Often when I am in the company of non-educators and I reveal to them that I am a teacher, people will ask if I am a good teacher. I always respond that I am a better teacher today than I was yesterday. None of us are perfect. We have good days and bad days. But as long as we strive to make different mistakes than we did in the past, we will be better at what we do.
Reflect on this year. Identify a situation you could have handled better or something you could have been better prepared for. Tell what you will do differently in your classroom to ensure that you handle that situation or how you will prepare differently in the future.
The biggest regret I have from the beginning is being a mystery to my students. It may seem obvious, but the better they know you, the easier it is to talk to them and they will work harder for themselves and for you. I wish I had spent just a few more minutes talking about myself on day one.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr. Barton. It is important to form a relationship with the students. Sometimes you need to be hidden, but mostly they like to know who they are dealing with. Opening up and showing them who you are can definitely serve as an asset. Especially if they perceive you to be an outsider.
ReplyDeleteD. Arnold
I believe one of the things I could have done better this year was meeting my students where they truly where. I kind of just awesome that the group I had this year was just like last year and I did not give them their individuality as a new 8th grade group. I have to learn not to compare them with my previous group and to work with what I have to make them better than my previous group. I hope this make sense to you all.
ReplyDeleteThere is one child that, mentally, I'm giving up on. His behavior, his lack of drive, his lack of attention, are just completely turning me off. Now that I realize I don't need him to reach targets, it makes it that much easier to just let him fall behind. This is something that is a daily struggle for me to change about myself, to not give up, to keep pushing the young man-- even if he doesn't care. I hope that I can change this every day.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest challenge this year has been letting go of perceived slights from certain students and starting over each day.
ReplyDeleteCertain students' behavior is easy for me to overlook while I am less likely to allow the more chronic students a chance to start with a clean slate each day.
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ReplyDeletePatia mentioned that she made assumptions about her kids that she should not have based upon what she experienced with her class last year. In my experience with middle school, it is so important to build those relationships with each individual or group. Take time to observe and informally assess them when they are with each other. Watch how they interact and teach within their frame. It is from their they will really grow. For example, find out what is socially important to the group. Use that as the context for their development. Take them from where they are to where you want them. If "joning" is the culture, use the culture to change the behavior. Don't join the "joning", but use it to frame the discussions
ReplyDeleteBeers,
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate that the young man's apathetic nature has brought you to this point. However, I would suggest making some efforts to get to know the student outside of the classroom. A non-academic approach may allow you to see another side of the student. It may not seem worth the investment, but if you are truly struggling with the thought of "giving up on him" then you might want to give it another try. During connections, take him to the gym and shoot baskets with him. Give him a ride home. Get to know him away from the classroom and let that shed some light on his situation. Even though we know what the situation might be, we may not really know how it impacts him.
Jovan,
ReplyDeleteStarting over everyday is essential to teaching middle school. The students do it naturally. If we are going to work with them, we must adopt that trait. It takes focus, perspective, and reflection to be able to reset yourself. I would recommend journaling in the evening. Take quiet time to note good things that happened as well as things you will focus on for the next day. It is a valuable 10 minutes that really makes a difference. Also, intentionally think about proactive ways to deal with those students. Have something planned for the student before they come in. I used to actually have a flow chart for challenging students complete with if/then statements. It used to help me a great deal.
Let me know if this helps.
I want to be able to reach students where they academically. Sometimes i dont understand how some boys just dont get it (the taught lesson). what is preventing them from "getting it"? They are just not studying! I say to myself. I explain it as simply as I could, do different activity to expose them to the concept in different ways.. still..
ReplyDeleteI sometimes move too quickly over the concept to be learned and then I'm frustrated when the scores come back horrible.
Repetition, repetition, repetition... break it down.. down... but keep it rigorous!! phew! i need to increase my repetoire of activities to help these boys "get it".
sorry about the typos...
ReplyDeleteI have many struggles, but one of the big struggles for me is to incorporate all the great ideas that we learn in PD classes, or along the way from other teachers. I get so overwhelmed sometimes that I don't even have the energy or the hope (gasp!) to incorporate a change that will most likely help me and the students. At the end of the school day I'm pretty much done--wasted--and all of the great ideas I know will help me I just don't have the energy to try--but when I start to think of something to try-then I get all motivated and then there are a million ideas I want to put in place and then I don't get much done because I don't even know where to start. I need a set of baby steps to lead me in the right direction and actually accomplish some things. How do you do it seasoned teachers? What steps do you take to get the most done out of your time? When do you do it? What are the most important areas to have down in a class? One glimmer of hope I've had this week is I've been incorportating a sponge opener job. In my class we call the sponge the SWAMP (stands for Science WArM uP)and I find a student who really needs something extra to do, like a job, to keep them interested-they are typically the students who finish the SWAMP first and if they get bored they start getting into trouble or off task behaviors. So I set my timer for 7 minutes when the students come in and they have time to complete the opening questions, get their homework out from the night before, and record the homework for tonight. Then when the buzzer goes off-the SWAMP leader comes up and calls on students to read off the SWAMP questions and basically opens the class for me-it has really worked beautifully in all of my classes this week. It is something that just evolved from a conversation I had with a student at lunch-I asked them how can I keep them from blurting out and getting others off task-I suggested giving him a job and he loved the idea-and opening the SWAMP would be an early job in the class so he wouldn't have to wait-he looks forward to it. And the students actually listen better to the student leading the SWAMP than they would to me (it's something new I suppose and it allows me to roam around the class and make sure others are on task during the opening :). Anyways, I have many struggles and I'd love to know how to just start incorporating changes that I need--like more managers in class, etc. It can be overwhelming but I know putting some of these ideas in place will help this job be less overwhelming. I'm a rambler--my apologies :) I love new ideas and especially how to begin incorporating a new idea into an already busy schedule.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Edwards
Cushmeer,
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder why adults don't get it too. Sometimes, I wonder why I don't get it as well. I think we get things in our own time and in our own way. As a student, I didn't get subtraction of fractions until I was in high school. I realized that when I was trying to teach it as a teacher. I missed something along the way. However, when I had to really struggle with explaining certain things as a teacher, I realized that I still hadn't gotten it.
