Wow, what a first week! I think this has been quite possibly the busiest first week of classes I have had in my entire time at college. It has definitely been an exhausting and chaotic week for me between my classes and working at the university bookstore.
Anyway, allow me to introduce myself to you. My name is Samantha Raper, pronounced ray-purr, but my friends call me Sam. To any students reading, please call me Ms. Raper. Also, before you ask, yes I do catch quite a bit of flack for my last name. This is the beginning of my fifth year (yes, fifth) in college at Wichita State University and I'm just starting my pre-student teaching experience. Why the fifth year? I changed majors after a couple of years in the college of business and decided that I would rather teach high school English.
Yesterday, I attended my pre-student teaching school for the first time and had an orientation with my school's contact person. She introduced herself to me, handed me the packet that they give all new teachers, and then gave me a bit of a tour of the school. The orientation proved to be very helpful to me because seeing how this was my second time ever being in this school building, I had no idea how to get around! The people in the hallways were very friendly, all telling us “hello” or “good morning” as we passed each other. So far, I really like the atmosphere of this school, although its hallways are a bit on the toasty side.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to meet with my cooperating teacher (CT) yet. We have communicated back in forth in e-mails and we're both excited to meet! Our schedules are proving to be a bit difficult to work around currently, but we'll get it figured out soon. Hopefully, tomorrow I will know whether or not next week is going to work out as a start time for us. Otherwise I may not be able to start until after Labor Day! I'm really hoping that won't be the case, though! For now, let's move on to my main goals for this semester.
Last semester, I found that my lesson planning wasn't always very efficient. I tried to plan out my lessons using time limits, but the limits I thought would work were just too quick for the students in my class. Therefore, I hope to improve my lesson planning this semester, taking into consideration my students' learning levels and any other factors that might limit my teaching time. I'm horrible with time management in some cases, so if any of you fellow pre-student teaching students have advice for me, please share!
In relation to that, my lesson implementation was unorganized and I lacked confidence when presenting. I became so nervous when I was giving my lessons, constantly looking to my CT for guidance. Do any of you fellow future teachers have any tips to help me get my confidence up? Any advice is appreciated at this point!
I am sorry to hear you are having trouble finding coordinating times with your CT. I had the same problem and even had to change to a different CT to make it work.
ReplyDeleteAs far as your concern about lesson planning time limits, I understand! I had the same problem, trying to pack too much into one 45 minute history lesson. I did not have as much trouble in Language Arts since that was 90 minutes long. Although, I still found it challenging to stick to the schedule. Many teachers have told me to plan for more than you think you have time for, but to also have some non-essential part that can be removed if you are running behind on time. I think it also goes back to knowing your students' abilities. That is more challenging when you are only in a classroom once a week. I think it will be easier this semester, since we will be with the same students for every class period.
As far as feeling confident, I can feel your pain! I have wondered how I can feel completely confident and comfortable in front of middle school students, but when I have to speak in front of my peers, I struggle! I think being completely prepared is important but before that, it helps to get to know the students. If you can talk to them one on one, then it isn't as difficult when you are instructing the whole class. Also, practice your lesson plans, as if preparing for a speech. When I practice my lesson plans several days in advance and think about any issues that may arise, it helps me relax when I actually teach the lesson. I think it is also important not to panic. Last semester, my cooperating teacher told me that he noticed a point in my lesson, during whole class discussion, that I could have become flustered because the students were not responding. However, he told me that I did a good job of posing the question a different way to get students to respond. So, I wish you the best of luck this semester and I hope you have a great experience!
Considering the lesson planning and time thing, I think that just comes with experience. You get to know each individual class, and since they are all different, you may have different time limits for different classes. Then again, it also depends on the level of the class. Freshman honors kids will most likely move a bit quicker than a normal freshman class. When you get a chance to observe and walk around your CT's classroom, observe how long she takes to talk to them, give instructions, and let them work. Then walk around and watch how quickly they are working, and pay attention to how long your CT gives them to work before she starts wrapping things up. I feel like my CT moves at a pretty brisk pace, but she has honors kids and college bound kids, so I think she is trying to give them a pace that will be expected of them later.
ReplyDeleteAs for confidence, I really feel better when I get to know the students first. You know how when we are in class and we have to get up and talk in front of everyone, how it is always easier when you know most of the people you are talking to? That's what always makes me feel better. Make sure on your first meeting, get a seating chart, and even one of those printouts with their faces on it if she can get it for you. Take some time to connect faces with names. Ask her if you can pass things out or pick assignments up. Also, walk around and see what they are doing, talk to them! I've found they are as friendly and as welcoming as you are to them. If you stand in the corner or at the back of the room all hour, they are going to forget you're there. If you are walking around answering questions and apart of the environment, they will be welcoming and more at ease with you. I think you'll do great Sam! Just take a deep breath and use your teacher voice :)
Time management is always a tough spot initially, because there is no way to know how long something will take until you try it (on a class of 25 freshmen after lunch).
ReplyDeleteLike a poster one of my CTs has up says: "Everything is hard before it is easy."
On the bright side, that is why we have pre-student teaching, practicums, trial lesson plans, self-assessments, etc. If we knew it all already, it wouldn't be necessary to go through four or more years to get certified. :)
So that is my encouragement - we don't have to know it all yet; we just have to keep trying to learn.
In my post, I mentioned that one of my goals is to never reach a point where I feel done/settled/complete in my teaching journey. I will always have something new to learn, or try, or research. Each class of students will bring with them a new set of challenges to which we will have to adapt, and experiences from which we can learn.
When you reach a point where you are slightly overwhelmed by what you don't know, take pride in the fact that you realized *what* it is you need to learn. Skills like those are what make good teachers, and good life-long learners. :)
~Elena
I think an easy way to boost your confidence is to do your best (even if you think it is your worst). We are often our worst critics, so as long as you know that you prepared as much as you could and presented to and worked with the students to the best of your ability, that should boost your confidence. The rest is learning and refining your art of teaching. Where you err on one day is where you can excel the next!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Sam: You rock! You have a very fun and energetic personality which is going to be crucial for a career in education. :D So, A+ on that aspect.
ReplyDeleteOrganization can be really hard. The best way to go about it, is to have the end in sight. meaning, start by determining what it is that you want to assess or what skill it is that you want your students to have mastered by the end of a unit or lesson and create that form of assessment [multiple choice exam, essay, project, etc.] before you even write the lesson(s). by creating the end first, you will have a clear road-map for where you want your lesson to go so you will be more at ease and will better fit your lesson(s) into the route they need to take. I tend to write everything out. An big day planner might help you to better visualize where your week needs to go.
I have had a similar issue with timing. Last semester, I assumed that a brief writing prompt would take 20 minutes and it wound up taking 40 because my students were very uncertain of their writing skills and needed a great deal of extra support which I had not anticipated. I think that proper timing will come with experience. A tip that I have heard is to write down how long you expect something to take and then write how long it actually took so that you will remember the next time you teach the lesson or a similar lesson.
Another useful thing to try is asking the students for feed-back. On an index card, have the students write something that they learned and something that they are still uncertain about. You can also ask that they write down any concerns that they have about the lesson [i.e. the pacing, the delivery, etc.].
Hopefully, some of what I suggested will help. I appreciate your honesty about your uncertainties. We are a lot alike. :) I look forward to seeing your professional growth. good luck, lady! And remember that you are a fun and intelligent woman!
Thank you so much for the advice/tips, everyone! All of you make me smile. :)
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