Hey all here is a great video I found on youtube. Thought it was great to see children involved in the election.
The Ones Who Got Away
10 years ago
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Noise Level
Hello all,
I made it through my first observation and wow what an eye opener!!! One of the things that stood out to me the most was the fact that I have a higher tolerance of noise than my master teacher. I did not realize this until after the observation that the teacher was saying how loud some of the the students were tapping their pencils(we were drawing) along with the shuffling of pencils. When I was in front of the class I did not even really notice the noise. How do you all deal with the noise and do you need it to be really quiet or are you all right with some noise?I have always been one who likes a bit of noise even when doing homework and tests. But I do know that some need it to be quiet, maybe this is why I am able to tune out the noise.
Along with this issue the other problem was that some of the students could not hear the questions and answers. I did stop and tell the children that I could not hear the child and that worked once. What are some other ideas that I could use to make sure that all of the children can be heard? Some of the suggestions that were made was to repeat what the child said but then I feel as if the child is not really heard it is the teacher if that makes sense! Another suggestion was to ask a child that was at a different table. I thought that was a good suggestion but was just wondering about any others that people had used at all in the classroom or elsewhere.
I made it through my first observation and wow what an eye opener!!! One of the things that stood out to me the most was the fact that I have a higher tolerance of noise than my master teacher. I did not realize this until after the observation that the teacher was saying how loud some of the the students were tapping their pencils(we were drawing) along with the shuffling of pencils. When I was in front of the class I did not even really notice the noise. How do you all deal with the noise and do you need it to be really quiet or are you all right with some noise?I have always been one who likes a bit of noise even when doing homework and tests. But I do know that some need it to be quiet, maybe this is why I am able to tune out the noise.
Along with this issue the other problem was that some of the students could not hear the questions and answers. I did stop and tell the children that I could not hear the child and that worked once. What are some other ideas that I could use to make sure that all of the children can be heard? Some of the suggestions that were made was to repeat what the child said but then I feel as if the child is not really heard it is the teacher if that makes sense! Another suggestion was to ask a child that was at a different table. I thought that was a good suggestion but was just wondering about any others that people had used at all in the classroom or elsewhere.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tale of two personalities
My son had very different teachers in 3rd and 4th grade. In terms of quality, I feel they are equally good teachers. I am quite torn about how their different personalities affect my child.
One teacher has a very warm personality. She is goofy, funny, and not afraid to admit a mistake or make fun of herself. She cares deeply about her kids and genuinely likes people; her interest shows in her every action. She welcomes her students in her classroom before school, during lunch, and all recesses. Her students love her and strives to please her in every way, including paying attention in class. Her curriculum and instructional planning are haphazard. While she loves to try out new ideas, there seemed little intention behind the planning. If it sounds good and fun, she would check it out. Her nod to standards is following the school mandated curriculum.
The other teacher has a more formal personality. She dresses professionally, presents a friendly demeanor, and is very careful to present a put together image for her students. She is a professional teacher with decades of experience and seemed to keep up with the latest research on instruction. Everything she does is very intentional with learning behind every action, project, and assignment. She is scruplous about using small groups or one on one activities to address different abilities and different activities to address different learning styles. Her students seemed OK with that. She also pays careful attention to standards and made sure her curriculum addresses everything the children need to know.
Although arguably, the second teacher is doing everything best practices research is saying she should do, my son much prefered the first teacher. I begin to wonder how much of a difference personality makes? My son is stressed by the expectations of the second teacher and experiencing some amount of personality shock. He is definitely not as motivated with the more formal teaching style. How much more or less is he learning with different teachers? Will it come out even? Will the intentional instruction overcome the lack of motivation?
One teacher has a very warm personality. She is goofy, funny, and not afraid to admit a mistake or make fun of herself. She cares deeply about her kids and genuinely likes people; her interest shows in her every action. She welcomes her students in her classroom before school, during lunch, and all recesses. Her students love her and strives to please her in every way, including paying attention in class. Her curriculum and instructional planning are haphazard. While she loves to try out new ideas, there seemed little intention behind the planning. If it sounds good and fun, she would check it out. Her nod to standards is following the school mandated curriculum.
The other teacher has a more formal personality. She dresses professionally, presents a friendly demeanor, and is very careful to present a put together image for her students. She is a professional teacher with decades of experience and seemed to keep up with the latest research on instruction. Everything she does is very intentional with learning behind every action, project, and assignment. She is scruplous about using small groups or one on one activities to address different abilities and different activities to address different learning styles. Her students seemed OK with that. She also pays careful attention to standards and made sure her curriculum addresses everything the children need to know.
Although arguably, the second teacher is doing everything best practices research is saying she should do, my son much prefered the first teacher. I begin to wonder how much of a difference personality makes? My son is stressed by the expectations of the second teacher and experiencing some amount of personality shock. He is definitely not as motivated with the more formal teaching style. How much more or less is he learning with different teachers? Will it come out even? Will the intentional instruction overcome the lack of motivation?
Thursday, October 9, 2008
C is for Constant Attention
I'll preface this post by saying I am currently in the dyad portion of my student teaching assignment and I am helping teach 6th grade math (not 4th grade, as the blog title suggests).
C is a student in my afternoon class who could be a poster-child for the discrepancy between learning with teacher aid and learning by himself, otherwise known as the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Whenever I am around, helping him with his work, C does great and enjoys doing the work. The second I leave to help another student, C immediately stops doing his work and starts goofing around with his peers. If he is not already working with me or another teacher, he is goofing off or has his hand raised waiting for another teacher to help. He seems to refuse to do work by himself. His gap in achievement level between working on his own, and working with a teacher, is larger than I thought possible.
From the reading we've done, I think an ideal approach would be to slowly back away from helping C with his work. Eventually C will hit a point where he realizes he can do the work on his own, but the large leap from where we are now to that point seems more like a free-fall! I'll keep the blog updated on my progress with C!
C is a student in my afternoon class who could be a poster-child for the discrepancy between learning with teacher aid and learning by himself, otherwise known as the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Whenever I am around, helping him with his work, C does great and enjoys doing the work. The second I leave to help another student, C immediately stops doing his work and starts goofing around with his peers. If he is not already working with me or another teacher, he is goofing off or has his hand raised waiting for another teacher to help. He seems to refuse to do work by himself. His gap in achievement level between working on his own, and working with a teacher, is larger than I thought possible.
From the reading we've done, I think an ideal approach would be to slowly back away from helping C with his work. Eventually C will hit a point where he realizes he can do the work on his own, but the large leap from where we are now to that point seems more like a free-fall! I'll keep the blog updated on my progress with C!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
