Ben Guest Assignment: Write a letter to the incoming first-years.
After having met most of you already and even offering a few of you some "veteran" advice, it seems a little weird to be writing you a letter of welcome. Maybe that's saying I should be more on top of my blog writing; I'm not really sure. Rather than giving you a list of advice like many others have done, let me take a different approach and wish you good luck on Tuesday, your first day of summer school.
I'm sure many of you are nervous, especially those of you who are actually teaching on the very first day, but you are all going to do fine. Maybe your first couple of lessons won't go as well as you will have liked, but one thing I can tell you is that as soon as that first bell rings and the kids start pouring in the front door, you will all officially be real teachers. You may start out shaky, awkward, unconfident, or any combination of the three, but know that you are real teachers.
Have faith in the fact that Mississippi Teacher Corps will train you as well as you possibly can be trained in a six week period of time. Don't get caught up in thinking about the duration of your initial training, because by the end of the summer you will all be qualified to teach in your respective classrooms in the fall. The caveat to that is that you might not necessarily be great, or even as good as you would like to be, but the students of Mississippi really do need you and between role plays, summer school, and Dr. Monroe's class, you have incredible training to fall back on. Aside from the training, you also have an unbelievable support system to rely on; do not forget this.
Learn and acquire all that you can this summer, and I assure you that you will be ready in the fall. Plan those lessons and rest up this weekend; I can't wait to see you tap into your potential and grow as teachers over the next three weeks. Good luck, and remember that you're going to do fine!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
No longer suppressing the inclination to smile
Ben Guest Assignment: Write a post about the teacher skills that you would like to work on this June at the MTC Extended School Year Program.
During my first year, I worked very hard on maintaining an extremely orderly classroom, and for the most part, I think I managed to pull it off fairly successfully. My students knew my expectations, and even more importantly, they knew the consequences for not meeting them. Through sternness and writing assignments, I scared them into obedience for the first half of the year, and by the end, these tactics were no longer necessary. My students knew the routine, and for the most part, they came to respect me enough to not cross the lines I had laid down.
One skill I would like to build on during summer school this year is adding more positive reinforcement into my teaching style right from the beginning. During my first year I strongly believed that being strict and offering praise were conflicting ideals, never meant to exist at the same time. Because of this, I started out my year as mean as I could be, and then once I had had them trained, I drastically loosened up. It worked for me, but I much prefer the relationship I had with my students by the end of the year. I think this kind of relationship can be achieved much sooner if both styles of teaching are blended early in the year. As opposed to looking at it as having to choose between the two, I'd like to explore using more of a balance of the two during summer school. I think that this will lead to a better classroom environmental, more quickly than viewing consequences and rewards separate practices.
Of course I'm no expert, but I do think that my year's worth of experience has taught me that as long as you're consistent and immediate in giving out consequences, you do not necessarily have to be mean while doing so. After a year of teaching, I know that the students will only go as far as you let them, and as long as any issues are stopped in their tracks as soon as they start, I think I can pull of showing off more of my actual personality in the classroom earlier on in the game. I guess in short, this summer I would like to try being more of myself in the classroom, as in being more positive and offering more praise, while at the same time maintaining my ability to lay down the law when need be.
During my first year, I worked very hard on maintaining an extremely orderly classroom, and for the most part, I think I managed to pull it off fairly successfully. My students knew my expectations, and even more importantly, they knew the consequences for not meeting them. Through sternness and writing assignments, I scared them into obedience for the first half of the year, and by the end, these tactics were no longer necessary. My students knew the routine, and for the most part, they came to respect me enough to not cross the lines I had laid down.
One skill I would like to build on during summer school this year is adding more positive reinforcement into my teaching style right from the beginning. During my first year I strongly believed that being strict and offering praise were conflicting ideals, never meant to exist at the same time. Because of this, I started out my year as mean as I could be, and then once I had had them trained, I drastically loosened up. It worked for me, but I much prefer the relationship I had with my students by the end of the year. I think this kind of relationship can be achieved much sooner if both styles of teaching are blended early in the year. As opposed to looking at it as having to choose between the two, I'd like to explore using more of a balance of the two during summer school. I think that this will lead to a better classroom environmental, more quickly than viewing consequences and rewards separate practices.
Of course I'm no expert, but I do think that my year's worth of experience has taught me that as long as you're consistent and immediate in giving out consequences, you do not necessarily have to be mean while doing so. After a year of teaching, I know that the students will only go as far as you let them, and as long as any issues are stopped in their tracks as soon as they start, I think I can pull of showing off more of my actual personality in the classroom earlier on in the game. I guess in short, this summer I would like to try being more of myself in the classroom, as in being more positive and offering more praise, while at the same time maintaining my ability to lay down the law when need be.
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