Thursday, February 24, 2011

In control

     Well today was crazy. My co-operating teacher was unexpectedly not there. At first I was told that I'd be taking over the class (omg!) but it turns out the class would split into the other two 5th grade classes. Not that my students assimilate into their class or anything, they kind of just sit quietly in the corner/s doing busy work for hours. Most of my day was spent going back and forth to each classroom helping the students with various problems. It was actually pretty tiring, and not quite as useful to my learning as actually teaching a lesson would have been.
     The being said, there were times when I was solely in charge of the class. I suppose overall I did alright, but I came to the realization I have very little control over the classroom. One I'm reflecting upon now is a particular student that engages in a lot of back talk. I am now considering in my mind that perhaps I enable this by engaging in the backtalk. That is, she yells "WHAT DID I DO?!" and I argue with her, or something to that effect. Anyways, I'm working on it. I am not going to go back on what I've said about being authoritative over authoritarian, but I suppose I am seeing why many teachers choose the authoritarian approach. It's easier. It's much less time consuming. There's much less thought involved. Where as the former shares mutual respect between the students, the other demands respect from the students. I've been told I have a "laid back" approach.  I'm still working on how I want to manage the classroom, but I know I don't want to take the easy route. I aspire to be one of those teachers that wasn't so hard on students. While this is proving to be a challenge, my belief in moving in this direction is affirmed by the large percentage of teachers I see that are indeed overly strict with the students. Still learning.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Belated Mathematics

     Well my time after school today was busy setting up for my belated valentine's dinner, so sorry about that. On that note, at school last Monday, everyone made kind of a big deal about Valentine's day. I guess with Chrismas and other religious holidays being unmentionable nowadays, a holiday like Valentine's Day which is just cultural (I think) and about showing affection is a popular thing to celebrate.
     So one of the students is struggling with their multiplication table. I guess they just don't get the concept. Even something like eight times two ends with an incorrect answer. The real problem is that we're on long division and fractions and because she is behind with multiplication she is having trouble with these algorithms too. I had been telling her to use the internet to find a multiplication table, or to ask her family for help, but let's just say she can't get any help and she hasn't been able to get on her computer. So I told her I would print out a multiplication table for her and bring it in. I'm sharing this because I thought it was a good solution to this student's problem. Of course, ideally I could give her strategies to figure out multiplication problems without the chart, but time is really pressed.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Adding Fractions of Voices

     So the issues with the hallway continue. I want the students to be able to whisper (no one must know this however.) The problem is, sooner or later someone goes from whispering to talking quietly, which is still ok. But then, someone starts to talk over someone else, and the noise just multiplies. Later, I tried to teach a lesson on a math subject that many of them are struggling with, but a few of them were being a bit disruptive. Even with my best efforts, I just couldn't get these students to quiet down; not until the teacher came back that is. Despite this, I still believe in my way of managing. I just think the problem arises when instead of me being the one dolling out a reprimand or punishment, it's "I'll tell Mrs. _____ on you!" Not that I worded it like that of course, but it is effectively the message that gets across.
     Now if you'll excuse me, I have a math test on fractions to type up.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

I am usually very patient, and seldom do I ever get upset.

     I'm mad. Well, just mildly upset I suppose. Why might I be mad you ask? Well, we are currently doing long division. About half the class gets it pretty well, while the other half of the class is relatively confused. We could take the students that are relatively confused by it and arrange them in a somewhat reliable order as to who is more and less confused by this, by I wouldn't do that. That is why I mad. I wanted to take all the students who were confused, seven of them, and go over the stuff again. Teach some mnemonics I thought of and some other stuff. My teacher thought I should take the students that kind of get it first, explain it to them quickly, then help the students that are totally lost. I disagreed with this, the biggest reason being there just wasn't enough time. I'd never get to the second group; the students that really need the help. However, that's what she wanted me to do so off I went. Sure enough, more and more of the students that apply themselves gathered around me for extra help and I ran out of time. Meanwhile, the students that are totally discouraged and need the most help are sitting at their desks just staring at their work with no idea how to do it. Then they're assigned homework that they have no idea how to do, and their parents apparently sleep all day so definitely can't help them with their difficult math homework, so yeah; I am mad. I am upset that the teacher did not let me focus on the lowest achieving students first. I also don't see how she (e.g. impossible) could have taught these kids the material in the short amount of time we had anyways. Hopefully I will get (that is, the kids will get) the opportunity to work with the students that truly need some additional instruction with this essential subject.
     In other news I have quite a bit of lessons I'll be teaching tomorrow. Things are going smoothly for me in general and although I have a lot of work on my to-do list that is piling up, I am definitely developing and have no doubt that things will end well—so long as I keep this up. Let's just say that February vacation will be a welcome break... just before the final sprint.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Stricks and stones

