First Week

It's that time again...time for lesson planning, assessments, perfecting your "teacher stare", disciplining 20some students, wondering if you made the right career choice, researching alternative career options, thinking about why teachers need to be given summers off... and doing all of these things on no more than five hours of sleep.

I've already learned a couple of things upon completing my first four-day week of grade 8:

#1 - It's almost useless to plan a lesson using the Brock lesson plan because the lesson rarely goes the way you intend it to.
#2 - Portables often smell like a rotten egg of adolescence (I'm NOT looking forward to the summer time...or after an hour of phys-ed)
#3 - The very first thing you need to do is get to know the names of your students (your homeroom AND the ones you teach on rotary). Disciplining will not be effective if you call the student by another name. They actually won't even respond, believe it or not.
#4 - Be careful the way you word questions. For example, for an 'exit card' activity, I asked students "Can you guess what the Pythagorean Theorem may be used for?". The majority of the answers that I recieved simply stated one word: "NO". You can't even get mad at them...they answered the question. I'm still learning...

Although life is busy and hectic once again, I think I still love teaching. I hope you all feel the same as well. I'm looking forward to my next six weeks! :)

Social Issues Day II

I must say that I enjoyed this Social Issues Day very much. The story of the Holocaust survivor, who was brave enough to share his experiences with us, was incredibly moving. This presentation made me feel sick to my stomach, to think that as a human race we are capable of such digusting and painful behaviour. These stories need to be shared in order for us to build compassion toward topics of injustice. I realized that we must stand up for what is right and what is good without having the fear that someone will hurt us for doing so. I realize this is easier said that done...but it's a nice thought.

The workshop on "Contemporary Issues for Catholic Educators" was very beneficial. Although we already had Kelly speak to us at our religion retreat, I still found this session to be very beneficial. I like that we were allowed to ask any questions about any topic because as a new Catholic educator I have many questions about how I am to deal with certain situations. My favourite part of his speech was when he explained that God is not responsible for the bad things (or good things for that matter) that happen in your life. Instead, he gives you the strength and love that you need to endure these situations. I wish I had known this back in high school...perhaps I would not have struggled with my faith as much as I did.

The second workshop I attended discussed the issue of homosexuality in schools; how do we as educators talk about it with our students? I didn't feel like I came away with anything from this presentation. The presenter had us talk about experiences that we had in high school (whether or not we spoke about the topic of homosexuality), and then we watched a short video where teachers asked grade four students what they thought the word "gay" meant. It did not show how the teacher addressed the issue when a student believed that the word "gay" meant "bad". In addition, the speaker did not tell us her personal struggles that she went through, or what she wished teachers would do to make her situation a lot easier. I would have liked to hear about what I can do particularly to better a student's situation if they have same sex parents, or are a part of a same sex relationship.

All in all it was a fun day. Kudos.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! I always take time during the New Year to reflect upon the days that are behind me, and how to improve the days ahead of me. One might call this a New Year's Resolution.

To reflect upon my year thus far, my teaching block was wonderful. The amount that I learned in those four weeks of teaching was more than I could have learned reading any textbook. I've gone back to visit my kids, and the welcome that I recieve every time I go is very heartwarming. Living away from home I truly appreciate the warm welcome and guidance that I recieve from the staff and students at my placement school. It feels like I'm a part of their family, their very large extended family.

What I learned from this teaching block is that teaching will in fact be a 24 hour day / 7 day a week job. When I spent the holiday with my five and six year old nephew and niece I realized that I remained in the role of the teacher. When they argued with one another I used discipline techniques we've been learning in class. When they asked a question, I asked them to brainstorm answers on their own before I answered them. I gave them workbooks for Christmas (which probably makes me the worst aunt in the world). I'm not sure if it is avoidable, but this year I feel like we're making the transformation from student to teacher.

So how can I improve the days ahead of me this year? The goal is to stay sane. With school work and application deadlines soon approaching, I imagine the beginning of this year will be stressful and busy. There aren't enough hours in the day to get everything finished, so there's no point in trying to do so. I will do my best this year to find a balance between work, applications, and time for friends and family. I feel like I neglected to spend time with friends and family last year as I was so caught up in school work. Since I've realized how busy the life of the teacher really is, I need to balance my life a little bit better.

