I came into the first week of student teaching knowing full well that I would not be teaching any lesson in any way, shape or form. Timing and fate would have it that I came into school when the students were JUST getting into their midterms and finishing up the rest of the first semester. In essence, it was a lot of housekeeping "stuff" that my co op and I did in order to set the kids up for the next semester under my instruction. (However on the bright side I did get to learn how to grade scantron exams using the machine... is it weird that I thought it was fun?)
With that being said, though the class content/instruction was pretty uneventful, I really got a chance to start connecting with my students. Some were even shocked that I remembered their name from October! By the end of the week (Friday) students were saying "Hey Miss. Goetter" or "Have a great weekend, see you Monday!"- this made me feel all warm and gooey inside...almost as if they were already starting to trust me.
Speaking of trust, that brings me to how my co op "trusts" her classes. (Catch the sarcasm?) In other words, she doesn't at all! As supportive and flexible as my co op is, she definitely has an issue with classroom management. The kids can get very chatty, rambunctious and even disrespectful once in a while. Moreover because of these issues, the kids sit in their seats the entire class and work independently through every activity. Granted, the classes can get crazy, but I feel there are different things I can do to retain order and establish that level of respect. Once they realize I'm not there to babysit them, I think I can gradually work in more kinesthetic activities and cooperative work to (hopefully) establish flow. (This is what I am shooting for!)
There is one more thing I want to bring up and then I'll put this blog to an end. (Promise!)Okay, the talk in the teacher faculty lunch room is nothing short of scary and enlightening. Now, I may be naive, but I think it is so wrong to sit and bash students for the 42 minutes you have for lunch. I understand that teachers have rough and even bad days with students, but if you (as a teacher) are overjoyed that a kid got out of school suspension then there is something seriously wring with your attitude as an educator. (No joke, this one teacher was jumping for joy with a "na-na-na-na- naaaaaaaaaaaaa-na attitude. ) It makes me sad… I hope to God I don’t grow such a negative attitude as I get deeper into my career.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I'm glad you got a chance to really start getting to know your students. I'm in a similar situation because my school was also in the process of working on midterms and finals and getting ready to switch the semester. I think that when you take over the classes and get to try some of your classroom management ideas that the students will start responding differently. That would even make an interesting student learning project. What types of classroom management strategies work the best. As for the talk in the teacher's lunchroom, I agree that it is often enlightening although no one at my school has danced around singing na na na na over a student's suspension. The best you can do is just make sure that you aren't that type of teacher to your students. Hope your first week goes just as good as this one.
ReplyDeleteKrysten, I too spent the first week observing and I can tell it both made us rather reflective. I found what you said about trust regarding your co-op to be discerning, but there may be several factors that have led her to that viewpoint. I think often times teachers get stuck in a rut and never use reflection to get into a new frame of mind. As Ellen pointed out all you can do is reflect and make yourself the teacher you want to be. I hope all goes well next week. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteIt is funny that your co-op has the students sit in their desks all the time and they are too chatty because I feel like my co-op gives the students too much freedom and they are too chatty. I wonder what the perfect medium is here?
ReplyDeleteI have the same feelings about the lunch room. It is very awkward to sit with a team and hear all the teachers bash kids. If they don't like the kids, why do they talk about them at lunch? This is YOUR time... talk about your weekend!
ReplyDeleteDo you find yourself thinking highly of a student, just to hear the teachers bash him/her? That's happened to me this week and I am getting a little nervous about my perception of these students and my ability to judge their "goodness" as a student. Any thoughts?
Ah yes, the faculty lounge....
ReplyDeleteIt is honestly disturbing the things that are said (or spread) about students during teacher lunches. I'll admit that it's healthy and indeed necessary to occasionally blow off some steam about a particularly frustrating student, but early on I became so appalled at the behavior of my colleagues that I pretty much ate lunch in my classroom in solitude every day. Actually, I preferred the silence and "me" time, and that may just be my personality, but the negativity was messing with my teaching "chi." I think we all need to consider how we will respond in the face of negative colleagues. And, more importantly, we need to think of our "health" and "well-being" as teachers.
You're right to observe though, Krysten, that sometimes our biggest lessons, or challenges come from places other than the classroom itself.