These first couple of days have really set aside a lot of the qualms I had coming into my intern year. I seem to have a pretty good group of kids, aside from all the discouraging comments from previous teachers lol However, it has only been three days, and there is much more to experience in the upcoming semester. One thing that has really made me look forward to the following semester is collaborating with and learning from my mentor teacher. I have a lot to learn before I begin teaching in my own classroom next fall. Although I have experienced many diverse situations over the last couple years, I still feel like I can always learn more, and make myself a better teacher. It is so great to have a mentor teacher that has a lot of experience, and is so passionate about her work. I can tell that she has put a lot of thought and effort into her classroom management strategies and instruction methods over the course of her career. I see a lot of what kind of teacher I want to be in her methods. What I am most impressed with is the sense of respect in the classroom between the students and the teacher. Although they can be chatty at times (which we were told was one of their biggest downfalls from previous teachers), once they are corrected, they pretty much stop. For the most part, they have been completely respectful to each other, and seem to really enjoy school. I just love being with second grade for this reason. I still love their teachers, and make sure to give them hugs throughout the day. As for my work stations, I will begin to introduce them through mini-lessons starting on Monday. I am a little worried about this process, since it is introducing a completely new procedure to these students. This will set the model for how they will run, what is expected of the students, and how the stations will be in their hands. Therefore, my modeling must be specific, organized, and broken down so that they can understand what they are to do. I am so excited to plan activities for the students to do in their work stations. My biggest goal as a teacher is to make learning interesting and fun for my students. I know how boring school can be, and how that can ruin your perceptions of school for years to come. I want my students to look forward to coming to school, and be excited for projects they may be doing. I hope the work stations will be something the students can look forward to, and will incorporate activities that meet various learning styles. I'm off to work on mini-lessons, work station materials, and cutting out laminated objects (story of my life :)). I look forward to next week when I will get to teach more! I think my days will be a lot more interesting and fun when I am able to teach and interact more with the students. Yey!
We need classrooms that are based on respect and caring for one another and I'm wondering what experiences your students have had that have encouraged their being respectful to each other. And how do you provide support to students who need to learn to be more respectful.
I also think it's a good idea to develop your own impressions of your students rather than relying on other teachers' past experiences with your students. Students mature from one year to another and often respond differently to different teachers. I believe that expecting the best from your students, setting those high expectations and believing that your students will rise to meet them often becomes a self fulfilling prophecy....although some students may need a little help along the way to meet them. I am wondering how you might make use of their "socialness" for learning. Students can learn a lot from discussing a topic with each other. Of course, the challenge is to make sure that they are discussing their learning and not what they did over the weekend (-:
I think you're on the right track as far as modeling your workstations. You do have to think about what your students need to know so that they will be successful....and with second graders you have to be sure not to give them to much information at once or some might feel overwhelmed and not learn what you intended. I'm also thinking that you might want to practice using the workstations before you actually have students use them to learn content. I'll be interested in hearing more about your workstations....how you implemented them, what your students are learning from using them, and your students' opinions/reactions to being able to use workstations.
And yes, cutting out laminated objects is indeed part of the life of a teacher. At least you're not having to deal with clear contact paper. At one point, my children thought cutting out laminated objects was fun....but that stage didn't last long.
These first couple of days have really set aside a lot of the qualms I had coming into my intern year. I seem to have a pretty good group of kids, aside from all the discouraging comments from previous teachers lol However, it has only been three days, and there is much more to experience in the upcoming semester.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that has really made me look forward to the following semester is collaborating with and learning from my mentor teacher. I have a lot to learn before I begin teaching in my own classroom next fall. Although I have experienced many diverse situations over the last couple years, I still feel like I can always learn more, and make myself a better teacher. It is so great to have a mentor teacher that has a lot of experience, and is so passionate about her work. I can tell that she has put a lot of thought and effort into her classroom management strategies and instruction methods over the course of her career. I see a lot of what kind of teacher I want to be in her methods.
What I am most impressed with is the sense of respect in the classroom between the students and the teacher. Although they can be chatty at times (which we were told was one of their biggest downfalls from previous teachers), once they are corrected, they pretty much stop. For the most part, they have been completely respectful to each other, and seem to really enjoy school. I just love being with second grade for this reason. I still love their teachers, and make sure to give them hugs throughout the day.
As for my work stations, I will begin to introduce them through mini-lessons starting on Monday. I am a little worried about this process, since it is introducing a completely new procedure to these students. This will set the model for how they will run, what is expected of the students, and how the stations will be in their hands. Therefore, my modeling must be specific, organized, and broken down so that they can understand what they are to do.
I am so excited to plan activities for the students to do in their work stations. My biggest goal as a teacher is to make learning interesting and fun for my students. I know how boring school can be, and how that can ruin your perceptions of school for years to come. I want my students to look forward to coming to school, and be excited for projects they may be doing. I hope the work stations will be something the students can look forward to, and will incorporate activities that meet various learning styles.
I'm off to work on mini-lessons, work station materials, and cutting out laminated objects (story of my life :)). I look forward to next week when I will get to teach more! I think my days will be a lot more interesting and fun when I am able to teach and interact more with the students. Yey!
Meredith,
ReplyDeleteWe need classrooms that are based on respect and caring for one another and I'm wondering what experiences your students have had that have encouraged their being respectful to each other. And how do you provide support to students who need to learn to be more respectful.
I also think it's a good idea to develop your own impressions of your students rather than relying on other teachers' past experiences with your students. Students mature from one year to another and often respond differently to different teachers. I believe that expecting the best from your students, setting those high expectations and believing that your students will rise to meet them often becomes a self fulfilling prophecy....although some students may need a little help along the way to meet them. I am wondering how you might make use of their "socialness" for learning. Students can learn a lot from discussing a topic with each other. Of course, the challenge is to make sure that they are discussing their learning and not what they did over the weekend (-:
I think you're on the right track as far as modeling your workstations. You do have to think about what your students need to know so that they will be successful....and with second graders you have to be sure not to give them to much information at once or some might feel overwhelmed and not learn what you intended. I'm also thinking that you might want to practice using the workstations before you actually have students use them to learn content. I'll be interested in hearing more about your workstations....how you implemented them, what your students are learning from using them, and your students' opinions/reactions to being able to use workstations.
And yes, cutting out laminated objects is indeed part of the life of a teacher. At least you're not having to deal with clear contact paper. At one point, my children thought cutting out laminated objects was fun....but that stage didn't last long.
I hope this week has gone well!
Sharon