Philosophize yourself

As I was writing my philosophies for the different courses I recently completed, I was pleased with how simply they came together. My philosophies, though not fully verbalized until recently, were pretty easy to express once I started writing. I think that I had been working on these philosophies long before I’d ever written them, and a lot more frequently once I started student teaching (probably even in my sleep). 😉

I know that the purpose of taking classes and student teaching at the same time is so that we can get optimum learning/growth/experience out of our time, but I am still somewhat surprised at HOW MUCH I gleaned from the courses and being in the classroom at the same time. I didn’t realize this until I wrote philosophies of my own.

Overall, I am very pleased with having written these philosophies because I think they will help me to have a foundation for how I want to operate within my own classroom. I think writing them was time well spent and I am feeling pretty inspired to get in my own classroom and affect my students lives in a positive way. 😀

Persistence

I have recently been asked to write about how I challenge my students to be persistent.  A couple of little boys in my class come to mind..  Both of these boys are really smart and generally do very well but when challenged, they claim that they are stupid and both will say they hate the class and or the school.  Although challenged in different ways; one socially and the other academically, they are very hard to get through to when they are so frustrated.  I have learned that the best way to challenge them both to be persistent, is to offer words of encouragement.  I have also noticed that what I do from there is different for both boys.

The student who struggles academically will usually shut down when he becomes so frustrated and I will have to allow him to move on to do something else for the time being.  However, the next time I teach the same thing (it’s usually math with which he struggles), I give him separate problems that are slightly easier to encourage him by allowing him to see that he can do these math problems.  At this point, I also give him and any of my other students who struggle with math, individualized help on the problems.  Once I can see he feels he is able to do what I’m asking of him, I tell him that I knew he could do it.  My thought on saying this is to reinforce that he is able to do what he sets his mind to and that he can be persistent.

The student who struggles socially will usually blow up when other students in the class don’t see things his way or if he feels like he’s in trouble-often a way he feels when my lead teacher or myself repeatedly ask him to stop talking.  This happens frequently because this student is a verbal learner, which in itself isn’t bad, but combined with his very high-pitched and loud voice can be very challenging for himself, other students, and the teachers.  I have learned that the best way to encourage this student to persist in the things that are difficult for him is letting him cool off and telling him that he is not in trouble but is still working on raising his hand when wanting to speak, as well as working on other classroom community agreements. I also ensure him that he is making improvements on these things but still needs a reminder now and then since he’s still learning.

I do think that challenging students to be persistent is important since the end result is that they build endurance.  I think that one of the most important things a child can learn by building persistence is that they can do diffucult tasks, or at least tasks that when new, seemed difficult.  The result of having experienced this is that they can meet tasks head on that seem difficult with the self-knowledge that they were able to do other tasks that once seemed difficult and now will give a go at the new task.  I can see persistence as being a virtuous cycle, where students try new tasks and can enjoy being persistent often despite challenge.  Persistence is important because it is helpful in all of life’s categories; challenging students to be persistent is really setting them up for a more successful future.

Classroom Management

•November 12, 2012 • Leave a Comment

My idea of classroom management is definitely a work in progress.  It started years ago when I substituted in the Meridian school district before I ever planned on going to college.  I thought I needed to be really strict because I remembered how the students treated the subs when I was in school. 

 

It wasn’t until I was writing another tally mark on the white board for the umteenth time that a student had talked too much, that I decided being really strict; subbing, and hence teaching–was not for me.

 

I had not considered teaching again until I took some education classes at the College of Idaho which informed me of how to teach without having to be an Ogre.  As a matter of fact, I have learned that showing respect to students is possibly the quickest way to gain it. 

 

I have also been able to apply my theory regarding classroom management in the classroom.  I have recognized that although showing respect to the students is a large part of smooth classroom management, it is most effective for both student and teacher when it is coupled with clear instruction.

 

I am definitely still in a learning phase regarding what I think about classroom management, but this is as much as it’s developed so far.  

 

P/T Conferences

My lead teacher (Mrs. Goede) and I had parent-teacher conferences in our classroom on Wednesday the 24th and Thursday the 25th of October.  I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to meet with every student’s parent(s) though one of the conferences was over the phone.  I also learned that it is mandatory at Van Buren that the teachers conference with every student’s parent(s) even if they have to hunt down the parents to do so.  I am glad that we didn’t have to go hunting down any parents this time.

The conferences went very well and even talking to the parents of students who are below grade level was easy because overall the parents seemed like they were open to helping their struggling child rather than disagreeing with and arguing with Mrs. Goede and me.

I lead three of the conferences and I needed a translator for two of them.  Even though some of the parents couldn’t understand what I was saying, I enjoyed reporting to the translator how the student was progressing in our class and I especially enjoyed seeing the parents beeming with pride from across the table.  The interactions that I saw between parents and their children has helped me to have a better picture of my little students and the backgrounds from which they come.

Action Research Proposal

My idea for my action research is to study methods of developing respect in the classroom.  I plan to use much of what I learn from the “Tribes” book that is very integral to Van Buren Elementary’s school values.  I have seen these values in action at Van Buren and I am impressed.

