Book Reflection: Preparation Time
As I begin writing the second blog to reflect on my summer reading I also can't help but notice that the summer has flown by. In fact I'm positive that I have just written the last blog post on this summer reading but looking back at the blog I an see that it has been a full month. This made me realize that one of the best things about being a teacher is yes it's a lot of work but the time will definitely fly by.
I also began reading this book differently too. Instead of reading it page for page I look at the title and ask myself what is one thing I hope to gain out of this chapter or something I should probably be asking Ms Romberger to prepare myself for the up coming school year.
Chapter Eight : Classroom Procedures
The first thing I did was ask Ms Romberger what her classroom procedure is. The way I look at student teaching that, yes it is my time to shine, I am showing up in the middle of the school year. If I walk in with twenty new classroom procedures, the students will be plotting my downfall day two. So I want to know what works for Ms Romberger and see if maybe that will work for me as well. Some of the ideas from this book are definitely elementary school procedures (bathroom lines) but others are perfect ideas. I especially like how some of these procedures made me realize that they were used on me often in highschool (especially the extra large hall pass idea). I'm going to save this chapter for when I'm student teaching and I'm struggling in coming up with a solution with a minor problem.
Chapter Nine: Due Dates
This is probably one of my biggest fears. In high school I never experienced an issue with seeing a student hand an assignment in late. I know on the rare occasion that I asked for an extension on an assignment I had to ask my teacher in person and justify it. As far as I have known in highschool this is the norm when it comes to due dates. This chapter made me ask Ms Romberger if this is an issue in the classroom for her and she said no. The hardest part is when the students are working on a project for multiple days. This one I could understand day one is always the slowest day on any project. I think for this stuff I am going to work on instilling in my students an idea of time concept for them to all use while they are here.
Chapter Ten: Those Acts Made My Congress Which Impacts My Job
Yep this chapter talked about NCLB (which as a student that lived through this I gotta say I hated). This made me realize that though I can come up with a schedule every week. If I don't put into consideration what grades are standardized testing at what times I will never help them. I also have come to think that maybe as an Agriscience Teacher one of the things I should look into is partnering with English, Math, and Science Teachers to help reinforce topics and skills to help them. Ideas would be using Math or Science Principles when I teach. Another idea would be to allow students to write a research paper and grade it using the English Departments Standards. My main take a way from chapter ten though has to be that as a teacher I have to work with all of my students. If I can find a way to make a student feel successful in my class then they will want to stay in the Ag Department and I would have succeeded.
Chapter Eleven: Parents
I learned reading this chapter that parents are going to be a difficult part of being a teacher but they probably only understand part of the story. I realized the importance especially as a younger teacher to have detailed records as to what goes on in my classroom or what is expected of my students. I can see the importance of staying consistent with parents as well.
Chapter Twelve: Other Teachers
I'm excited that this year not only do I have a great Cooperating teacher but also I have more resources to pull from as well. Working this summer also made me realize the importance of remaining professional but also socializing with Co-Workers in a positive manner. Working with other teachers its important to get a long and to have their backs cause you want them to have your back as well. I think that this was my biggest take away from this chapter.
Chapter Thirteen: The Principal
To me the big take away from this as a student teacher is meeting principals and getting them to observe your teaching is more important as a younger teacher then when you are a twenty year veteran. I think as a student teacher I will need to make sure that this does happen and that I make this a priority.
Chapter Fourteen: Lessons
This made me realize that to be a successful teacher I am going to have to reflect on what I teach every day and ask myself these three questions: What did you teach? How successful did you feel? What are you teaching tomorrow and the day after that? I hope that by asking myself these three questions I can improve my lessons and what I accomplish day by day. The nice thing is I start fresh every 40 minutes and as longs as I make those 40 minutes the best 40 minutes of a students day then I am doing something right.
I also began reading this book differently too. Instead of reading it page for page I look at the title and ask myself what is one thing I hope to gain out of this chapter or something I should probably be asking Ms Romberger to prepare myself for the up coming school year.
