Week in Review 9/21-9/25, Due 9/29
Hello Ladies,
Here is your second Week in Review posting thru the blog. Each Friday we will create a new post for that week.
Entries should be posted no later than the following Tuesday for the previous week. Remember, it doesn't have to be long and involved just a snap shot and what you are learning.
Chris & Heidi
posted by Heidi @ 8:17 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
This past week was a good week! I have been working on my organizational skills and have really been working with my mentor teacher to create a feeling that this is my classroom. I have been taking over more subjects and am mostly teaching everything but science.
I have realized one of the hardest things about being a teacher is dealing with parents. I feel like I have no time to do anything in the morning. Between checking the students homework journals and responding to parents notes. I realize that good communication with the parents is in the best interest of the students, but it is also something to get use to.
This past week we have had two parents come in and teach mini lessons. It is great! The kids love to hear what the parents are saying. We have one more who comes in twice a week for a half hour and teaches the kids German. We had another mom come in and talk about Turkey, her home country. Tomorrow we have another two parents coming in to talk about where they come from. I think this is a great way to introduce cultural diversity to the students and get them interested in learning more about cultural diversity.
In the classroom we have a buddy system. Every student has been paired up with another student since the beginning of the year. It is wonderful to see how close of a community the class has become. We have students who go and help their buddies get ready if the rest of the class is done. I have never seen a class work so well together it is a great experience!
On Monday we had a sub and I took over the whole class! The kids were very responsive to me. I learned that I need to implement my own style in to the classroom and not just my mentor teachers style. The kids were more responsive when I used my own teaching style.
This is a great experience and I am looking forward to the weeks to come!
Last week was a great week! I'm getting more and more involved with the class and have been learning so much. I've completely taken over math and science and our morning is very centered based and we are team teaching to get all of that started now that the procedures and the year is more in place. I'm also starting to do more with social studies. I've had some lessons that went wonderfully where the kids really got the concept and I've had one that was over their heads. I'm actually really happy I had this experience because even though they didn't get the point of the lesson they were still able to communicate something that they learned about the class. It also taught me to not only be prepared, but to prepared more than just a day or two in advance. It was definitely a valuable lesson and since then I've done a better job at this. I'm also learning how helpful it is to have a good relationship with the parents and to have volunteers in the classroom. This last week has shown me how important open communication is with the parents. We've been trying to do a beginning of the year conference with all of the parents and I think it sets a great tone for the year. The parents that we have met with seem to be much more open, hopefully we can meet with all of them. I've also seen that open communication is important with everyone in the school as well. I think it helps when everyone is on the same page.
Hi Ladies,
I am responding for the last two weeks. Your reflections are great and I so appreciate getting a snap shot of what's going on in your classrooms.
I agree that being a part og the beginning of school is priceless. Your mature comments regarding seeing things that you would not use in your own classroom is part of the experiene and helpful as you develop your own classroom philosophy.
I would agree that learning how to utilize parents in your classroom is a learned art, it doesn't just happen. I remember a student teacher telling me that the hardest part of her student teaching was having meaningful activities for all the parent volunteers! I agree with Cherise that parent conferences at the very beginning help set the tone. Parents know you care about learning about their child. What about the parents you aren't able to meet with for whatever reason? Does it make a difference in your relationships with the parents and the children? Kyla, since your experience dealing with parents has been one of the hardest parts, what could you learn from what is done in Cherise's classroom? Talk to each other :)
Kyla, having Delome out and you getting a chance to teach all day using your teaching style is a great opportunity. The more both of you get to teach, the more you will develop your own way which is what it's all about!
Great reflections. Thanks.
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