Most Challenging:
For me the most challenging part is preparing, especially preparing with another person. I make lesson plans, but I don't always stick to them. I'm not a rule follower when it comes to teaching; I let the students guide the lesson. I feed off of them and get all of my energy from them. It is very difficult to plan and teach with others when you teach differently.
Greatest Success:
I think my greatest successes were the first and last lessons that I taught. I was so confident in front of the class- when I'm teaching it's like no one else is even there. The only thing I care about are the kids. I think I was also very good at demanding there attention and respect. I never had any classroom management issues with them and they always knew that I was just as important as their teacher. I felt like they paid attention and participated and that definitely made me feel successful!
Recommendations:
I recommend getting to know all of your students. You can feel that they trust you once you know about them and spend time talking to them. I also recommend using as many resources as you can! My cooperating teacher helped us out a lot and gave us a lot of ideas. Use as much as you can! As Axel says- beg, borrow, and steal! :) Also- don't panic! It is overwhelming- that's just the profession that we are going into. But I found it a lot easier to stay calm when I started seeing it as a learning experience. We are so privileged to go into these classrooms, and we have so many resources and wonderful people to learn from.
I would also recommend not putting too much into one lesson. This is SO SO important! Our teachers always say simple is better. You can NOT fit an entire unit in one lesson! Our time was limited and we were not expected to cover everything.
I was so sad to go. The day before my last day with them I cried after I left the school! I was just heartbroken. I told them I will definitely be back to visit. On the last day they all told me how happy they were to have me. A few kids said that I helped them with subjects that they didn't understand and that meant the world to me. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to work with them.
I love this quote, "Our time was limited and we were not expected to cover everything." I think this is very essential when we determine for ourselves if we were successful while in field. I found it hard to keep this in mind when planning our lesson plans but our cooperating teacher helped us remember that whatever we are not able to cover she would go over or as she said, "I'll just pick up where you left off."
ReplyDeleteJackie, thanks so much for your post! You made a great difference in those little kids lives and they were so lucky to have YOU! A simple thank you from kids can mean the world! I had a hard time saying good bye to my kids too. I like how you recommended trying to get to know each of your students. When people feel that they know you and that you care they are much more willing to come when they need help.
ReplyDeleteI love that you said that preparing was your greatest struggle. It was actually pretty easy for me, the hard part was that it became really time consuming because I wanted to make sure I did a nice job on everything. That is awesome that you didn't have any management issues!! That helps each lesson go by so much smoother.
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