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!
I'm very happy to be your neighbor. It is actually very comforting to know that another student-teacher is so close by to compare notes with if I'm feeling anxious. You actually reminded me of the first couple of days back in the classroom. The new faces didn't know what to think of me and most of them thought that they got lucky and that I was only the substitute. However, when my Juniors from last semester walked in, many of them were actually excited to see me. I didn't realize how much they had grown attached to me in such a short time.
ReplyDeleteAs for distracted teens, I am already battling the students' urge to discuss prom dresses two months before the dance. I don't mind if their work is done and there is nothing else to be done, as long as they are not keeping their peers from their work.
Good luck on your Gatsby unit. I'm sure everything will go smoothly. Also, thank you for any helpful resources that you feel like passing on, like the one above, because all resources are helpful at this point, the more, the merrier.
Sara
Welcome back to the classroom! You and I both seem to be rekindling our affections for the 6:00am alarm that goes off every morning. However, as you’ve begun to experience, seniors seem to be in a world of their own- and on a completely different time schedule. I worked with seniors last semester (thankfully) which has helped me to get a slightly better grasp on how to re-motivate those who have contracted the “fatal disease” (as one of my students put it last semester) known as senioritis. However, my CT did give some tips for the up and coming few weeks, which may or may not relate to your school and classroom.
ReplyDeleteSeniors are in the process of preparing their speeches, and having experience from previous years, my CT advised that as the date draws closer I should probably plan to take some time to let the students practice giving their speeches. The class period prior to the speech, she said, would more than likely leave most of the students paying little attention to the task at hand but worrying about and focusing on their presentations. We have agreed to give time for the students to practice giving their speeches and let the students (and us) evaluate their peers so that the focus can at least be put towards helping students to gain the confidence of public speaking, practice, and advice on how to better their speech for the actual presentation. I’m not sure how your school handles senior projects, but if it’s anything close, then the tip might be well heeded!
I also glanced about the website you posted, and it looked pretty interesting! I’m bookmarking it to browse more at a later date. Thanks!
Theresa,
ReplyDeleteI can certainly relate to this post on many levels. It has been quite some time since I have consistently woken up any time before 8:00, but that has had to change rather quickly. I think I am finally settling into some sort of routine, but it has not been without any weary eyed days.
Your experience with your seniors sounds a lot like mine has been. These students have grown accustomed to having one teacher per year in a classroom, and to suddenly have another person thrown at them is just as much a shock for them as it is for us. I have met some resistance as well, but after a couple of days of having to set guidelines and get on them about certain things it seems to be getting steadily better.
Your juniors, on the other hand, are very much like my freshman. They're used to having me around, and many of them defer to me even before deferring to my CT. It certainly isn't a bad feeling once they start coming around to you.
Thanks for the tip on the website, I'll have to check it out!
-Scott Ufford
Theresa,
ReplyDeleteI love the humor you have added into this reflection. Having students run up to you in the hallway sure makes you feel important! The seniors will be seniors, but you have to continue to hold high expectations for them, as they are getting ready to step out into the world on their own. Responibility is something that is hard to teach, especially to children who are hard to motivate. I think you could find a way to connect to them outside of the classroom that would benefit their lives. For instance, you could ask them where they work or what they do in their free-time, and bring that into the class with you to show them that you truly care about their well-being, not just their grade. Just a thought... I use it with my students, I eat where they work... and it drives them a little crazy, but they know I care. Gatsby is hard to get students to really enjoy from my past experiences, so that connection will be very important.
--- Whitney