Soooooo...who wants to have a social?

Simple Question

I forgot to mention this in my previous post.

Upon completing our Remembrance Day celebration in the gym, we walked back to classrooom. As we entered the classroom, a grade four student tapped me on the back. I turned around, to which she responded with: "I have a question. Why do we call it a War For Peace when everyone is just killing one another?"

She gets it, how come nobody else does?

First Week Over

So I survived my first week of placement!!

After my first two days of teaching block I called my mom and told her that I'm not sure if the teaching profession is right for me. After each day of teaching I came home and napped for a minimum of 2 hours before going to bed. I couldn't control my class's behaviour. I was hungry, tired, frustrated, and wanted time for me again. Not the greatest start.

Come Friday, I decided that YES, the teaching profession is exactly where I should be. From the help of my associates I learned how to control my classroom all by myself. What an amazing feeling. I hope I can keep this up (especially with our evaluations quickly approaching and all). I am enjoying every minute I spend with my students. They are so random, I feel like I should write a book about them. They definitely keep me entertained. However if I hear one more comment about when I'm going to get married, I may ask if I can start giving detentions.

Sometimes I feel like I'm learning more from my students than they are learning from me. Students at the junior level crave structure, they like being told what to do. Whenever I disciplined my class I felt like I was being mean, but that's not the case at all. My students still respect me and listen. That's a very comforting feeling.

I think above all, students want to be heard and be noticed and be loved and cared for. I ask students to help me with many things,and I make a big deal about it because to them, it is. One student taught me to knit again during last recess because I forgot the rules. Another student wrote words on contruction paper fruit for me for an assembly in his NEATEST AND LARGREST hand writing. It's amazing how willing these students are to help.

I'm really enjoying the time I'm spending with my 4/5's. I hope that the rest of my teaching block is as enjoyable as Thursday and Friday was. Fingers crossed.

Got the Unit Planning Blues

I don't know about any of you, but prior to our block that begins on Tuesday, I have spent three days straight sitting in front of my computer attempting to create a unit for 4/5 mathematics as well as 4 Social Studies. Here is what I have come to realize during this time:

1) I will never feel the wind on my skin ever again

2) My eye sight is only going to last a few more months if this keeps up

3) Pre-Service teachers should also reap the benefits given to certified teachers - ie. massages. We are doing the same work after all.

4) Wanting to make models of every assignment you give your students will cause you to have no life, no boyfriends, and no contact with the outside world.

5) I skip meals by accident. This is against everything I believe in.

Moral of this weekend is this: No matter how much work you have to get done, take a BREAK! Watch a movie, go grocery shopping, call a friend. ANYTHING. And this is why it's so important for us to have socials during our block. It's all I'm saying...

Guest Speaker - Colleen

I really enjoyed Colleen's presentation. I found it to be very realistic and useful to our future teaching careers. There were two points she made that resonated with me very much.

1) Behaviour is managed but rarely modified. That's where we fall short
Too often we tell students what not to do, such as "quit talking", "don't get out of your seat", "no running in the hallways". Colleen stated that in order to have a long-term improvement, bad behaviour must be modified. One way to do this is to let students know how they are to behave, rather than telling them how they are not to behave. I loved the idea of practicing recess as well as practicing gathering for announcements. I plan to implement these strategies into my own classrooms. By practicing these routines students will quickly learn what is expected of them and why. By doing so, I believe that over time their behaviour will not only be managed, but modified as well. As Colleen said, it's important to teach discipline rather than react to it.

2) Children do well if they can
I think Colleen made a very good point when she said that you can't motivate skills that students do not have. For example, telling students to study so that they will do well on a test is fine and dandy. However, if students do not have the skills to study properly, it's useless to tell them to go home and study. We must make sure that students know how to complete the instructions that we are giving them. In other words, make sure we are motivating skills that students DO HAVE!

I hopt to implement these ideas into my future classrooms. I feel that they will prove to be very successful.