinating way to teach though. And I really think that my students would love the project, although it would challenge them as well (which is great!). How much set up did this take on your part?
To be honest everything has gone really well! I am planning everything including the centers and I am very happy with the way everything is working out. I had Allison observe me and the lesson went PERFECT! The kids were completely engaged, we did a really fun activity where I was able to target the kids who needed extra attention and almost every student got the skill by the time Allison left! I felt so good afterward!
There has not been many challenges lately, but one that is not really education related was the Flu Shots! They make the teachers take the screaming and crying kids down to have the shots or the mist. The flu mist is live flu virus with antibodies and makes the kids contagious. I am worried I am going to get the flu now. Also, two of my roommates are sick with bacterial infections. Being worried about getting sick is more of a stressor than a challenge but, taking the kids to get the shots and mist was definitely a challenge. Not to mention that zero teaching occured afterward because of the trauma and we had ours scheduled at noon. So that was a fun waste of a day! We let the kids watch an educational movie about Spiders (the unit we are on) so it wasn't a complete waste... but I would be surprised if they remembered anything on the video. They were all pretty traumatized.
Another challenge as of today was that we were given a new assessment for reading and had training on it all day. It was so much to take it. My mind was exhausted by 3pm. and we have to test all our kids by middle of November! Its crazy. It takes a good 20 minutes for each kid too! But between Carol and I, we will manage. I feel sorry for the teachers without the extra help!
Devon-
That is crazy about the kids biting and fighting all of a sudden! Do you guys use second step??
We had a huge problem with that (not really biting, but fighting and tattle telling- Especially sportsmanship during the math games)at the beginning of the year but we watched a lot of videos about bullying and sportsmanship and that has seemed to help. There are good Arthur videos and brainpop jr.! The kids like it and I think it helped them a lot. Also, our counselor came in one day and read them a story about bullying! You could ask the counselor if they have a good story to read or something! I think Brainpop Jr. was my favorite thing we used and the kids love it. Because they enjoy it, it engages them a lot more than Second Step does.
Sam-
I remember when our kids got the flu shots! A lot of them were very nervous about it, but so far we have had few kids out with the flu. We are also doing a spider unit! The kids got really into it and made spiders for our door-decorating contest we are having in the school. They are all about identifying spiders and are even writing a paper about the interesting facts we have learned about spiders. I am so sorry to hear everyone that you are with getting sick! So far we have just got the colds in the school, but being sick just adds to the stress of student teaching. Tomorrow I am going to a reading workshop all day as well with my teacher, learning all about the new ways for testing! It sounds like a stressful workshop, with a lot pressure to test all kids by a certain point and then re test them in the spring. I will let you know how it goes! Hope everyone feels better!
Thanks Sam for the advice! Our counselor and nurse came in to talk to our class and it seemed to help, however I think I will check out brain pop. We definitely have cheating issues during our Everyday Math games too.
Cheryl,
Actually he already had the self-soothing but I was unaware of them to begin with. After working with him a few weeks I started to pick up on his habits, what he did when he was around new people or at a new place, or what he did when he new he was about to transition to something new. I noticed that he would play with his hands if he didnt have the ball but if he had the ball he was much happier. My advisor for that job told me that a lot of children with autism have self-soothing techniques but sometimes they are hard to notice. The struggle is getting them to understand when is the right time to use it and when it is not appropriate. :)
Kara:
The first student that went was a little rocky but after that they have all done great. I think it was getting the students use to the idea that they were actually in some ways telling their peers what to do. But as of now they all really seem to love it. I just had a student finish Archery and we just started outdoor photography. It as also been nice because I have learned some information I didn't know and it is nice to see the students who usually dont say or do much really take to the idea and get excited about it. It did take some prep time because I had to give them an example of everything. They all had to write a lesson plan that they were going to follow and then journal entries for the eight days in class we gave them as research time. I also did an example lesson on frisbee golf and provided an example "lesson plan" that they could use as an example for format and what not. But all in all I dont feel like it took any more prep time than most of my lesson. I have really enjoyed the unit so far too!
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