I just finished my first week (really just three days) of teaching.
I loved it.
Junior high hasn't changed much. It seems pretty similar to what I remember. I've been paired with an excellent teacher, Nancy Beauprez, who has given me plenty of rein, but doesn't just abandon me alone in the classroom (like some student teacher horror stories foretell). My class website is also up and linked to Boltz.
I have two big thought to recap this week with.
The first has to deal with discipline. So far, when there's talking in class, I've just waited for it to quiet down. I'm hoping this will continue to work. Nancy believes it will and that I need to just stick to my guns. A part of me feels the need to put the fear of God in the students for just one day, and everything will be fine after that. If I wait for my students to be quiet, but then don't get as far with them, am I doing my job? Since they are minors, shouldn't I attempt to educate every student to the same extent as every other? I don't know. And if I should put the fear of God into them, how the heck do I do it? I have no idea.
For those of you who have listened to my podcast, discipline has been no where near the problem I thought it would be. I got a lot of really great kids, for one. I think my formal dress has probably helped (the heels are killing my feet though). [Formal dress as in a tie, not a literal dress. See, I made a little joke there. You may laugh.] I also think I got a lot of practice, thanks to Rebecca Fox at Fort Collins High School.
The second thought is on homework. I give a lot, and I don't know how I feel about that. On one hand, I think the students will learn a lot and it's not just busy work. On the other hand, they do have other things going on in their lives besides English class (as sad as that is) [you may laugh]. This weekend I asked them to write two single spaced pages on a biography of their life. After listening to students tell me how cruel I was, I came home and told my wife the assignment - and got the same response. Ouch.
Next week they have a five work vocab quiz on Friday that they need to do a word scroll on each word for homework, they need to read a poem, do one writing notebook entry at home, and read to pg 20 of The Pearl by the following Wednesday. What do you think? Is this too much?
So there's the first week. Hope it's gone well for those of you heading back to school as well.
Saturday, January 7, 2006
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Portfolios and Confidence
I've just finished skimming/reading Richard Kent's book, Room 109. The book is about portfolio assessed, student centered classrooms. He has an amazing format set up, supervises a high school Writing Center, and allows his students a lot of freedom, but comes across much more humble and honest than most education authors. I would definitely recommend the book.
I read Room 109 because I want to assess students using portfolios while student teaching next semester. Over the past week and a half, I've experienced varying degrees of confidence and concern. Yesterday I couldn't remember learning one thing about how to teach the same book to an entire class, all I could remember was book clubs. Pulling When Students Can't Read, What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers refreshed my memory, but how could I forget tools like anticipation guides so quickly?
I've been over confident too. If you checked the blog a few days ago, you'd find a rant about how I think vocabulary should be taught in schools and how not to teach it. My naive complaining made me so sick I deleted the post before too many readers could judge me by it.
Despite by three and a half years of college education and three semesters in smaller student teaching roles, I feel now as if I still don't know what I'm doing. But I also have all these ideas I want to bring into the classroom. It's hard to describe - I have the theory, but not the practice.
Professor Chance Lewis had two phrases last semester: "Never think you're good, 'cause that's when you're not," and have confidence in front of your students or they'll eat you alive.
Where's the line that I need to walk?
I read Room 109 because I want to assess students using portfolios while student teaching next semester. Over the past week and a half, I've experienced varying degrees of confidence and concern. Yesterday I couldn't remember learning one thing about how to teach the same book to an entire class, all I could remember was book clubs. Pulling When Students Can't Read, What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers refreshed my memory, but how could I forget tools like anticipation guides so quickly?
I've been over confident too. If you checked the blog a few days ago, you'd find a rant about how I think vocabulary should be taught in schools and how not to teach it. My naive complaining made me so sick I deleted the post before too many readers could judge me by it.
Despite by three and a half years of college education and three semesters in smaller student teaching roles, I feel now as if I still don't know what I'm doing. But I also have all these ideas I want to bring into the classroom. It's hard to describe - I have the theory, but not the practice.
Professor Chance Lewis had two phrases last semester: "Never think you're good, 'cause that's when you're not," and have confidence in front of your students or they'll eat you alive.
Where's the line that I need to walk?
Friday, December 23, 2005
Pilot Podcast
Well, the first podcast is here. In this first one, I interview a fellow student teacher, Cherie Hanavan, who's moving to the inner city of Minneapolis to do her semester of student teaching. I also reflect a little bit on my hopes and fears. The volume is a little piecemeal on this one, you may be playing with your speaker volume a little bit throughout, just to warn you. Hope you enjoy it and please feel free to drop any comments or suggestions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)