Sunday, February 24, 2013
Parent-Teacher Relationships
Valentines Day
A woman bursts into my classroom between classes, carrying two small red bags. Small, slender, and pretty, she is all business. She explains that the bags are for my CT and me. Another substitute, I think, looking to be requested next time my CT is out for the day. Many of them leave candy after subbing in her classroom, hoping to be called back. Since my CT is gone at a district meeting for the day, I smile and thank her.
She thrusts her hand at me. "I'm ******'s mom."
My smile widens. I accept her outstretched hand, thinking of how I'd just placed her child on a tally system the day before. That same tally system had caused my CT to call this mother about her son's behavior during my class. I brace myself for a possible confrontation with this petite woman about her child.
I decide to start off with a compliment. "Oh, it's so nice to meet you! ******'s ..."
Her hand tightens around mine.
"It's handled."
Matter-of-fact.
No-nonsense.
"I just wanted you to know it's handled."
I stand in shock as she sweeps from the room. I had never met someone so direct. It would take a bigger or more foolish person than I to cross that woman. Unless I was her son.
Heaving a sigh, grateful to be alive, I peek into my goodie bag and cannot help but laugh.
A small bottle of water. A package of some energy drink powder.
She knew exactly what her son's teachers needed to make it through a 90 minute class period with him.
I share this story because it shows how wonderful my students' parents really are. It's almost a little shocking to me to see just how supportive of the school and its teachers they really are. It was evident during parent-teacher conferences, and it continues to be apparent through every interaction we have. Clearly, strong and healthy relationships with parents make our jobs as teachers so much easier because even though my Juniors are extremely challenging, they are generally very respectful which I am certain is a value taught to them by their parents. So, this is a shout-out to all of the parents who aren't afraid to push their children to their full potential and hold them to high expectations! You are awesome!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
A Little Taste of Trouble
This past week's parent-teacher conferences have taught me a valuable lesson: Sometimes parents can be absolutely amazing, cooperative, and genuinely concerned about their child's progress...and their students can be completely disinterested in passing or even pretending to try. From 3:30-7:00, parent after parent came to visit with my CT and I about his/her student's grades. Each and every one was was completely supportive of our positions and methods of administering grades and discipline. In fact, many parents encouraged me personally to stay on their students in hopes that I would be the catalyst to what were some rather disheartening academic careers. This kind of situation makes you realize that teachers and parents really are a team when it comes to student success...and sometimes we aren't always as successful as we would like to be, especially when it comes to young adults who are receiving letters from the district after their 18th birthdays informing them that they no longer have to let their parents know about their academic performance. As official "adults," they are legally able to keep their records private. And people wonder why classroom management has become such an issue of late...
Speaking of which, my seniors got their fist taste of what I expect from a class this week. The result was "The student-teacher was very cantankerous in class today" as one of their vocabulary test sentences. I couldn't help but smile. At least they know what the word means, right? :)
Similarly, the juniors have begun to realize that I'm not someone they can easily push around. After 2 days of being held after school, a new seating arrangement, placing students on tally systems, and a pop quiz, they might actually be getting the point: The Great Gatsby isn't going away. It's boring to them...and my mentors at my school keep reassuring me that it is a common response from students nowadays. All I can do is involve as many different forms of learning as possible...aural, visual, kinesthetic...individual, partner, small group, whole group...ugh! They're bored. And we've got 6 more chapters to go. And it makes them squirrely, which is difficult to punish them for. How can I punish them for finding my unit boring??
Speaking of which, my seniors got their fist taste of what I expect from a class this week. The result was "The student-teacher was very cantankerous in class today" as one of their vocabulary test sentences. I couldn't help but smile. At least they know what the word means, right? :)
Similarly, the juniors have begun to realize that I'm not someone they can easily push around. After 2 days of being held after school, a new seating arrangement, placing students on tally systems, and a pop quiz, they might actually be getting the point: The Great Gatsby isn't going away. It's boring to them...and my mentors at my school keep reassuring me that it is a common response from students nowadays. All I can do is involve as many different forms of learning as possible...aural, visual, kinesthetic...individual, partner, small group, whole group...ugh! They're bored. And we've got 6 more chapters to go. And it makes them squirrely, which is difficult to punish them for. How can I punish them for finding my unit boring??
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Begin Again
Where to begin...again...
