This week was exciting for me
because I got to teach an actual full 2 lessons. I did an overview on Poe and
the Gothic Literature genre. The first period went by very smooth with no
nerves whatsoever. I finally felt comfortable and capable. Now, fifth period
was a different story. I think it showed me the importance of
differentiating instruction and maybe changing your management plan when
needed. I had to really remember what to do when you have a lot of side-bar
conversations. So, my 3 second plan in motion was to change my place, move
around. It is kind of hard when you are presenting a subject, especially when
introducing something new, but I moved to the middle of the classroom, and that
actually improved things a lot. It was a funny day. My clicker did not like me;
I had to think of plan B on the fly because my planned lesson finished earlier
than necessary. I definitely felt like a teacher – thinking on my toes.
So this is
what I learned – just to go with the flow and reflect as you go. If something
does not work and you are aware of it, think of what you can do differently. I
had to learn from my own experience instead of my teacher this week, because I
was doing all the teaching. Another thing is sometimes you have to give the
students some space. One boy was just having an off day, struggling, but
knowing him and knowing that he actually does his work, I talked to him and let
him just relax. We were in the library doing research at that time. Trusting
your students is another thing. You know just not being on their case all the
time. We not there to baby-sit and I have to kind of try not to, especially
with AP students. I gotta remember to give them time to independently work and
take responsibility for their work.
I think
that is what I would also take away to my own teaching is giving students time
for independent study. They are capable of that, of being the proprietors of
their own education and I need to let them do that. So having some research and
independent work day when I will have my own classroom would be very beneficial
for my students.
I guess a
hard situation this week was just the side-bar stuff during the 5th and
the issues with the clicker. I was a little lost on how to minimize it. I do
not mind a bit of it, but instead of answering the question so the whole class
could hear, many students just told the person next to them. I had to fish the
answers out of them. Overall, it was not so bad, I like their energy and not
everything always goes on perfectly and different classes have different
dynamics. All in all, I had a lot of fun teaching and figuring out that I can
fit in to that role and be that personal teacher that cares about her students.
Keep marching on!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment