Parent – Teacher Reflection

 

This week we will be having parent/teacher conferences at my school.  As a parent I have been attending these types of conferences for 10 years now with my oldest son.  I have always sort of feared going to these conferences as I was never quite sure what exactly I was going to learn about my first born.  In all of these years though, these conferences have always been consistent.  I now know that my son is intelligent (okay so I knew that fairly early) but I also know that he is a procrastinator and tends to rush through his work instead of worrying about getting it right, he was rather just get it done.  I now have the chance to see these conferences through the lenses of a teacher.  I was intrigued when my cooperating teacher asked me to come to the conferences.  My first thought was, “oh my, is she going to want me to talk to the parents?”  As I have had time to contemplate this, I do not think it will be that bad.  I surely have enough experience on the other side of the table.

We sat down this week and went over all the student’s grades and talked about why they were either excelling or struggling.  When we finished our conversation, my cooperating teacher commented that I really seem to be very good at observing and understanding the students.  Okay, I admit that I grinned from ear-to-ear.  I am glad that she noticed that skill as I have been trying to perfect it for years on my own children.  After the compliment that I received from her, I am now ready to step up and take my part in the conferences and I find that I am looking forward it.  I will definitely remember that parents want to hear the good things their children do and to always try to share more positives than negatives.  I hope that my experience in my personal life will help guide me through this process.  I will have to update this after the conferences and let you all know how it went.   

Reflection #1 

 

It’s Time to Be a Grownup

 

As I begin my last semester, my student teaching semester, I am realizing that it is time to be the adult in the room.  I have always been the one to help the students with their reading or with their assignments, but I usually am not the one who is charge of those assignments.  Now that I have taken over two of my four classes, I am learning that it is okay if I act like the adult in the room instead of the buddy who helps out.  The first example of this came when I asked the students to quiet down so that I could give them their instructions.  They didn’t stop talking, so I told them I would wait.  One of the students made a nasty comment under his breath.  I stood there for a minute and thought to myself, “that wasn’t so bad.  It doesn’t really matter if they ‘like’ me every minute of the hour, but it does matter that they learn to respect me.”  I know for a lot of people that would not be a huge epiphany, but for me it was a big moment.  I find myself learning little lessons like that one on an everyday basis and I find that fact exciting.  I may be scared to death of the KPTP, but I am growing as a teacher daily.  At this point, I am really looking forward to the end of the semester and being able to look back on my growth throughout the semester. 

 

Genre Reflection #2

Sanity is the goal. 

 

What can I say about this semester to sum it all up?  Let’s start with “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and let me tell you, this semester has sure tried to kill me.  Between school, health, family and all the dark forces, I am amazed to still be in one piece.  As far as health goes, I think I have caught every possible germ out there at some time during this semester.  I have battled sinus infections, a root canal and projectile vomiting.  I have missed more days this semester than I ever have in the past, really, you can check.

            Family has been another issue.  I have said to myself, many times this year that my kids were born to kill me.  I am a female living with four boys (husband included as he often acts more like a child) and they test my sanity daily.  I have dealt with zombies, potty training (not potty training zombies but trying to potty train a 2-year-old who can’t stop fighting the zombies long enough to use the potty) and a hormonal 15-year-old.  In between those two, I have a 6-year-old who is more emotional than I am (and that is saying a lot).  It is his first year in kindergarten and I have been getting notes almost daily from his teacher regarding his lack of coping skills.  Really, I am in college and I am having trouble with my coping skills.  The final string this last holiday was my grandmother falling and having to spend three weeks in the hospital.  She is due home this week and I am rearranging the whole house to make sure we can accommodate her needs. 