Chapter Eight : Classroom Procedures
The first thing I did was ask Ms Romberger what her classroom procedure is. The way I look at student teaching that, yes it is my time to shine, I am showing up in the middle of the school year. If I walk in with twenty new classroom procedures, the students will be plotting my downfall day two. So I want to know what works for Ms Romberger and see if maybe that will work for me as well. Some of the ideas from this book are definitely elementary school procedures (bathroom lines) but others are perfect ideas. I especially like how some of these procedures made me realize that they were used on me often in highschool (especially the extra large hall pass idea). I'm going to save this chapter for when I'm student teaching and I'm struggling in coming up with a solution with a minor problem.
Chapter Nine: Due Dates
This is probably one of my biggest fears. In high school I never experienced an issue with seeing a student hand an assignment in late. I know on the rare occasion that I asked for an extension on an assignment I had to ask my teacher in person and justify it. As far as I have known in highschool this is the norm when it comes to due dates. This chapter made me ask Ms Romberger if this is an issue in the classroom for her and she said no. The hardest part is when the students are working on a project for multiple days. This one I could understand day one is always the slowest day on any project. I think for this stuff I am going to work on instilling in my students an idea of time concept for them to all use while they are here.
Chapter Ten: Those Acts Made My Congress Which Impacts My Job
Yep this chapter talked about NCLB (which as a student that lived through this I gotta say I hated). This made me realize that though I can come up with a schedule every week. If I don't put into consideration what grades are standardized testing at what times I will never help them. I also have come to think that maybe as an Agriscience Teacher one of the things I should look into is partnering with English, Math, and Science Teachers to help reinforce topics and skills to help them. Ideas would be using Math or Science Principles when I teach. Another idea would be to allow students to write a research paper and grade it using the English Departments Standards. My main take a way from chapter ten though has to be that as a teacher I have to work with all of my students. If I can find a way to make a student feel successful in my class then they will want to stay in the Ag Department and I would have succeeded.
Chapter Eleven: Parents
I learned reading this chapter that parents are going to be a difficult part of being a teacher but they probably only understand part of the story. I realized the importance especially as a younger teacher to have detailed records as to what goes on in my classroom or what is expected of my students. I can see the importance of staying consistent with parents as well.
Chapter Twelve: Other Teachers
I'm excited that this year not only do I have a great Cooperating teacher but also I have more resources to pull from as well. Working this summer also made me realize the importance of remaining professional but also socializing with Co-Workers in a positive manner. Working with other teachers its important to get a long and to have their backs cause you want them to have your back as well. I think that this was my biggest take away from this chapter.
Chapter Thirteen: The Principal
To me the big take away from this as a student teacher is meeting principals and getting them to observe your teaching is more important as a younger teacher then when you are a twenty year veteran. I think as a student teacher I will need to make sure that this does happen and that I make this a priority.
Chapter Fourteen: Lessons
This made me realize that to be a successful teacher I am going to have to reflect on what I teach every day and ask myself these three questions: What did you teach? How successful did you feel? What are you teaching tomorrow and the day after that? I hope that by asking myself these three questions I can improve my lessons and what I accomplish day by day. The nice thing is I start fresh every 40 minutes and as longs as I make those 40 minutes the best 40 minutes of a students day then I am doing something right.
George,
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading your posting here (be sure to share on social media and send to your Virtual Mentor Team!)
One comment jumped off the screen at me, "parents are going to be a difficult part of being a teacher".
I would encourage you to revisit this thought. Parents perhaps are not a "difficult part", but simply a crucial part of the equation as we talk about helping each student grow and develop holistically as a community leader.
What can we do to communicate with and enlist parents as partners as opposed to viewing them as adversaries?
I believe Dr. Ewing will have an neat activity/assignment in AEE 413 that will explore parental communication, so look forward to that!
One more thing:
ReplyDeleteDon't forget when writing your blogs the power of:
1) Pictures (multimedia, etc)
2) Formatting (IE bold, underline, italics, etc)
Echo Dr. Foster re: parents. if the first contact you make is a positive one (just made about a dozen at county fair this morning) things work out for the best. You may or may not find the solution you are looking for, but communicating with all involved with the student can do nothing but help.
ReplyDeleteTo look at this from a practical function - what will you do when students are not feeling that your teaching is the best 40 minutes of their day. And what weight does their feedback carry? The balance you strike is a fine line to walk sometimes.
My philosophy on due dates is wildly unconventional - so that said - I am interested to see what direction your take on them will go once you have done this a month or two. It's an interesting debate and don't be afraid to buck some entrenched dogma.
Look forward to your journey. As Hemingway said - It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.