This week was a milestone for me: for the first time, I had complete autonomy in the classroom, with no help from my cooperating teacher. It was both exciting and frightening--and as always, quite the learning experience.
On Friday, I had a lesson plan which followed a model used by my cooperating teacher in previous years. It involved having the students play Rock, Paper, Scissors with pieces of candy, as a way of experiencing different economic systems. Seemed simple enough to me, I didn't anticipate any problems....which was a big mistake.
Although I had not expected any problems with the lesson, I didn't think that there would be much variation between my classes. I thought all five classes would play the game the same way, experience the same results, and have the same questions. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
It was apparent from the beginning of each class period that every class was experiencing the game in a different way. Some students needed no prompting and began to immediately play, quickly losing or gaining extra candy pieces. At least one class, however, was hesitant to begin, as if they expected some sort of trick. This class needed some prodding to start playing, which was a necessary step in the lesson plan. Once they started, however, the lesson was able to continue as planned.
Other classes had to be calmed down more frequently, as they began to argue and even take their classmate's candy! Although this all played into the lesson plan, controlling the chaos required a great deal of finesse, as I couldn't be everywhere at once. I felt I made many mistakes at this point, and took many notes which will help me the next time I use this lesson plan.
A great general once said that no battle plan survives contact with the enemy. It good also be said that no lesson plan survives contact with the students. Teachers need to be ready to pivot and redirect at a moments notice in order to keep the lesson going in the right direction. This skill seems to be one that is innate (since I have no idea how one could learn to do this except through hard experience), and not something which can be taught. I just hope I will hone this skill in the next two months to a great enough degree that I can be ready when my own classes change direction unexpectedly.
Friday, February 17, 2017
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Watch That Language-Week 5
This week brought an issue to the front which I thought I had left far behind. Teenagers being who they are, I knew that I would be hearing some foul language in my class and thought I was prepared to deal with it. My plan would be to nip it in the bud at the start so that students would realize that sort of language would not be tolerated. What I didn't anticipate was the reaction I got from the student, and the ensuing shut down of the entire class.
One student was apparently upset by one of my statements at the beginning of class (related to a historical fact about the Industrial Revolution). The student then blurted out an expletive denigrating Jesus Christ. At this point, I cautioned the student about language, and other students started to mumble expletives of their own, as well as their surprise that such a word would be considered so harshly. At that point, I could tell that I was in danger of losing the class and wanted to send the message that such outbursts would not be tolerated. I firmly told the class that any further profanity would cause me to send a referral home for the offender in question. At that point, I lost the class.
My class became visibly agitated and bothered. It was as if they began to shut down and a wall went up and I couldn't reach them any more. After several minutes of conversation and discussion about the topic at hand I was able to get my students interested again, but it took some time--time which could have been spent in more constructive ways. Looking back, I should have handled the situation differently from the start.
My cooperating teacher recommended in situations such as this, what is usually most effective is to correct the student in question, say that such statements can be offensive to some people, then move on. No debate, no argument, but no ignoring the problem, either. I want to try this myself the next chance I get. I know it will be much more effective than my original approach.
Once again, each new week provides me the opportunity to practice what I have learned, but also makes me realize that I have much more to learn. I may be a teacher, but I am not an expert just yet. Hopefully, each new week I will learn something new which I can one day apply in my own classroom.
One student was apparently upset by one of my statements at the beginning of class (related to a historical fact about the Industrial Revolution). The student then blurted out an expletive denigrating Jesus Christ. At this point, I cautioned the student about language, and other students started to mumble expletives of their own, as well as their surprise that such a word would be considered so harshly. At that point, I could tell that I was in danger of losing the class and wanted to send the message that such outbursts would not be tolerated. I firmly told the class that any further profanity would cause me to send a referral home for the offender in question. At that point, I lost the class.
My class became visibly agitated and bothered. It was as if they began to shut down and a wall went up and I couldn't reach them any more. After several minutes of conversation and discussion about the topic at hand I was able to get my students interested again, but it took some time--time which could have been spent in more constructive ways. Looking back, I should have handled the situation differently from the start.
