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.
Ms. Rodriguez,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that things are turning around for you and I am so glad you're able to see yourself grow. I think that is one of the best things about this semester - we've improved and everyone can see the difference. I hope you continue to have success with your students and please keep us updated.
I love that you went back to Bomer to search for ideas. One way I try to strengthen my connection with the kids is through their exit slips or reflection assignments - because let's face it, we don't always have time to ask students questions in class. I usually try to take the overall concept for the day: conflict, cause and effect, etc. and have them connect it to their own lives. You'd be surprised what you find. And yes, a lot of the time you get surface level responses, but sometimes you really get to see what they're excited about or a glimpse into their lives. I also try to switch it up and ask for opinions. For instance, at the end of the literature circle unit we just completed, their ticket out the door was an overall critique of the unit. It was short, sweet, and to the point and the kids were very honest. I hope there are some ideas here that help you.
Thank you for sharing!
-Ms. Dawson
Thank you Ms. Dawson!
DeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteWAHOO FOR YOU! I am so happy to hear that you are finally feeling confident and finding your "teacher" voice. I really connect to the advice your MT gave you: I know that at the beginning of the year I wanted to have a nice balance between being the nice, "cool" teacher, and also being an effective educator. However, I always ended up in trouble because I was too nice and not strict or consistent enough. I now know that your MT is correct in saying that you must hold each and every one of your students to your expectations, and that you cannot budge in that. I think student teaching is important because it teaches you how to be mean...but in a nice way...if that makes any type of senese. I think this is something that a lot of us struggle with because we don't want to be disliked, but at the end of the day sometimes you have to make students angry in order for them to successful later on down the road.
Once again, I am very happy that you are feeling confident because that is exactly how you should be feeling! You have so much to offer and it's exciting when student behaviors allow you to show that to them. Keep up the awesome work Megan and let's finish this semester strong :)
Ms. Liebst
Thank you Ms. Liebst for the kind words! I know that we have all made great progress this semester! Good luck to you in your last month of student teaching!
Delete-Ms. Rodriguez
Ms. Rodriguez,
ReplyDeleteYou exude confidence in this post - so fantastic. What a journey the year has been eh?
"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." This is so crucial. Make it meaningful if you want it to make an impact. Yes yes yes.
It sounds like your students responded really well to the text you picked out - isn't that the best feeling? One thing you can try to get more active class discussion is allowing students to discuss in small groups initially, then move into a bigger group. They can even take notes during their small discussion and then move to a full class situation. I find that with my ELL students especially, being able to read from written notes helps their confidence a lot. As does sharing with a smaller peer group first.
Like you I was amazed at the insights my students provided during quickwrite and other similar activities - I'm not sure they realized how engaged they were with the text until I pointed it out to them after the fact.
I just really love the whole tone of your post. Thank you for sharing your insight and this crazy journey through student teaching!
--Mrs. Tolbert
Thanks so much for your post, Megan. It sounds like your confidence is growing; I’m glad your peers were able to provide some suggestions to help you feel like the lead teacher in your MT’s classroom.
ReplyDeleteI might be a little confused from your first paragraph, so I will ask: is your MT still taking on those housekeeping responsibilities for you (e.g., writing passes, etc.)? If so, make it a goal to take on those tasks, so you can see what it feels like to really run the class independently. Think about how you can manage all those different spinning plates. For example, if students are asking for passes at inopportune times, perhaps you set the expectation that you will not write passes during instructional time (only during independent work time). And then, it’s just one student out at a time, and the expectation is that they return to class as quickly as possible (watch the time).
Your MT gave great advice about communicating expectations and then holding students accountable for them—thanks for sharing that! Can you give some specific examples of how you’re putting that advice into practice—instruction, classroom management, etc.?
Thanks for this post!