Many of our students are not going home to study. Choose your battle. Will you find a way to make them study at home? Or will you teach in a way that requires little take home work? Decide that when planning your lessons and make adjustments. Also, remember that we learn when we have time to reflect. Slow down the amount of content covered. Give thoughtful ways to assess (multiple measures) and give them real time and ways to reflect.
It's tricky, but it is my effort to get teachers to reflect here on this blog so that they can take alone time to really think and grow... The jury is still out on if it will improve teaching and learning. Oh and forget the typos. I understood it just fine.
Mrs. Edwards,
ReplyDeleteI understand. I had to give a speech in class this week, while I was trying to manage things at school (CBU, One Fair, The Academy, Coaching stuff, duty, home, and other regular school and life duties). I didn't see the time to sleep and get my speech prepared in a way that met my standards. I had to breathe, prioritize and make it work with what I was good at (a good outline and looking confident). I missed many of my key ideas, and I could have done better. It wasn't as good as I liked it, but it was as good as it could be that day. You can only do so much at one time. Now that you have a good working procedure for starting class, work on the thing that comes next (your hook, introduction, or guided instruction). Choose one thing to work on at a time. Work it for about a week.
Right now, the kids come in and sit down to do their SWAMP. If it is good, then What's Next? Take one idea and give it a good try. I would focus on the closing next. Having them leave appropriately means that you have the right frame of mind for the next class. Focus on the best way to do that for a week before focusing on something else. Michael Jordan didn't become a good jump shooter on the same day he learned to dunk. He practiced one thing until he mastered it. Then he moved to the next one. Take your time. You can only do so much at a time.
I would love to see an example of the if/then statements you referred to in responding to "Jovan".
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in school, I took a computer programming class. Our teacher Mrs. Zewe (pronounced Zeewee) used to show us how to create basic computer programs. We would put “5. if x = 20; then goto 30”. That statement would mean if I created a question that had an answer of 20 then goto line 30. When I started planning things, I always used that format for detailing scenarios. We all know TG (a seventh grade student who sleeps in class). If I were his teacher, I would have a notebook on my desk. In it would be my daily logs for problems, reflections, and improvements for problem students. If he comes to class refusing to do work and trying to sleep consistently, he would be noted as a problem. The first strategy listed as a solution is – If TG = off task 1, then I redirect 1; If TG = off task 2, then I have him stand; If TG = off task 3, then I assign lunch detention and call parent at lunch; If TG = off task 4, then I assign after-school detention. If TG = no parent contact, then I refer to Social Worker; at some point he would be removed, but there is a process that students and administrators can see: Sometimes I would chart it out like a real flow-chart. Sometimes I would write it out, but I would be proactive about his situation. I would know the next step before it occurred and make the decision before the student arrived. Often, students will continue to behave a certain way, because they feel they can wear us down. They catch us while our plates are full and keep us off balance. We have to turn the table and keep them on their heals (with work preferably, but with our actions as well). If we are always reacting (on the defensive) as teachers, we can not be effective. Let me know if this helps.
ReplyDeleteSomething I would do differently is make sure that I enforced all consequences as soon as the infraction incurred. Sometimes, I would get so tied up in teaching that I would let something go because I was trying to make sure we got through the material. In the future, I would make sure to enforce all consequences and not just let stuff go from day one because if one kid gets away with something, all the kids think its okay behavior.
ReplyDelete-Mrs. Campbell
Mrs. Campbell,
ReplyDeleteThat is a very important lesson to learn. We can all do better at gauging when to enforce and when to ignore certain behaviors. It will require more work to change your responses with your students now, but it can work. Take a break, get your energy back, and have a plan for them when you return. Be proactive about behaviors. You already know what they will do in different situations, so plan for the behavior. Have a response ready for their positive and negative behaviors. If you need help developing your game plan, I would love to help you figure it out. I don't have the answers, but my experience and your intellect can probably outwit our students.
count me in on that one! We gotta outwit. maybe you could have a quick session on "computer programming" and how to write out these if/then statements so that we could be adequately prepared for almost anything that is dished out by students. Its good to know what can be done and what should be done especially when other things don't.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that works for sure is having the teacher be more determined, persistent, and passionate about being successful than the students are about not being successful. After that we just keep trying things. When one thing doesn't work, we try another. Then we act. We act like everything we try is gong to work - even when it is obvious that it is not. Then one day - something works... Then we do it again until it doesn't. But be honest with yourself about what works and what doesn't. It's not easy, but it is simple.
ReplyDelete