What I Believe About:
Getting to know my school and surrounding community...
Working with my principal...
Working with other teachers...
Working with paraprofessionals and paid aides...
Preparing for substitute teachers...
This chapter ties in to almost everything I'm doing in the other education classes I am taking this semester. One of my classes is about school-family partnerships and the importance of understanding the community, and the special education class I am in is currently focusing on relationships with other adult supports. Because of that, I'm not going to get into what I believe about these things too deeply. Some highlights are that the community can be a great resource for the classroom, creating partnerships throughout the school is critical to a happy and healthy work environment, paraprofessionals are great sources of support but can sometimes isolate the students they serve, and subs will love you forever if you have clear plans laid out for them.
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In what ways, if any, has the chapter changed my beliefs?
I can't really say that this chapter changed any of my beliefs, but it definitely elaborated on some that I already held. My favorite thing about this book is how practical everything is. All of the advice and strategies are explicit enough that I can easily figure out how to apply them. I'm also a big fan of lists, which this text offers plenty of, so I know this will be a book I refer to a lot in my first few years.
This is a really short blog post both because I feel more comfortable with these topics and I don't think I learned anything completely novel from the chapter and because I have my first day with my students tomorrow! I will mostly be observing, but I will also have the opportunity to help facilitate peer editing groups and some other activities. I'm excited to finally meet the classes I'll be teaching this semester, and I'm looking forward to meeting with my mentor teacher again and getting to know her better.
Wish me luck!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Introduction to my Field Experience
I met with my mentor teacher for my pre-professional seminar's field experience today. She seems awesome, and I'm really excited to work with her. She's been teaching for four years, so she still remembers her student teaching experiences clearly enough to have sympathy for me. I'll be teaching at least one of her 10th grade English CP classes (American Lit II: 1914-present) and potentially some lessons for her theatre elective.
My first unit is going to be on Death of a Salesman, and then after that I get to work on poems by Robert Frost. The scary thing is that I realized I have no idea how to teach. I have to create classroom lessons for this entire unit, and I have no idea how to even begin. She suggested I start with an introduction on the concept of the American Dream, so I'm working on that right now, but I also have to find time within the first day to teach drama terms... we'll see what happens.
In the meantime, if anyone has any great suggestions for things to include in my Death of a Salesman unit, let me know!
My first unit is going to be on Death of a Salesman, and then after that I get to work on poems by Robert Frost. The scary thing is that I realized I have no idea how to teach. I have to create classroom lessons for this entire unit, and I have no idea how to even begin. She suggested I start with an introduction on the concept of the American Dream, so I'm working on that right now, but I also have to find time within the first day to teach drama terms... we'll see what happens.
In the meantime, if anyone has any great suggestions for things to include in my Death of a Salesman unit, let me know!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Chapter 9: The First Day
What I Believe About
Preparation for the first day...
Assigning seats and learning names...
Meeting parents on the first day...
The first day's activities...
I've been dreaming up different ways to conduct the first day of the school year for years now. The first day is crucial for setting the tone for the year, but I still have to figure out how that fits with who I want to be as a teacher and what exactly I will do to set that tone. Will I focus more on classroom routines? Or will I jump right into instruction to show them I don't want to waste any time? Is there a way to successfully mix the two?
Other questions I worry about are how far in advance will I get my curriculum? When do I get to set up my classroom? Will I even have my own classroom or will I be a floater?
I already know I will assign seats, but not alphabetically. I just don't know what layout the seats will be in, yet. Learning names as quickly as possible is critical for credibility. The first few days, students will have to say their names before they speak, to help me remember them and to remove any questions about proper pronunciation.
I don't think I will likely meet any parents on the first day of class--I can't think of any reasons why I would. This seems like something that would be more likely for an elementary school teacher.
And the activities will depend on the curriculum. I know that my exit slip for the first day, though, will be asking the students for suggestions about places I should go and things I should do around town, since when I am teaching for TFA, I will be new to the Newark area. Others I have considered are autobiographical poems based on the personal info cards I ask them to fill out about themselves, asking them to make assumptions about me (teaching inference skills), and expectations setting (me of them, them of me, them of each other).
----
In what ways, if any, has the chapter changed my beliefs?
I hadn't realized how looked down upon assigned seating is. I had been planning on assigning seating, but this chapter has me questioning whether or not that is necessary. It suggests that allowing students to choose their own seating is one way to put the responsibility for the education in their own hands. I am struggling to remember what my own teachers did when I was in high school. I'm sure different teachers had different ways of handling it.
Questions I Still Have . . .
Will I be able to pull it off?
Lots of others...
Preparation for the first day...
Assigning seats and learning names...
Meeting parents on the first day...
The first day's activities...