     So today I happened upon a girl (not of my class) rather upset and gathering a crowd around her explaining how some people had picked on her older sister. Not sure how to handle it, I just observed, until the group dispersed. I forgot about the event until later when I heard more details regarding this specific event from teachers discussing it. Apparently there's a bit of bullying going on. I thought it was interesting how the teachers all discussed it together and decided how they would handle it. Options included: "Just separate them. Problem solved." "Tell the Assistant Principal, then it's 'their' [the administration's] problem." "I'll talk to so-and-so. Then I'll get to the bottom of it." And etc. But what really is the best way to deal with bullying? After all you can't make someone like someone else. The more you force something like that the quicker it's going to not work out.
     So much time has passed since I was in elementary school, it's easy to forget that I had my own perception of each other student in the class. It's easy to think that everyone in class are friends with each other but more often than that students seem much more apathetic to each other. Certainly, some have their friends, but some don't make strong connections to anyone, day by day. If only the students could all band together under the idea of us vs. the man. If only the students could all see how similar they all were and how if they worked together and everyone was friends with each other, they could help each other. Oh well, that's why we grow up, I guess. Anyways, I'm really against bullying, and in my own classroom I plan to have a bunch of strict rules about it and stuff.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Sparkling!

     The lesson plan on light went great! I was not sure how much the students knew about light so I decided to have a bunch of little experiments around the room at stations for the students to circulate about in small groups. It worked out! The students seemed pretty into it and mostly worked well together. Upon reflection, my directions on the handout I had typed out and given to everyone were not clear enough, which turned into me explaining each of the five stations 5 times each as the groups cycled through. Although I am just realizing now  that that actually worked out better for me. Giving my supervisor plenty of opportunities to see me interact and explain things to the students is probably a good idea. On the subject, my supervisor liked the lesson too. Inquiry based learning is the way to go when it comes to teaching science. Also, I had prepared these five experiments, he noticed all the different materials I brought in. I was freaking out the night before and didn't get enough sleep, but it all worked out in the end.

Friday, February 11, 2011

The rise of a new dictator...

     I had to lay the hammer down today. Put my foot down, enforce the law, "be the man," or whatever you want to say. Not because of my teacher though, it happened because if me. Well, because of the sudents to be exact. I've mentioned the hallway before. Well basically I've been letting them do as they please, for the most part. However, there are classes going on, so the volume they produce has to be reasonable (we can all agree on that.) One student was screaming and pushing today and I had to quiet her down; unfortunately she wouldn't listen. This same student acted similarly yesterday too, and that day as well she just wouldn't quiet down. Something had to be done. I even gave her plenty of chances today, but she just kept at it, so I had to do it. I had to report her behavior to the teacher and watch some privledges get taken away. I got her into trouble. I guess this is what teachers have to do sometimes. I think I'll feel better about it when it's my own classroom and my own rules that I'm enforcing.
     Concerning punishment and the enforcement of rules, I do think a great deal about it. I think about the behavior that is being enforced or discouraged from any particular punishment. I think about the changes this might influence on a developing individual. If there's one thing I'm for, it's individuality. I love people expressing themselves and being themselves. I worry how strict rules and guidelines could mold people to be unquestioning and too passive when it comes to authority. After all, as we can see all over the world right now, there are times when one should not and must not listen to authority. How do we teach that? On the other hand, self control is a practical and nessecary ability in today's world. While I think if someone wants to start singing and dancing randomly, then they should. It's a beutiful thing. But then again, if I started doing that say, in the classroom when I was supposed to be say, teaching—I may not be becoming a teacher after all... and then there's being inconsiderant and disrespectful too, which is what was happening in this case, as I pointed out to the student several times.
    I know I didn't do anything wrong, but I sure feel bad about it. I guess I'm just a big pushover. Hopefully my philosophy of "give respect; recieve respect" will be an effective classroom management strategy. Well, as long as I don't become that teacher that has obviousyl let power gone to their heads and get off on punishing students then I think I'll be ok. I guess some people just aren't prepared for handling the power that one has over these kids as their teacher and it really changes them. I wish I could study that more.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Some get help...

