I can officially say I successfully made it through the whole first week (and actually the second)! So I must get myself into the habit of writing this blog on Friday, the last day of the school week instead of the first day of the next school week. Thank goodness I have been keeping my own personal student teaching journal, full of more personal things I don't wish to share with the public, or else I would have forgotten what to write. So far, we have reviewed all the letters of the alphabet, as well as the sounds they make, and numbers 0-10. I am still trying to adjust to the noise of the teachers and students next door. The open classroom concept is quite an adjustment to make if you aren't used to it. I feel like I am talking to loud when I am talking to the students because I am afraid of interrupting the teacher next door. I'd also like to add to this glorious blog that I am both excited and nervous about starting to teach calender math next week. Monday is a holiday, so I get to start on Tuesday which is a little scary. This is going to look like I am sucking up but I'm going to say it anyways because it's the truth. Ms. Karr does such a good job, she's a tough act to follow and I'm afraid I'll be a major fail after the students have worked with her for the past two weeks.
We still have a chatty group of first grade students that cannot seem to sit still in their seats and pay attention. They are getting better, I think they just don't know how to sit quietly in their seats---so Ms. Karr is teaching them. She's also teaching them the correct way to walk down the hallway, use the bathroom, and stand outside the bathroom. That's stuff you don't learn in methods classes that I think is an important part of teaching!
Still lost as to Action Research! Would love to do something with Math because Watson just adopted a new math series. Plus, I have not done action research on math yet and I think it could be interesting. We attended the westtest data analysis meeting and I think math would be a great thing to try and help improve. I am a little worried about the work load it might cause, but then I think back to participant year and think, "that's nothing compared to what I did!"
Funny story of the week. A kid came to school with wearing glasses for the first time this year. I had never seen him in glasses so when I asked him about them his response was a sly, "I got the plastic frames instead of the metal frames because they just looked better on me!" Another priceless moment in a day of the life of me!
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI understand your concern of the open classroom setting. The noise level can, at times, especially the beginning of the school year, be very stressful. However, I often focus on the positives of the open classroom rather than focusing on the negative - There is a lot learned by listening to the teacher beside you teach; the children do learn to be quieter when there is a necessity to do so; there is support for you instantly when something might happen;
It is good that you are aware of your own voice level. Without the open classroom you might not notice. Remember that the children take your lead - when you are loud they will be too; when you are soft spoken they will be too.
As for the calendar/morning meeting, you are doing fine. I am glad that you noticed that you had called on the same children yesterday and adjusted today. You need to be more aware of those children who are not paying attention - maybe call on them to bring them back. Can you come up with a strategy to make sure that you call on every child at some point during the morning meeting?
As for following me, don't worry - you must always keep in mind that I have been teaching for a long time; I don't expect you to be like me and do everything like me. We are our own individuals and you will come into your own. Classroom management is the toughest thing to learn from a book or a lecture - you must practice to make perfect, but what might be perfect today in a classroom just might not be tomorrow.
Action Research???? I am lost too. We really need some help with this. I will try to speak to Sarah tomorrow at my meeting for any suggestions she might have as well. I agree that something about math would be most beneficial. We found out today that we must give the investigation tests so we will have a lot of baseline data, just need to pinpoint a topic. Till next time! Keep on keeping on!!!
I am glad to hear that you're keeping your own personal journal. As teachers, we really need to do this, otherwise so much of our thinking about our experiences is lost....and it might be valuable in figuring out where we want to go....or, at the very least, for providing evidence of how we've grown as teachers.
ReplyDeleteAs your mentor teacher said, there are advantages and disadvantages to the open school setting. I was in one in a middle school....we didn't even have walls to the hallways. It was interesting to say the least.
It's also true that we have to teach our students our expectations for behavior. This always seems to take so much time at the beginning of the year, but the time you spend then helps to make the rest of your year go most smoothly.
I love your funny stories...you could begin writing a book. The royalties could bring in a little extra cash :)
Please let me know your questions about AR/inquiry. I'm here to provide whatever support you need in designing, conducting, and writing up your study. As you know, inquiry should be a part of what you already do as teacher. It is not about designing something that creates additional work for you. The extra time and effort involved in inquiry is devoted to data analysis....but the data you collect should be something you're already asking your students to do. As your mentor teacher said, it sounds as if you already have some baseline data collected. We'll talk more about this on 9/14....but email me with any questions in between....and I invite your mentor teacher to do the same.