Class Arrangements

I had a great couple of days with my class this week.  They got to tell me all about their field trip that I wasn’t able to go on, but they made sure I heard all about it so I could feel like I had been there.  My book club is coming along and the 3 students I am working with are making progress.  One in particular is really beginning to excel in all the tasks that I have given them.  Another one is finally beginning to see that she is capable of so much more than she thought she could accomplish.  The last one is still whining when asked to do the tasks, but she is doing them now instead of just stopping and crying.  I am so proud of how hard they are working!

 Yesterday, my cooperating teacher asked me to rearrange the students’ desks into groups of four.  I was excited that she would put so much trust in me to arrange them.   I realized that a lot goes into trying to plan the classroom and place the students into groups that will benefit the student and the class as a whole.  Do you look at what personalities get along best?  Do you try to make them work with classmates that they might not choose to work with otherwise?  Does it flow with the class dynamics?  It can be daunting and easy to over analyze the best layout.

  It took a little while for me to think about what I thought would work best for them.  She has moved them at least twice since I have been in the classroom, paying close attention to personalities and how they get along.  I tried to not look at their personalities as much and instead look at their work habits and academic levels.  We have 4 strong academic students who I used as “core” students for the groups, and then I placed students around them that were not as strong academically.  My thinking was that the “core” students could help the others by modeling their work habits.  To my surprise, after we moved the desks all around, most of the students were excited about the groupings.

 I will attest to the fact that it was not an easy task to figure the arrangement out, but it was a great task for me to try my hand at.  It was nice that, when I explained my thought process to my teacher, she said that she had not thought about grouping them in the groups that I came up with.  The best thing about arranging the class is that if something does not work out you can always try it another way.    

Words of Encouragement...

          Brief note before I begin…I taught my second lesson this week with an ELA lesson.  Unfortunately, it did not go as planned and that was my fault.  I forgot to follow my plan to a tee, thinking that because the lesson was something I loved, I would be able to improvise as needed.  I was wrong…lesson learned.  Improvisation comes with experience not passion or a love of something.  I realized that I needed to have my notes in front of me because, once I got off on my “tangent”, it was really hard for me to find the focus of my lesson and objective.  So, note to self (and anyone else who may need this):  keep your notes handy and follow your lesson plan (why did you spend all that time writing it).

          On another note, though, I wanted to say how important it is to praise and encourage our students.  We have moments all day long where our students may drive us crazy with the talking or not listening, and we get on to them for doing these things.  But do we equally praise them for the behaviors that they do correctly such as working in groups well or writing neatly in their notebooks.  It doesn’t have to be some outstanding achievement for them to hear “Job well done.”  We may be the only encouragement our children hear in a day’s time.  As teachers, we cannot know everything that goes on in our students’ lives, but we can show them a little compassion and love that is much needed regardless how their home life may be.

          I have heard, “It’s not my job to encourage them.  I just need to make sure they learn something” from more than one teacher in my years as a parent and as a student.  Why is it not my job to lift up a child with words of encouragement?  Does it take so much effort for some to be kind that they feel it a chore to inspire their students with kind words? 

I don’t think it is a chore or even a duty.  I look at the children in my class, and I genuinely care for them.  I am not there every day and yet, I have fallen in love with them and love to praise them for things they do right.  I listen to my cooperating teacher and hear her doing the same thing.  She praises them when she can and if she needs to discipline she does that too, but never in a shameful way.  I applaud her for that because I know it is hard.  Some days our fifth graders are too talkative and just disengaged.  As a mother of a fifth grader that talks entirely too much, I have learned how important it is to still praise the child and not always discipline.  They need to hear more from us than, “be quiet” or “stay in your seat”.  We need to offer, “I was so proud when you did…” or “when you did this, it made me think of our school pledge and how you exemplified…” 

Just think about this when you are in your class with your students…be an encourager and ignite in them the passion that you have for learning!!

A Little Random...

     This week’s blog is a little random, but that is how I am feeling.  My mind has been racing a thousand miles a minute, and I cannot seem to keep one clear thought in my head.  So, I hope you understand when my writings are a little haphazard.
    
