I arrived at school full of high expectations for my student teaching experience, expecting it to be little hard but mainly just a great time for growth. I promptly got a huge wake up call for the hard aspects of teaching on my second day. My first afternoon I was so excited to meet my teacher, but I showed up at the door and then learned she had to leave to care for her sick son. So I found a teacher across the hall to watch for the afternoon. That evening my teacher informed me she would be gone for the next day and I could help out her students with the worksheets if I felt comfortable enough. I thought 'yeah I got this, I've helped students with worksheets before.' Those were my famous last words. Overall the day was fairly typical of how a class behaves with a substitute teacher. However because the sub assumed I had some magical teaching capabilities I was in charge of introducing myself, getting the students started on their work, and discipline. Discipline is so tiring. There is one particular class that I was warned by the other teachers that there were multiple students with behavioral problems. I expected problems, the behavior definitely exceeded those expectations. I got to experience my first power struggle with a student and although I think I 'won' it definitely was not the kind of teacher that I want to be. I thought I was super prepared for student teaching, but because everyday and every class is different it is better to just expect the unexpected.
This week has already taught how important classroom management is for a successful school year. I've also learned that when a student pushes me too far, I go into scary teacher mode (as scary as a small Asian woman can be) and I need to form better reactions in those scenarios. After reflecting on what happened I realized that I should have taken the student out of class to talk one-on-one. I definitely feel more comfortable with enforcing discipline after my second day.
Moving forward I would like to get to know the students better. I've found that learning names is good, but to actually know about the students I need to follow up with questions such as fun facts or extracurriculars that they may be a part of. This will help with the standard on Learner Differences, because the more I get to know the students, the more I'll be able to cater to their unique learning differences.
You deserve some rest this weekend! I appreciate reading your positive reflection on what seems like a tough day or so. I agree with you in terms of expecting the unexpected - as teachers, we go into our days/classes with a plan and expectations but it is important to be open to other possibilities.
ReplyDeleteHow are you planning to get to know your students and their learning differences?
I'm really trying to just have small conversations with students whenever the opportunity arises. So, learning a name and then being interested in them and who they are as a person. It's hard to get across how much I care in just a short maybe 30 second conversation, but hopefully the more small conversations I have with them the more comfortable they will be with sharing more of themselves.
DeleteWow, Natalie, it must have been really tough trying to manage behavior issues with students you don't know, but it sounds like you came out the other side with more confidence! Perhaps your goal of getting to know the students better will help you to identify ways to "form better reactions" so you don't need to "scary teacher mode".
ReplyDeleteKids can be mean. I'm sure your scary teacher mode was still super sweet (lol). Love you Nat, we got this!
ReplyDeleteWhat a crazy first experience. Trial by fire probably doesn't come close to declscribing your experience, but I'm encouraged by the fact that you persevered and that you made the most of a challenging situation. I agree with Kate in that getting to know your students well will probably serve you well in terms of behavior issues.
ReplyDeleteHopefully once your cooperating teacher returns you can have a fresh start, reintroduce yourself, and beging putting into practice all that you're planning to do.
Get some much needed rest this weekend!
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ReplyDeleteFirst off, I want to say I loved your blog because it's so real! I feel like I am going to learn a lot from you!
ReplyDeleteAs for learning students' names, I will share with you my tips that I also shared with Aaron. My teacher gave me her school's login username/password which allows you to access the attendance/grades/etc, so I would suggest you ask your teacher for yours if you haven't already. This will also allow you to access the roster of each class which has a profile picture of each student attached to their name. This is how I have been learning students' names:
-I learn students' names two class periods at a time (preferably the class you think you will be taking over soon). I will use the roster to learn the names with their profile picture.
-When I go to class, if Julie needs help with passing back papers I will pass them back to test myself. If I make a mistake, students will correct me and I get instance feedback!
-Once I've mastered all the students' names for those two class periods, I learn two more class periods and repeat the same process.
-Throughout the day when I am helping students, I do make a effort to get to know the students who I don't their names, because it give me a chance to know "something" about them which makes easier for me to learn their names.
Lastly, don't stress too much about learning your students' names all at once. You will learn their names, it just takes time.
Hi Natalie! Reading your post had some sort of flashback for me since I was in that classroom last semester. I completely understand how you are feeling when you described being informed of the class with "behavioral problems". You noted that you had your first power struggle. Are you someone that does well with confrontation? If not, any tips to share with how you dealt with this? :) I am terrible with confrontation and dealing with discipline issues so I'd love to hear from your experience!
ReplyDeleteHa, so I'm awful with confrontation. Actually, I think I'm getting better at handling it, but I really dislike having to do it. Classroom management is definitely my worse fear about teaching. The best advice I've gotten so far about it is that if you truly care about the students, the more discipline will turn into a neccesity. Maybe you still won't enjoy doing it, but some students really need and crave someone who will care enough about them to make them do the right thing. It's not really practical advice, I feel that just comes with practice, but it makes me feel more motivated to enforce the rules and confront students.
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