Week 5

Tuesday:

            Unfortunately I caught whatever bug was going around the school, so Monday I was sick. Now I kind of understand how teachers feel when they come back from missing school. It’s very frustrating feeling so behind, and it feels like you have so much to catch up on just because you missed one day of school. Especially now that I have been given more responsibility throughout the day, I almost feel like I should have made sub plans for Andrea!

            We kind of started off my student teaching a little different than we realized we were supposed to. I have been making my own lessons and teaching them, rather than her writing them. Honestly, I think this has benefited me more than it would have; so I’m definitely not upset that we didn’t read through it completely! However, when I came back today she told me that she didn’t do social studies on Monday. I had the guided reading book for the week for my two groups, so she was unable to start reading the book with them as well. It was kind of exciting to see me being there actually makes a difference, but at the same time I realize that I need to send something in if I ever get sick again!

            Other than the difficulties of missing school, the day went relatively well. I worked with the students more in social studies. Last week they all did research on their dream job, today we took those notes and worked together on turning it into a paragraph form. They did a pretty good job with this. It took them awhile to figure out a good way to phrase the notes, but I learned that the best way to lead them is through questioning. I’ve really been working on not giving them the answers, but at the same time I don’t want to leave them in the dark to figure it out on their own! It worked out well and nearly everyone participated in helping form the paragraph, which I was really excited about!

Wednesday:

            Today was another fun day with Andrea. Yesterday I was still a little out of it just because I still wasn’t feeling too great, but today was a complete turn around. (I also had a five-hour energy before school, which helped a lot! =) We were both having a lot of fun, but then the fun kind of stopped when a student said something we both didn’t expect. During the middle of a lesson, one of our students raises her hand and says, “Are we almost done with this? And why are we doing this anyways? It’s boring!”

            I really had no idea what to do, and Andrea clearly doesn’t have to deal with it very often because she seemed as surprised as I did. She had the student go move her clip down on the behavior chart, and that was the end of it. But it got me thinking, what am I going to do when a student says something like that to me? I feel like there are a lot of different ways to approach it and I’ve been thinking about it a lot today.

I could handle it the same way Andrea did, and get upset and give that student a consequence for being out of line. Or, I suppose you could try and work with that student and your class to figure out why it seems boring. The main take-away from this, for me, was that a lot of teaching has to do with respect. The teacher needs to respect the students, and the students need to respect the teacher. I think the way this particular student was speaking to Andrea was completely out of line, and deserved a consequence. I’m glad I was able to see this, but I’m still a little unsure of how to handle it myself. I suppose things like that I will learn with more time and experience.

Thursday:

            Today we got a new student! Well, new to me. Apparently she was here the whole month of December, but she did not have some medical papers in saying she was okay to be at school. So this entire time I have been at this placement, I have not met her. Which means she missed about a month of school, which is kind of ridiculous. I’m not sure how a student would catch up after missing that much school; however, she seems very bright and doesn’t seem to be far off from the group at all.

            Once again, this situation got me thinking a little bit as well. If I have a new student come into my classroom late in the year, what will I want them to know? Andrea and I were talking about it a little bit, and apparently she found an idea on Pinterest that, I think, is an excellent idea! Throughout the year, you put important papers and things such as folders, notebooks, pencils, crayons, etc. into a bag of its own. That way, if you ever have an unexpected student come into the class, you will have something to give them and the parents right away of what was important that they missed! I wrote this down so I wouldn’t forget. =)

            Today I also got to teach a reading lesson about author’s purpose. It was a lot of fun, and I’m starting to feel like a real teacher! The students did a great job paying attention and participating, and I’m starting to see how to connect with them in an appropriate way. It’s difficult for me sometimes because I babysit a lot! While I’m babysitting, I obviously need their respect; but it’s a totally different relationship in a classroom. I’m slowly starting to see how to relate to my students in a better way. It’s hard not to treat them as if I’m babysitting them, because they are all so cute! =) But I’m starting to be a little bit more strict with them and I tell them my expectations before I start almost every lesson. So far this strategy has been working out well; another idea given to me by Andrea. =)

Friday:

            Oh boy was this an interesting day! So in the morning, Andrea was still in the classroom. At 10:30, she left and a substitute teacher came in to the room. She informed the substitute that she had a student teacher and that I would be doing all of the teaching today and she could just relax. She was excited to have a nice relaxing day, and brought in some crosswords to kill the time.

            However, the students still tried their best to take advantage of her; which I was very disappointed about. I had students doing things they know they shouldn’t be doing, but unfortunately the substitute was unaware of the rules and allowed it. If I caught them I had a short talk with them about the situation. It was kind of awkward with her in there, because she still seemed to feel like she had to manage their actions while I taught. It was kind of frustrating because I feel like it almost moved me backwards with gaining the students respect. During one of my lessons, there was a lot of talking and I had to stop the lesson very often because they wouldn’t stop. It was definitely a rough day just with classroom management; I see I still have a lot to learn about that. I talked with some of the other teachers and they told me not to worry and it’ll come with more practice and time.

            Today I also had a boy refusing to do his work in class. I taught a lesson in social studies about job resumes, since we have been working on jobs for the past week. It was very simple, and they all applied for classroom jobs. He said he didn’t want any of the jobs, even though I know for a fact he loves helping out and volunteering in the classroom. Finally I told him if he didn’t finish it now, he would finish it during “Friday free-time”. We worked on it together at the end of the day, and after we were finished I asked him to stay and explain to me why he didn’t just do it earlier so he could have been playing. He basically said that he didn’t think he would get picked for any of the jobs because he doesn’t think he’s good enough at math and reading to help the class. So I explained to him that he was very good at leading the class (sometimes leading them in ways I wish he wouldn’t!). But I was relieved to find out it wasn’t anything personal about me; and I was also relieved that I could show him that he has a lot of strengths in school. It was kind of nice to be able to connect with him a little bit more and I’m happy he was honest with me about it! All in all, it was a good week!

Classroom Confidential

            Honestly, this chapter of Schmidt’s book just reinforced everything I already thought about parent-teacher encounters. It’s obviously very important to know about your students’ home lives. Without knowing this aspect of them, you are missing an element when teaching them! I really like how she hit every aspect of parent-teacher meetings, with the fact that you can make an impression even seeing them at the store! I’m kind of disappointed that I didn’t read this chapter before the weekend. I saw one of my students at Wal-Mart, she ran up and gave me a hug and I didn’t even see an adult in sight. I talked to her for a bit, and then her mom came by and summoned her to leave. I wish I could have taken advantage of that situation, but now I know for next time!

            For actual conferences, I will definitely refer back to this book. She has a lot of great tips about cross-cultural meetings with parents that I may not have known before reading this. For example, she talks about eye-contact and fillers like “yes” and “uh-huh”, can actually be seen as rude to people! So I will hopefully remember not to be offended if someone chooses to not look me directly in the eyes. =) I also really like how she gives some helpful hints to go about parent-teacher conferences, and important topics and information you want to talk about. The main take-away from this chapter is that I don’t want to have awkward conferences with parents, I want to be comfortable with them and somewhat informal so they will be comfortable.