     I truly love the students that I am working with in my classroom.  They are teaching me just how fun and challenging fifth graders can be.  Tuesday was a sad day for us, though, because we lost one of our students who will be returning to her homeland of Ghana.  I was so sad to say goodbye to her yesterday.  She has been a light in the classroom. 

     We had a few moments in class to share snacks while she told us about how her life will be different and similar in Ghana to that of her life here.  We (the students and I) were all so interested to hear her stories of children shaving their heads before going to school (boys and girls), being whipped with a cane by her principal if she were to get into trouble (highly doubt that that will happen to her), and having to wear uniforms with only black socks.  Mostly, she said, the schools are similar except they expect more from you in Ghana.  I thought that was interesting because many of the students feel their academics are so hard.

     The students have been learning about a couple of different cultures this week for a class presentation.  They have amazed me at how interested they are in how other children learn in their countries.  A few have astonished me with the “googling” abilities to find information.  I am so proud how hard they worked on their presentation, and I am really bummed that I can’t see their finished product.

     Another thought from this week…

     Now that I have written one lesson plan, taught that lesson, and had to revise the lesson plan, I am quite sure that I have A LOT to learn about lesson planning.  I have never spent as much time on any paper that I have written for school as I did on my lesson plan.  

     In writing the lessons, you need to be sure to include as many possible scenarios that can play out during that lesson, make sure you include questions you intend to ask your students, and interventions for those students that just need the extra help.  I admire more the teacher that writes these lessons (and teaches them) with confidence and grace because I am hoping that one day I can be that type of teacher.

     I know that eventually lesson planning will become like second nature to me, but right now, it is overwhelming.  I enjoy thinking up new ideas, but then I get a little bogged down in how to reach all my students in one lesson.  I am in the process now of writing my second lesson plan for reading.  I am looking forward to teaching this lesson, because reading is my passion, and I want to give students the tools that make reading enjoyable.

First Lesson Taught Today!!

I got to teach my first lesson today to my fifth graders.  I went in to it extremely nervous.  I over worried about many things:  was my lesson plan complete, does it make sense, will I fumble over my words or will I pull this off (remember I had to not only teach but I had my professor and co-op teacher watching as well).  I would guess that most teachers, even the great ones that have been teaching for years, get a little nervous when teaching something new.  You hope that the students “get” what you want them to get, but every teacher has at least one lesson that just doesn’t go well.  I think keeping this in mind made it easier to do my first lesson (thanks Julie and Caryl).

Once I started the lesson, most of my apprehensions fell away.  I enjoyed being at the front of the class.  I loved walking around during their group work to assess whether or not they understood the concept.  I was so proud of how my students listened, did not give up, and worked so well in their groups (and all of this right after P.E. without their usual bathroom/water break).  I have 16 students in my class, and everyone did well with the lesson.  I had 4 students that I believe will need a little more one on one work, and I will get to go over the process of multiplication with them again. 

I think the hardest part of the lesson, and maybe every lesson, is to make sure that you don’t leave those students behind that don’t get it easily but also to not make it so easy that you lose the ones that do get it quickly.  I had some extensions and interventions in place, but I realized quickly that these were hard to put into place and hard to do with the time allotted.  I felt confident that my lesson would last 30 minutes, maybe a few minutes longer, but it lasted 45 minutes.  I am glad that I am as organized (OCD) as I am, because otherwise I fear that I would have gone over my time very easily. 

Time management in the classroom is so important.  We have all been in the classroom where they have a well laid out schedule posted on the wall.  We know exactly how much time we have for instruction, guided practice, assessment and evaluation.  The problem comes in when you start a really tough lesson they might not grasp quickly or just the opposite, they grasp it really quickly so you begin to discuss it and don’t want to interrupt a great discussion.  I did not think that time management would be my issue because I am so conscious of it, but after today, I realized that I do need to think about it in a little more depth to keep me (and my students) on task.

These are my thoughts for this week…I don’t know if I mentioned it, but teaching today was amazing!!  I wish everyday could be as much fun (even with the stress)!!