Letter to Self - Online Reflection 4

Dear 2013 Self,

              Hey! This is 2016 Megan writing you a letter. Read this letter and pay very close attention because I am about to give you some valuable information and advice from someone who knows you best: yourself. But first, congratulations! As of right now, we have officially survived student teaching. We have our KPTP results back, we are about to start our last day with the kids we have been with for the last year and more importantly, we have an actual paying job for next year. Sound unbelievable? Well, you better believe it girl because it is 100% true!

              I know right now you are feeling overwhelmed with starting new classes with all of them having huge papers due around the same time in April.  I also know that you are feeling inadequate around all of these other education majors. When everyone introduced themselves at the beginning of the semester and finding out that a lot of them have always wanted to be teachers, it’s hard to feel like you belong when you have recently decided that this is what you want to do. But trust me, you do belong there and do not let anyone make you feel any differently.

              With all of this comes a lot of work; I mean a lot of work. Forget about your very small social life and your regular amount of sleep during the week because that will be all messed up for the rest of your career, so you better get used to it. You will soon learn that high school and middle school has changed in the very little time that you have been out of it. Not every student is as hard working and focused on their education as much as you were. But I guess that is why you wanted to teacher, is it not? To hopefully get through to the students who do not believe education is the most important part of their lives? Well, believe me, you have your work cut out for you. But I know you can and will become someone else’s ‘Ms. LaFever’ and inspire them to work hard so they can become successful in life.

              Now, here is where I leave you with a few points of advice to keep in mind. Number 1: take a copy of any assignment your merely think you might like or want to use in the future. Number 2: write down every single piece of advice or information anyone gives you. Number 3: buy all of your English and education textbooks used instead of renting them; you will need them in the future. Number 4: remember that it is okay that you make mistakes (and believe me, you WILL make mistakes and plenty of them); you are not expected to do everything perfectly. Number 5: when others are giving you advice or critiquing you, they are just trying to help you grow as an educator and not trying to put your down.

              Well, good luck in the next two years. You will do great, so do not worry. You will be stressed quite a bit, but it will be worth it in the end. Trust me. 

Finally Being the Teacher - Online Reflection 3

Online Reflection 3 – Finally Being the Teacher

              11 weeks later and I am finally treated like the classroom teacher (most of the time). I have been struggling, like most student teachers, to make the students see me as the teacher and person in charge of the classroom. At the beginning, when my mentor teacher was still sitting in on every class, students would ask her to use the restroom, get a drink, etc. and I would feel kind of sad because I was the teacher and they were supposed to ask me for those things! However, 11 weeks later I am extremely grateful every time they try to ask her for something because it is one less time they are bugging me!

              One way, according to Bomer, that teachers can create a relationship with their students as well as get to know them is to focus the in-class assignments and literature to focus on your students’ lives so they can create connects between their lives and the texts. “We need to know what students know and how they think about literacy in order to help make connections to new ideas and practices” (21). That is what I was trying to do in my KPTP unit on diversity; I wanted to read a story that my ESOL and Latino students could connect to. They were embarrassed to contribute to discussions, but their quick writes and individual reflections were very thoughtful and reflective because they were able to read and write about a topic they were familiar with and could relate with.

A couple weeks ago, I aired my struggles in class and my classmates gave me some really great feedback. They assured me that everything will work itself out. One classmate suggested that I let my students know that I am the person who creates and grades their assignments because they do not see the work I do before and after class. My mentor teacher also gave me some advice to improve this relationship; she told me that I need to hold each and every student to my expectations. When I show them that I will not budge on what I am asking them to do, they will continue to learn to see me as the adult in charge, not my mentor teacher. It is hard because my mentor teacher has had the whole year to develop the relationships she has created with the students.

With the advice and support of my classmates and mentor teacher, I have come a long way since the beginning of the semester. I have learned to use my voice and presence to show the students that for the time being, I am in charge of the class. I know I will continually grow and grow as I move from student teaching into a full time teaching position. 

Teaching Discussion Techniques to 7th Graders - Reflection 2

As we all know, students love to talk. They can find just about anything to talk about to distract themselves from the ‘boring school assignments.’ But when it comes to class or group discussions, it’s like pulling teeth to get them to talk on topic! Thank goodness for those rare students who like to talk AND are focused enough to respond on topic. How do I get every student to answer my discussion questions without having to make everyone write down their answers to the questions?