A new semester has brought with it four new classes of students. Eighty new faces. 77 new names. Ironically, this only makes it more challenging to keep them all straight. Just when you think you've learned them all, though, someone transfers from another school within the district and it seems to throw everyone's names once again into the swirling whirlwind that is your daily schedule. The morning and afternoons fly by...there is never enough time in each class period to cover everything you want to share. Planning periods, however, seem to crawl even though you have more than enough work to keep you occupied.
Is this what I expected for my first week student teaching? I'm definitely enjoying it...and I blame the whirlwind on my sudden re-acquaintance with 6:00 AM. After 5 years apart, we now have rekindled our love-hate relationship. I cannot help but smile as my students shuffle through my classroom door at 8:00 AM...they'll never know I very unhealthily sucked down a Mountain Dew on my way to school that morning. :)
Perhaps the toughest obstacle so far has been building the teacher-student relationship with the four senior classes I am now expected to teach in a few weeks. I wasn't part of their world last semester and so now I am something of an imposter. We cannot confiscate phones because the students who are 18 or older can just get them back. Also, their age only encourages them to rebel because now they feel as though they are officially invincible. My CT had told me that they were much more well-behaved than my juniors, which is difficult to dispute...except that sitting there quietly and refusing to do any work isn't necessarily behaving. Senioritis has definitely hit early this year and on Friday we were already phoning parents about failing students. I feel as though they are an entirely new knot to unravel in comparison to my juniors.
Speaking of my juniors....they were ecstatic to see me, running to hug me between classes and shouting my name down the hall...After last semester's ups and downs, it was wonderful to know that I was of to a great start with the juniors. Somehow, my brief absence for Christmas break seems to have transformed them into a nearly well-behaved class who actually looks to me for guidance. I love the feeling of helping a child make a connection and cannot wait to begin teaching them Gatsby on Monday :) I'm also excited that one of my students has been recommended for the IEP screening that he so desperately needs and have been trying to plan adaptations that will meet his needs. In doing so, I have discovered this website:
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/index.html
It has a ton of helpful lessons and activities for a variety of units and I've adapted several to use in my own lessons. I strongly encourage anyone who is struggling to develop fun and educational activities to check this out!
A new semester has brought with it four new classes of students. Eighty new faces. 77 new names. Ironically, this only makes it more challenging to keep them all straight. Just when you think you've learned them all, though, someone transfers from another school within the district and it seems to throw everyone's names once again into the swirling whirlwind that is your daily schedule. The morning and afternoons fly by...there is never enough time in each class period to cover everything you want to share. Planning periods, however, seem to crawl even though you have more than enough work to keep you occupied.
Is this what I expected for my first week student teaching? I'm definitely enjoying it...and I blame the whirlwind on my sudden re-acquaintance with 6:00 AM. After 5 years apart, we now have rekindled our love-hate relationship. I cannot help but smile as my students shuffle through my classroom door at 8:00 AM...they'll never know I very unhealthily sucked down a Mountain Dew on my way to school that morning. :)
Perhaps the toughest obstacle so far has been building the teacher-student relationship with the four senior classes I am now expected to teach in a few weeks. I wasn't part of their world last semester and so now I am something of an imposter. We cannot confiscate phones because the students who are 18 or older can just get them back. Also, their age only encourages them to rebel because now they feel as though they are officially invincible. My CT had told me that they were much more well-behaved than my juniors, which is difficult to dispute...except that sitting there quietly and refusing to do any work isn't necessarily behaving. Senioritis has definitely hit early this year and on Friday we were already phoning parents about failing students. I feel as though they are an entirely new knot to unravel in comparison to my juniors.
Speaking of my juniors....they were ecstatic to see me, running to hug me between classes and shouting my name down the hall...After last semester's ups and downs, it was wonderful to know that I was of to a great start with the juniors. Somehow, my brief absence for Christmas break seems to have transformed them into a nearly well-behaved class who actually looks to me for guidance. I love the feeling of helping a child make a connection and cannot wait to begin teaching them Gatsby on Monday :) I'm also excited that one of my students has been recommended for the IEP screening that he so desperately needs and have been trying to plan adaptations that will meet his needs. In doing so, I have discovered this website:
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/index.html
It has a ton of helpful lessons and activities for a variety of units and I've adapted several to use in my own lessons. I strongly encourage anyone who is struggling to develop fun and educational activities to check this out!
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