            School has definitely had its ups and downs as well.  I began this semester with the best attitude and much excitement.  About one month into the semester my CT had a family situation that changed her semester, as well as mine.  The semester I had planned turned ugly on the day she told me to sit down and wait until she was ready to speak with me.  I will not dwell on that, as I now get to work with a wonderful teacher who demonstrates skills that I am not used to.  She is very soft spoken and humorous, as well as very knowledgeable about teaching tools and methods.  As life often revolves in circles, I am once again excited about the upcoming semester.  We just finished reading The Lord of the Flies in our Freshman class and I am reminded that, well, at least no one has died yet. 

            When I sit and ponder all that has happened this semester and the complete fear that overwhelms me when I consider all that is involved in the KPTP for next semester, I have to tell myself to stop and just breath.  The thought that I began with, the “what does not kill you makes you stronger” is not even the driving force in my thoughts anymore.  I have switched to a new mantra.  Please Lord, just let me still be sane when I get through.  I told my mother that when and if I graduate this May, please be sure to tuck my diploma into my straight jacket as they haul me off to the padded room so that I have a reminder of why it was all worth it.  I know that the people I work with at the bookstore think I have already crossed over into the insanity, but I still have a slight grip left.  So if you pass me in the halls and I am mumbling to myself and have a wild look in my eyes, just be kind. 

Blog post #3

We are now approaching the end of the pre-student teaching semester, making this the perfect time to reflect on the past events of this semester.  I know that for me in particular, this has been a tough semester.  I have learned that every class is unique to the circumstances that the students and teachers bring to the classroom.  Even though it has been said numerous times that baggage should be left outside the door but that is definitely not always the case.  A lot of time the students are not mature enough to do this.  The teacher is sometimes required to be cheerleader, guidance counselor, friend, mentor, and still teacher.  As if the circumstances are not overwhelming enough at times, occasionally as teacher candidates, we also have the delicate responsibility of dodging additional land mines.  One very important lesson I learned this semester, how to dodge all these land mines and still remain sane.  I think one of the most important things I will take with me regarding these issues is this: every day is a new beginning and it should be allowed to begin with a clean slate. 

 

I was fortunate enough to be able to switch to a different classroom to observe for the remainder of the semester and the difference has been like the expression, “night and day.”  I am now reminded that there are students out there who care about their grades, want to learn, and want to establish a future for themselves.  The first thing the teacher did was explain to the students what the opening activity was and what the expectations were.  The teacher told the students to begin work and they did!  The class was divided into 7 groups of students and every single group began planning their activity.  I could not believe this! I am used to a classroom where the teacher had to prod and prod, redirect and constantly monitor.  These students were already engaged and following through with only the expectation of receiving extra group points.  I realize that to some people this may seem silly or exaggerated, but I honestly was surprised.  I have spent the last several years in classrooms where we had to keep redirecting and steering the students back on task, so this was unchartered territory for me.  After the opening activity, the students were read to and then asked to finish reading the chapter independently.  The silence in the classroom was astounding.  Every student was actually reading, taking Cornell notes and working on extra work if finishing early.

 

I am really looking forward to spending more time in this classroom and experiencing the treasures it has to offer.  I believe that there is a lot I will learn from both the teacher and the students in this classroom and I am looking forward to having a new and positive experience in the weeks to come. 

Kate Conference

The KATE conference this past week was very informational and fun.  My favorite part had to be the keynote addresses from the YA authors Brent Crawford and Rachel Hawkins.  Both authors were very funny and inspiring.  I really enjoyed listening to Mr. Crawford read from his book and talk about what kind of student he was in school.  He really reminded me of a lot of boys in that same situation and I feel that his books will really resonate with young men, and he relates to them in such a humorous way that they will enjoy listening to his stories. 

 

Rachel Hawkins was someone I was very interested to hear speak.  I had read all three of her books, found them good and very fun.  I absolutely loved the main character in her trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed her sense of humor.  The character was very sarcastic and I really enjoyed that.  Listening to Mrs. Hawkins speak, you could definitely see where the character came from.  The author’s sense of humor and her interest in the paranormal shined through in her trilogy and I have recommended her books to other young girls looking for something fun to read.  I also really enjoyed the stories relating her experiences as a teacher.