              When my students and I were reading “Harrison Bergeron” the last couple weeks, we would have a little review session each day about what we read the day before. My struggle at the beginning was getting the students to actually take the 30 seconds I gave them to look over the last section to be able to have a small review discussion. I finally figured out that if I put review questions on the board and told them that at the end of their review, they should be able to answer these questions. And then I would use my phone app to pick random students to answer the questions on the board. By doing this, the students were able to remember the important main points of the last section so they can move onto the next section with better understanding. This was also a perfect time for students to ask questions if they were confused about the last question.

              Another aspect of discussion that I have been working on is getting the students to participate in discussing the section they just read by themselves. Harrison Bergeron has many conflicting points that the students like to debate about. According to Bomer, focusing on these differences are a great way to facilitate a discussion that more students are willing to participate in (139). His technique of using the differences of a subject to facilitate a discussion is using the very common fact that when students asked to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’, they usually agree with the majority of the class. Bomer suggests playing the devil’s advocate and asking them to consider another, less popular point of view. This worked well for me during our class discussions.

One specific time this worked well for me was when I asked them if George going to jail for two years and paying $2000 for messing with his handicap was appropriate consequences. Most of all three of my classes said no because they were unfair consequences. I asked the class to consider the government’s point of view; ‘Why would the government actually give him those consequences?’. With that, they agreed that George did break the law and everyone who breaks the law has to face the consequences.

One important aspect of the teaching great discussion techniques Bomer talks about is “eliminating the evaluation part of the initiation-response-evaluation talk pattern” (138). This is a part that I need to work on; I struggle with getting across to the students who refuse to participate that it is a requirement. I feel like the only way I can guarantee that everyone will participate enough for me to evaluate them all is to have them all write their answers down THEN to have them get up and share with a partner to get that discussion aspect in the activity. What I have seen work well with my MT is to not necessarily threatening per-se, but giving them the opportunity to choose what they do in class. She likes to do little class discussions and tells them that they choose what they are going to do: either everyone participates and shares their two bits or she will stop the discussion and make everyone write down their responses. This usually works in motivating everyone to participate. When I go to try this technique, what I have to work on is holding them to my expectations; if the discussion really is not going well, then I need to stop and have them write. Hopefully, in doing this the future discussions can and will get better over time.  

Letting off Some Steam - Online Reflection 1

Letting Off Some Steam

By Megan Rodriguez

You will have those bad days.

Just accept it right now.

You will wake up one morning in bed from 2 hours of sleep.

Okay, to be honest you weren’t in bed.

You were at your home desk with papers sticking to your face.

Do you remember how young kids thought their teachers lived in their classrooms?

From time to time I could be okay with that.

It would save me gas driving to and from home.

It’s not just the lack of sleep that is the problem though.

Remembering you are a STUDENT teacher is hard sometimes.

I think that I must work and teach at the same level as my MT

With a ¼ or more of the experience.
But things will get better.

It is also hard remembering you also have a class (or classes for some) to attend.

Like I have time to do homework when I am busy creating it for my students.

I guess this multitasking is what experts call ‘adulthood’.

If I knew back in kindergarten a real job would be this hard,

I would have worked harder at being a professional colorer.

-Back to being a STUDENT teacher-

This semester is meant to be my experimental time.

Do I have a strategy or idea that I want to try?

Now is the time to do that, but it is hard to accept that in doing this I will make mistakes.

Don’t be fooled, the students know exactly what you are.

You are a student just like them who is getting experience

 and they decide that they (all 200 of them) need to be that one difficult student

a student teacher can learn from.

At least that has been my experience so far.

Okay, I might be exaggerating a little bit (okay a lot).
But things will get better.

 I guess I shouldn’t be complaining too much.

I have it good compared to others.

I don’t have a husband or children to take care of on top of this.

Which is fortunate because I still cannot take care of myself.

But I better get a move on because in less than 6 months

I will have at least 100 kids to take care of.

Thankfully it is easier to take care of someone else than it is to take care of yourself.

I have many things that I need to work on.

Slowing down is one of them. Being impatient is a weakness for me.

My fear is that I will move too slow that my students lose their attention from my lesson.

I am also afraid of wasting valuable class time.

This semester is about learning balance.

Balancing my planning time and social life.

Balancing instruction time with think and work time.

Balancing my emotions between classes and students.

 But things will get better.

Not now.

Probably not next year.

Probably not the year after that.

But eventually.