     Last night was the parent teacher meetings. That went well; much less painful than I thought it was going to be. Coincidentally, all the parents of the students that are doing well in class came in, while the parents of the students that appear to be struggling did not show in. Hmmm... Anyways, it was very interesting seeing the parents of the students. One interesting case that I will share: There is a student that smells deeply of smoke every morning. (A quick aside, why do parents smoke near their children? In my eyes it's abuse.) Her mother who happened to come in was quite charming however. Still, my eyebrow was raised (on the inside) even while she presented herself as a responsible parent. I later learned (from the teacher) that the mother apparently is just telling us what we want to hear and the young girl in question appears to be suffering from neglect of a sort. What does one do? What does a teacher do in general when parents are not meeting our standards of parenthood? Where does one draw the line on irresponsible parenting? How can a teacher in their limited role best help a child with such profound problems? Maybe I should have gone for a job with Child Protective Services... I could have helped clean it up or something.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

My time to shine!

     I taught another lesson today and it went awesome! Even better than my first! It was on similes, and entirely of my own design. To tell the truth, I actually authored the lesson some time ago; it was originally about metaphors. I really thought it was pretty good though so I just modified it to be about similes (practically the same anyways.) Anyways, the lesson went like this:
Grab their attention with some similes from some text we all read together. Discuss the meaning, Tell them exactly what a simile is. Share some of my own similes. Explain how to create a simile. Have students create their own similes. Walk around class helping students (5-10 minutes.) Let students share this similes. Then have students pair up. Instruct students to each select one of their own similes and choose a noun from it. Then swap the noun from their respective simile to the other. Give examples and cleat instructions so as to not cause confusion. Walk around answering questions while students work on activity (1-2 minutes.) Have students share the new similes. Discuss meaning. Compare meaning of simile with a simple sentence (i.e. Swim like a fish vs. Swim very well.)
     And that's basically the lesson plan (with a good amount more organization and some additional details.) It want really great! The students had fun with it, they were engaged, and my supervisor thought it was great too. My next lesson plan is a science activity and it is about light. I haven't made it yet, I've got a couple days. I also have plenty of resources to use! Flashlights, magnifying glasses, color light thingies, the works. Now is my time to shine! (get it?!!?!?)

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Only bored sometimes.

     So I have experienced around four different schools now and have seen lessons taught in over six different classrooms. My school's education program has done a great job in giving me a wide array of experiences with which to model myself from. Now that I am student teaching, I feel I am well past the point of observing. I am ready to teach, I feel, and have little to gain from continued observing. I wish this entry was more than just me griping but alas, I am simply whining about stints of boredom in my day.
     It would seem that starting about now my work will be picking up somewhat exponentially. This was expected, although still stressful at its onset. I will make every effort to stay committed to my daily blogish endeavor to the best of my ability.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Rough day and Harsh Grading

     So today was a rough day for me. I overslept, the lesson I made in Word 2007 couldn't be opened on their word 2003 computers, I did a bunch of little things wrong, forgot to prepare for another lesson, and had uncomfortable exchanges with my co-operating teacher about grading and classroom management. I've said this before—I am worried I won't be able to meet my teachers standards of discipline. That is, I am totally authoritative, whilst she is authoritarian. I don't think I could be authoritarian if I tried. But now I feel some pressure from my teacher to be more enforcing of rules. Furthermore, I am worried at how this will effect my development as a teacher. For example, a student was yelled at today for running their hands along a stone wall whilst walking in line. I know, from college classes etc., that some kids are just tactile and touching and feeling things like walls helps calm their nerves and what not. How can I scold children for acting our normal and acceptable behavior? In addition, maybe I'm just used to the A-F grading system, but I can't stand the 1, 2, or 3 system. Sometimes known as check, check plus, and check minus, this is a totally incomplete grading system. There's no in between! Being forced to use it just makes me see how limited it is.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Professional Ice Skaters (to be)

