I went through chapters 3 and 4 again and found different things to talk about. I'm still not sure how I got confused on the chapters last time, but thanks for letting me know so that I could fix it!
Chapter 3
This chapter talked a lot about what an invested teacher and a persistent teacher does. When it was talking about all the things an invested teacher does, I was feeling very overwhelmed! If I want to be an invested teacher, students should want to be in my classroom during every free second because they want to be in a place of sanctuary and scaffolding, share my thoughts about the class with my students, want my students opinions, reach out to know and support my students outside of the classroom, be an advocate, be a partner, have clear personal goals that I’m always working towards, exemplify the pursuit of excellence, is not easily discouraged, doesn’t assume a student “missing the mark” is incapable but rather needs to be taught in a different way, and so very much more! I am hoping that a lot of it comes naturally, but as I was reading, seeing everything that I needed to be was almost discouraging! I really want to be all of these things, but what if I “miss the mark?!” In our math class this semester, Professor Shaw has told us on more than one occasion that the job of a first year teacher is to survive. The first year is the worst, so if you can just survive it, then the rest will come easier. I’ve always had a little bit a of a problem with that because I feel as a teacher we need to do a lot more than “survive,” but I don’t know how to disagree with him-you can’t disagree with him!! But I think this chapter has at least part of the answer. Yes, our first year will be hard, but we have so many things we can do to be an invested teacher, and in my opinion we should at least be trying to do these things!
Then we have the persistent teacher. The teacher who generously acknowledges the distance a student has come academically and the distance they still have to go, the teacher who believes failure is not an option, the teacher who finds another way to teach students who are having a hard time learning it the first way it was taught. This teacher seems to be all about the student’s success. In what ways can we motivate a student to continue succeeding? How do we show them that they can succeed? This teacher seems important as well, and I think it will also come naturally. I’m not sure why, but this teacher doesn’t make me as nervous as the invested teacher.
I think the difference for me is that the persistent teacher can take place is school, while the invested teacher is an ongoing thing – inside and outside of school. I am nervous about teaching taking over my life. I love teaching, but I also love to do other things! I don’t want to be so busy being an invested teacher that I don’t have time for my own life. I know that with experience and time I will be able to even things out and find the right balance, but It still makes me a little worried.
Chapter 4
I liked chapter 4 because it gave a bunch of small and good ideas as to how to make the classroom environment the best place for your students. One that I particularly liked was how it talked about having your classroom divided into different learning types. Have a space for quiet individual learners, interactive learners and hands-on learners. Your students can’t always learn in different ways, but whenever possible, you can create different ways of learning a concept and the students can decide which way they learn the best! Another idea that I really liked was to teach your students time management. With that, I also thought you can talk to your students on an adult level. As much as possible don’t just expect them to “not understand” why things are done or the way you feel about something. Whenever possible and appropriate, explain things to your students. They will probably understand more than you are giving them credit for! A scenario that I liked talked about a teacher who had a big box of old keys. Each student got a key ring and as they had “breakthroughs” in knowledge or behavior they received a key. The teacher said that the cool thing about it was when a guest or parent came into the classroom, each student could tell the guest why they received each key. Although the keys normally wouldn’t mean anything to the students, the teacher used them as a positive reinforcement, and it worked really well! It just goes to show how simple things can create a huge impact. In the book it didn’t say anything about this, but I’m sure the teacher used some kind of catchy phrase, such as “You hold the keys to your success” or “you create the keys to your success” along with the keys.
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2 comments:
Your reflective concerns about being this kind of teacher conflicting with the typical "survival mode" of first year teachers... is important to understand. However, I believe that if the first year teacher can let go of their own needs to be doing things "right" and/or surviving, and put their concern and focus on doing what's in the best interest of their students, they can rise above the mundate, the typical, the "ho-hummness" of self-centered first year teaching. Keep your eye on the cause....
In chapter four, I felt you may have missed something important. You said: "Your students can’t always learn in different ways, but whenever possible, you can create different ways of learning a concept and the students can decide which way they learn the best!" That's a bit confusing... the whole concept or idea of differentiation centers on the fact that children DO learn in different ways, and they do require different types of, and amounts of support in order to be successful. If you see them otherwise, your chances of helping more of them be successful are slim. Can you think of situations where you CAN help children learn in the ways they learn best? You also said, "Another idea that I really liked was to teach your students time management." You're right there... they NEED time management skills. They will need them MORE in a differentiated classroom than in one where they just have some choices sometimes. If this seems confusing, please come by sometime so we can talk about it.
You were candidly honest about your fears of teaching taking over your life! Certainly, MOST teachers want to live their own lives. Carol's book is intended to show you that you can do BOTH, and that both parts of your life will be richer for your investment in the other parts. I hope you will find this, and figure out how to be this... rather than seeing teaching as a choice of one or the other.
In the first paragraph were you just saying that first year teachers need to be more concerned/focused on what the students need rather than what is "right" and/or surviving?
In your second paragraph about chapter 4, I went back and read what I wrote. I realized that the way I wrote it might have been a little confusing, and I see how it would be easy to misunderstand what I was trying to say. I was talking about having your classroom divided up into different learning types (hands on, idividual workers, etc.) and that is when I made the comment about students can't always learn in different ways. And what I was actually trying to say was that the students can't always be at those stations. We want them to be as much as possible, but at times such as direct instruction, I would think it would be better to have your students in their desks rather than spread throughout the classroom. I hope that makes better sense!
I know that the first year of teaching is hard. I will put everything I have into it! I think that through this class and through being in field full contract hours, and especially through student teaching I will learn how to make both parts of my life richer like you said. I know that I can do it, but I'm still a little nervous!
Thanks for your comments!
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