My cooperating teacher recommended in situations such as this, what is usually most effective is to correct the student in question, say that such statements can be offensive to some people, then move on. No debate, no argument, but no ignoring the problem, either. I want to try this myself the next chance I get. I know it will be much more effective than my original approach.
Once again, each new week provides me the opportunity to practice what I have learned, but also makes me realize that I have much more to learn. I may be a teacher, but I am not an expert just yet. Hopefully, each new week I will learn something new which I can one day apply in my own classroom.
Friday, February 3, 2017
Wrting Will Take You Places-Week 4
This week offered me a unique opportunity. For the first time as a teacher I taught my students how to write an essay. For some this would be a skill that they would take with them to college; for others, they couldn't care less. My job was to teach all of them regardless of their interest in the subject. I think I succeeded...more or less.
My students had already gained some experience at the end of the previous semester. They had an opportunity to read a set of documents and then write an essay. Many did not pass this test, because they had never written an essay before in a Social Studies class. This Document Based Questioning (DBQ) was a method I had not seen before, but apparently is widely used in high schools. When I did my research and learned about the process, I was overjoyed. Giving students actual historical documents to read, study, and write an essay on? That's exactly what I wanted to see!
But I quickly realized that students needed to be walked through the entire process of essay writing: how to construct an essay, writing a thesis, citing evidence, etc. I ended up spending three days with the students just showing them how to perform all the essential steps in the writing process, before they even began to write their essay! Although I saw the necessity in all of these steps, I had never shown someone how to write an essay before. This seemed like a job for an English teacher, not a History teacher. I couldn't even remember what steps I had gone through as a student myself, learning to write an essay. It had been so long ago that I had forgotten.
Fortunately, this particular DBQ had come with explicit instructions on how to teach it. Furthermore, I had the excellent example of a co-teacher for the first two periods of the day. Building on her example, I was able to show the students exactly what they needed in order to master the essay. And the best part? That's exactly what they did. Although I wasn't sure the students were grasping the concepts, when the time came to write the essay, they were confident. They knew exactly what to do and succeeded.
Each new unit brings with it new opportunities to grow as a teacher and a person. I am learning to be even more willing to try new ways of teaching, because despite what I think I know, I am still a novice. Fortunately, I have excellent colleagues who are willing to offer suggestions and feedback and are always there to provide an example of what good teachers are. I hope that one day, people will be able to say the the same thing about me.
My students had already gained some experience at the end of the previous semester. They had an opportunity to read a set of documents and then write an essay. Many did not pass this test, because they had never written an essay before in a Social Studies class. This Document Based Questioning (DBQ) was a method I had not seen before, but apparently is widely used in high schools. When I did my research and learned about the process, I was overjoyed. Giving students actual historical documents to read, study, and write an essay on? That's exactly what I wanted to see!
But I quickly realized that students needed to be walked through the entire process of essay writing: how to construct an essay, writing a thesis, citing evidence, etc. I ended up spending three days with the students just showing them how to perform all the essential steps in the writing process, before they even began to write their essay! Although I saw the necessity in all of these steps, I had never shown someone how to write an essay before. This seemed like a job for an English teacher, not a History teacher. I couldn't even remember what steps I had gone through as a student myself, learning to write an essay. It had been so long ago that I had forgotten.
Fortunately, this particular DBQ had come with explicit instructions on how to teach it. Furthermore, I had the excellent example of a co-teacher for the first two periods of the day. Building on her example, I was able to show the students exactly what they needed in order to master the essay. And the best part? That's exactly what they did. Although I wasn't sure the students were grasping the concepts, when the time came to write the essay, they were confident. They knew exactly what to do and succeeded.
Each new unit brings with it new opportunities to grow as a teacher and a person. I am learning to be even more willing to try new ways of teaching, because despite what I think I know, I am still a novice. Fortunately, I have excellent colleagues who are willing to offer suggestions and feedback and are always there to provide an example of what good teachers are. I hope that one day, people will be able to say the the same thing about me.
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