I've been dreaming up different ways to conduct the first day of the school year for years now. The first day is crucial for setting the tone for the year, but I still have to figure out how that fits with who I want to be as a teacher and what exactly I will do to set that tone. Will I focus more on classroom routines? Or will I jump right into instruction to show them I don't want to waste any time? Is there a way to successfully mix the two?
Other questions I worry about are how far in advance will I get my curriculum? When do I get to set up my classroom? Will I even have my own classroom or will I be a floater?
I already know I will assign seats, but not alphabetically. I just don't know what layout the seats will be in, yet. Learning names as quickly as possible is critical for credibility. The first few days, students will have to say their names before they speak, to help me remember them and to remove any questions about proper pronunciation.
I don't think I will likely meet any parents on the first day of class--I can't think of any reasons why I would. This seems like something that would be more likely for an elementary school teacher.
And the activities will depend on the curriculum. I know that my exit slip for the first day, though, will be asking the students for suggestions about places I should go and things I should do around town, since when I am teaching for TFA, I will be new to the Newark area. Others I have considered are autobiographical poems based on the personal info cards I ask them to fill out about themselves, asking them to make assumptions about me (teaching inference skills), and expectations setting (me of them, them of me, them of each other).
----
In what ways, if any, has the chapter changed my beliefs?
I hadn't realized how looked down upon assigned seating is. I had been planning on assigning seating, but this chapter has me questioning whether or not that is necessary. It suggests that allowing students to choose their own seating is one way to put the responsibility for the education in their own hands. I am struggling to remember what my own teachers did when I was in high school. I'm sure different teachers had different ways of handling it.
Questions I Still Have . . .
Will I be able to pull it off?
Lots of others...
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Chapter 4: Classroom Organization and Management
What I Believe About
Designing my classroom environment (furniture grouping, accessories, bulletin boards, etc.)...
Establishing classroom climate...
Establishing routines and procedures (exits, entrances, materials use, bathroom, wastebasket, water, etc.)...
Using monitors...
There are so many variables in a classroom. I feel pretty confident about my ability to establish a classroom climate, and in my methods and other courses we have discussed classroom procedures at length. Out of these topics, the actual physical organization of the desks is probably what I am least certain about. I have no idea what types of desks or tables I'll be given. I know that I want to do a circle discussion one a week or once every other week on Fridays, but that doesn't help me for the rest of the week. My guess is that the first year will be a lot of trial and error, and hopefully I have students who are patient with me.
----
In what ways, if any, has the chapter changed by beliefs?
I really appreciated a lot of the organizational advice from experienced teachers in this chapter. The ideas of having color coded work and binders for different periods is a great way to stay organized. I'm fond of binders, so I think that procedure will come naturally to me.
I already have some posters and things that I want to hang in my classroom, but the idea of actually doing themed bulletin boards (almost like those I'm used to doing as an RA!) wasn't something I had considered. Bulletin boards in classrooms, in my mind, are for announcements, hanging student work, class rules, etc.
The checklist for the furniture layout is great, and I will definitely use that when I am actually figuring out how I want my students desks to be set up.
Questions I Still Have . . .
Can I really have a pet in my class? I'll have to ask my administrators about that...
If I have room for a small reading center in my class, how do you determine who gets to use it since all the students couldn't fit together?
What are my personal beliefs about bathroom passes/water breaks? How much will those procedures depend on the age of my students?
Designing my classroom environment (furniture grouping, accessories, bulletin boards, etc.)...
Establishing classroom climate...
Establishing routines and procedures (exits, entrances, materials use, bathroom, wastebasket, water, etc.)...
Using monitors...
There are so many variables in a classroom. I feel pretty confident about my ability to establish a classroom climate, and in my methods and other courses we have discussed classroom procedures at length. Out of these topics, the actual physical organization of the desks is probably what I am least certain about. I have no idea what types of desks or tables I'll be given. I know that I want to do a circle discussion one a week or once every other week on Fridays, but that doesn't help me for the rest of the week. My guess is that the first year will be a lot of trial and error, and hopefully I have students who are patient with me.
----
In what ways, if any, has the chapter changed by beliefs?
I really appreciated a lot of the organizational advice from experienced teachers in this chapter. The ideas of having color coded work and binders for different periods is a great way to stay organized. I'm fond of binders, so I think that procedure will come naturally to me.
I already have some posters and things that I want to hang in my classroom, but the idea of actually doing themed bulletin boards (almost like those I'm used to doing as an RA!) wasn't something I had considered. Bulletin boards in classrooms, in my mind, are for announcements, hanging student work, class rules, etc.
The checklist for the furniture layout is great, and I will definitely use that when I am actually figuring out how I want my students desks to be set up.
Questions I Still Have . . .
Can I really have a pet in my class? I'll have to ask my administrators about that...
If I have room for a small reading center in my class, how do you determine who gets to use it since all the students couldn't fit together?
What are my personal beliefs about bathroom passes/water breaks? How much will those procedures depend on the age of my students?
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