 

There are also other aspects of the conference that were inspirational to me.  I attended a breakout session on co-teaching and that was very interesting for me.  This session discussed the ways to be effective with co-teaching and to recognize when it is not working, and that does not necessarily mean failure.  Communication between teachers is very important for this method and sometimes things cannot be forced. The second breakout session I attended was on first year teaching tips.  It was very interesting to hear someone talk about how we don’t have to be perfect.  It is nice to have someone acknowledge that we, as teachers, are learning as well and we will make mistakes.  We not always react perfectly the first time and we may have to adjust lesson plans or theories, but it will be alright to do so.  The samples she handed out are very helpful as well. In the afternoon I went to the Tier 3, MTSS session.  The reason I choose this was because these are the students I have been working with and I was curious how this teacher had changed her classroom to improve classroom management.  I have worked in this teacher’s classroom before and it was very interesting to see the changes she has implemented and the changes it has made for her with behavior and productivity. The last session I attended was the one on graphic novels and how we can use them in the classroom in multiple aspects.  I have been really intrigued lately with the use of graphic novels in the classroom.  I plan to use theses in my lesson plans and this session opened up even more possibilities.  I was very intrigued with the thought of validating these as reliable resources. 

Genre Reflection #1 - Advice

 

 

Advice

 

 

 

Good content ideas

No control over students

Speak faster

Stop and wait if they are talking

 

Get their attention

Keep their attention

Slow down

Speed up

 

Slow learners

Defiant and mean at times

No parental support

No discipline

 

Make connections

Praise often

Encourage

Teach

Online Reflection #2: For The Love of Books....

Let me start off by saying, “I absolutely love books.”  This statement is the premise which I base the following information on.  I have been in the high school now for 3 years and have often wondered, and even asked, how teachers choose the books they use in the classroom.  I have encountered books that are good and those which I have found myself thinking there is no way I would have a class read that book.  There have even been wonderful stories taught in ways that I questions and less fantastic books taught with lessons that are to be admired. 

My CT has already chosen the novels that she wants to teach this year, beginning with The Contender by Robert Lipsyte.  This is a story about a young man who works in a grocery store, his best friend is a drug addict.  The main character decides to join a boxing club in order to improve his chances, and along the way he will discover what it takes to be a “Contender” and a man.  Now don’t get me wrong, there are some very valuable lessons to be learned from Alfred, the main character.  The problem that I have encountered is with those students who are just not engaged in this story.  I have read, and experienced that no matter how wonderful your lessons are, if the students don’t care about the book, they just will not engage. 

One of my big concerns for the future is how to select books that the students want to read and connect with.  In my journey to answer this question, I was introduced to a book by Donalyn Miller titled The Book Whisperer.  Now upon first inspection this book is geared toward middle school, but as with all books, the ideas can be adapted for any level if you work at it.  I connected with what the author was saying in the very beginning, as in the introduction, when she states “I am a teacher who inspires my students to read a lot and love reading long after they leave my class” (Miller, 2009, p. 1).  My response to this was a very loud and resounding, “Yes!  That is what I want to do.”  This book opened my eyes to the reading workshop structure and I have been looking for a way to incorporate it into the high school classroom as she did in her middle school.  Mrs. Miller strongly believes in letting the students choose what they want to read and she teaches “comprehension strategies and literary elements that students could apply to a wide range of texts” (Miller, 2009, p. 17). 

I have not yet seen this strategy applied in high school but I would love to do more research and find out just how we can develop readers.  If anyone has any ideas or additional sources please let me know.  I will leave off with this great quote at the beginning of chapter one in The Book Whisperer:

 

What we have loved

Others will love

And we will teach them how

 

- William Wordsworth

 

References:

 

Miller, Donalyn.  The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009.