     So today (Friday) was another great day. I kind of taught a lesson on adding and subtracting decimals, which was very similar to the lesson yesterday. The lesson also went very similarly, however there one was big difference, instead of my supervisor watching silently the co-operating teacher was there. The students were a little less active, and once a student yelled out an answer—which is what I wanted, that's what they were doing yesterday—the teacher interrupted my lesson to scold him for not raising his hand. I did not really appreciate that but today was even more informal than yesterday so I guess I can't complain. I just hope she lets me control the classroom when I teach my formal lessons in the future. (By formal lessons I mean fairly lengthy lessons of entirely my own design, such as if I have the students play a game I created.)
     That bit aside, we also went on a little field trip! Just for a few hours, all the fifth grade classes in my school went ice skating. At first I wasn't going to go on the ice, but after being prompted to I put on some ice skates and there I was. I only fell down four times! (I'm a biker not a skater.) There was one student who fell down, apparently, over sixty times. I only know this because one of her friends was following her around counting her falls the entire time. I found this particularly amazing! Many students were very careful to never fall down (although they probably did a few times anyways.) Many students also took a few breaks here and there. But not this student, no matter how many times she fell down she got right back up and kept on trying to skate. Over and over, she would just get up, start skating, sometimes get some good speed going, and inevitably tumble down. While her friend thought it was humorous the number of times she feel, I was amazed at the number of times she got back up. So all in all, I had a great time. I'm having a hard time following the "Don't be their friend" advice though, especially after an activity like this.
     There was some more work done that day, but at the end of the day the teacher gave the students some free time to do whatever they wanted to with. A whole twenty-five minutes. One student wanted to play connect four with me, but the teacher had me go and make a bunch of copies! I did so with a smile of course, but ooooohhhh did I want to play Connect Four. I am sooo good at that game and proving my mastery to a bunch of awed fifth graders would have been ever so sweet... That's not very professional is it?

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Taught my first lesson - No work at all!

     So today I taught my first lesson! Things got kind of crazy beforehand though. I have a supervisor that is supposed to come in and watch me teach lessons from time to time. I had been e-mailing him beforehand but little did I know his replys were going to my junk mail soooo when I called him just before I left for school this morning and was told he'd be coming in less than two hours from the time at which we spoke, I was naturally surprised. Well, seen as how I had no lesson ready to show him, I was kind of freaking out. I'm pretty good at keeping a level head though so I just went with it (although he ended up coming in a few hours later, which was good.) Anyways, during the lunch period beforehand I prepared a math lesson. My supervisor showed up before the students got back and actually gave me some more ideas too. Then the actual teacher leaves the room because there's some really important meeting she has to go to and I'm there all alone (with my supervisor watching that is.) Ok, no sweat. I got this—ok ok I was nervous—but I settled them down, I got their attention, and then they just jumped in! Oh and what a surprise, even though it was a math lesson about addition and subtraction in the thousands, the students were engaged and yelling out answers (followers of my blog might remember that the teacher has reached some level of exasperation at the "unresponsiveness" of the class.) This is just a small confirmation to me that students will be better learners if you treat them with respect and not yell at them too excessively. Hmm, some deep thoughts about punishment here, but I'll save those for the next unexpected day off.
     Speaking of, the teacher informed the class today the due to so many of these unexpected days off,  we'd be losing some days from February break. Oh, if only you could see the forlorn look on those students' faces. The teacher said, "Face it, you don't need a February break." Which was instantly met with head shakes and frowns all around the room. The teacher reacted to this with surprise, citing how many unplanned days off they've had already! It was at this point I realized that I had the same look on my face as the students and was also reflexively shaking my head. Not that I don't enjoy being there or anything, I just love, y'know, lounging about and etc. Hmm, in the future, I hope I can figure out strategies to make this feel like a fun thing to do everyday instead of "actual work." "Actual work" is boring and monotonous. I really enjoyed teaching my lesson today, that was fun and engaging. I suppose when I'm calling the shots (i.e. actual job in my own classroom) and not just taking notes or making copies half the day, then this slight feeling of "actual work" will dissipate. In any case, I will do my best to control my inner self to not associate teaching with the idea of "actual work." I'll come back to these thoughts another time too.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Increased effort on a day off

     Two days in a row without school. Hmm, teachers sure do seem to talk about the weather a lot...
     Moving that aside let's just gt right into a thought I've been having. This thought started with a conversation between two teachers I overheard where one teacher expressed that she would never work on the weekends. Everyone needs a break after all but on the other hand, were we not just discussing how important teaching is for the future of society? Basically the quandary I am getting at is how much should a teacher put in to their jobs? There is certainly a lot of room for increased effort in the profession—a teach could always put in extra time to improving lesson plans, hosting an after school activity for something similar, organizing some other special program, or getting involved with community. On the flip side of the coin there is the standard "nine to five," just coming into work at required times and doing the bare minimum required of you. Although I've reached no conclusions at this time I suppose teachers with the mindset that this is just another job are what people mean when they say that "some people shouldn't be teachers."  I agree with that to some extent, after all if there's no difference between this and say working in an office cubicle to someone then why did they choose this? The extent to which a teacher involves themselves with students and school outside of the classroom is a question that I will certainly be touching upon again. For now I'll just leave these thoughts here.