I became interested in this topic when I learned that gaining respect from your students takes work on the teacher’s part.  I have also noticed that it takes much more work to gain respect from students who do not seem to value school.  So far I have tried showing respect to students one on one in order to not only gain respect from the student but also to develop it as a classroom community.  After all, I am supposed to be modeling how the student’s should treat one another.  It seems to me that if I am respectful to all of them, they will all be more inclined to be respectful of one another as well as of me.  My hypothesis so far in what I’ve thought about regarding this topic is that respect can and will be developed in a classroom if the teacher is genuinely respecting his or her students. 

I haven’t had as much individual time as I’ve wanted with students to develop a respectful relationship with each of them, in order to show them that I am not only interested in them being quiet or doing their work when they need to be but also that I am interested in knowing more about them as a valued community member.  Since it may be impractical to think I will have time with each of them, my next move is to use some community building strategies straight from the “Tribes” book , once I get a copy. 

 

 

One thing I didn’t expect in my internship

Being able to wear open-toed shoes while teaching is not something I expected in my intenship.  I like how comfortable the teachers at my school are with dress, and how professional they are at the same time in how they interact with the students and with one another.

 

Support

I am very thankful to say that I have many people in my life who support me in what I do.  Some of these people support me tremendously (usually those who are immediately involved in my life) Other people who support me do so in ways that aren’t as easily noticed, since I see these people less frequently.  Whether they be family members, friends, mentors, roommates, or co-workers, they impact my life in a positive way.

As a matter of fact, one of my roommates is supporting me while I’m writing this blog, not only in lending me her laptop while mine is being a big pain in the rear, but she is also encouraging me to use my time efficiently while writing so that I can complete some other things that I need to tonight.

The people I support are family members, friends, mentors, roommates, and co-workers.  During this busy time of life while I’m in school and interning, I hope I support them enough.  I do support them as much as I can.

Balance

Lately, to keep balance in my life, I have been striving to do at least one activity a week that doesn’t involve preparing to teach a lesson or reading and etc. for the 5th year program.

My goal to keep balance in my life, since one non-school related thing a week isn’t exactly “balanced,” is to do more non-school related things a week.. Such as, going to functions hosted by Teach Idaho or hanging with friends who go to College of Idaho.  I also plan to execise more, and I’m happy to say that one of the ways I will get to do this is by playing volley ball with some of the staff at Van Buren elementary. 🙂

On most days of this week, I have been staying in my classroom at Van Buren for an hour or two after the kids leave to plan lessons and utilize the classroom to practice lessons.  I have also been reading for my methods courses during that time so that I can keep up with the reading (and catch up in some cases, hee hee).

Moving right into planning and reading after school, instead of driving home first has proven to be really helpful to make sure I get the things accomplished that I need to.  A few weeks ago, when I would drive home first and then try to get back into everything I needed to do, it was hard to be motivated… It was like I had already changed gears to relaxing-at-home mode. 

I expect that reading and planning right after school before doing anything else, will eventually (once I’m caught up on the reading) allow more balance in my life because everything will be broken into manageable chunks and I can have the remainder of my evenings for the other things I want/need to do.

Classroom Community

Mrs. Goede and I set up our classroom community by reminding our second graders of the school-wide “5 agreements.”  These agreements are mutual respect, attentive listening, no put-downs, appreciations, and participation with the right to pass.  At the end of most days we have community circle in our classroom and it was during this time within the first couple of weeks that we refeshed our students memories as to what the 5 agreements are. 

We focused on one agreement per community circle and during that time we would make a poster. For example, when we focused on the agreement “no put-downs,” we drew a tombstone on our poster that said R.I.P. put-downs.  Then we asked the students for examples of words you never say at school because they are put-downs.  We wrote these words around the tombstone and told the students that we buried them and never wanted/needed to hear them again at school.  Needless to say, it was pretty interesting to hear what the students came up with when asked to make a list of words which they were NEVER supposed to say at school.  

After we discussed each of the agreements in community circle, we signed our names on papers which we hung on our wall to show anyone who enters our class that we uphold the 5 agreements in our classroom.

Reflection on my Inquiry model

For some reason, I had the hardest time thinking of what to teach in an inquiry lesson.  Thank goodness I asked for some advice on what to teach.

I decided to make the lesson about mixing colors, and what better way to do that than to make it an art lesson in which the students would be mixing paint.

After all, it would be First grade I would be teaching and most of them wouldn’t know yet that non-primary colors come from primary colors when they are mixed.

This lesson would follow one in which the idea of primary colors would have been introduced to the students.

I would ask the students “How did I get purple from the three primary colors?”

If the students were struggling, I would say “You have to mix certain primary colors to get the color purple.”

Ideally the students would figure out that the same amount of red and blue have to be mixed to get purple.  I will point them in this direction..  Once the students have determined this scenario, I will allow them to test their theory by using colored pencils on a piece of paper.

I think the students would enjoy this lesson. 🙂