Into the Deep
Having once felt flustered, nervous, threatened and anxious about actual classes would be like, it is amazing what have students walking through the doors of the classroom can do to make everything make sense. Suddenly all those weeks of classes, mounds of readings, days of preparation and the urge to teach become applicable, necessary and you thank g-d for the little ones. So far, I have mostly been with the second graders, and have only experienced the middle school as a whole in my role as a supervisor for tefillah. There is not much teaching as of yet that goes on in tefillah, it feel more like an experience with a framework, like lunch. This could be just because it is early in the year, and eventually the time will be used to teach, inspire and engage the students in Tefillah, but who knows. I know the teachers themselves don't. It is nice to see that certain students take on leadership roles in leading the Tefillah, but as a whole, barely 25% of the room is engaged.
In my second grade class, we have been most working on introductions to classroom management (marbles, stars, table points, etc.) and introduction to language arts, by doing writing and reading about who we are as individuals (what we did this summer, what are our favorite things). My role has mostly been to assist my Mentor is administrative functions (passing things out, collecting homework, putting things up on the bulletin board), but when the kids are doing projects on their own, I am equally involved in helping with spelling, making sure they did they work appropriately. I have found myself using a lot of the communication concepts that Ruth Sidney Charney discusses in how I address how they are behaving. I use the "I see" and I ask them questions about what they are doing, rather then telling them they are doing something wrong. I know that eventually my Mentor is going to create a classroom rules chart which will involve the students themselves. I have seen my Mentor use a slightly sharper and higher modulated voice with the students occasionally when they are misbehaving and I wonder if she is losing her patience or she simply understands that this is the best way to get their attention and make them understand.
I completely need to work on not getting more attached to some students than others. Some are just so darn cute, I can't help it. I also find myself drawn to the kids who need the most help. There are a few kids that are very shy or spacey, and I am finding I have to develop new techniques to reach them, especially at times of individual instruction (i.g. Explaining how to do their homework). Speaking of homework, holy cow, these kids have homework every night. WOWZERS. I understand the my mentor believes that homework is meant to reinforce what we are learning in class. But as far as I can tell, none of the homework that has been assigned so far has anything to do with anything we discussed in class.
Again, I have only been in classes for two days, so everything could change by next week. Either way, I am looking forward to what comes next. On Monday, I get my first taste of Middle School, and my mentor there is very encouraging about me taking an active role from the first day, and I hope to make the most of it. I hope to spend more energy next week focusing on my inquiry in a more formal way. I have been taking mental notes and a few digital pictures of the classroom, and will start to outline my approach on Monday.
Having once felt flustered, nervous, threatened and anxious about actual classes would be like, it is amazing what have students walking through the doors of the classroom can do to make everything make sense. Suddenly all those weeks of classes, mounds of readings, days of preparation and the urge to teach become applicable, necessary and you thank g-d for the little ones. So far, I have mostly been with the second graders, and have only experienced the middle school as a whole in my role as a supervisor for tefillah. There is not much teaching as of yet that goes on in tefillah, it feel more like an experience with a framework, like lunch. This could be just because it is early in the year, and eventually the time will be used to teach, inspire and engage the students in Tefillah, but who knows. I know the teachers themselves don't. It is nice to see that certain students take on leadership roles in leading the Tefillah, but as a whole, barely 25% of the room is engaged.
In my second grade class, we have been most working on introductions to classroom management (marbles, stars, table points, etc.) and introduction to language arts, by doing writing and reading about who we are as individuals (what we did this summer, what are our favorite things). My role has mostly been to assist my Mentor is administrative functions (passing things out, collecting homework, putting things up on the bulletin board), but when the kids are doing projects on their own, I am equally involved in helping with spelling, making sure they did they work appropriately. I have found myself using a lot of the communication concepts that Ruth Sidney Charney discusses in how I address how they are behaving. I use the "I see" and I ask them questions about what they are doing, rather then telling them they are doing something wrong. I know that eventually my Mentor is going to create a classroom rules chart which will involve the students themselves. I have seen my Mentor use a slightly sharper and higher modulated voice with the students occasionally when they are misbehaving and I wonder if she is losing her patience or she simply understands that this is the best way to get their attention and make them understand.
I completely need to work on not getting more attached to some students than others. Some are just so darn cute, I can't help it. I also find myself drawn to the kids who need the most help. There are a few kids that are very shy or spacey, and I am finding I have to develop new techniques to reach them, especially at times of individual instruction (i.g. Explaining how to do their homework). Speaking of homework, holy cow, these kids have homework every night. WOWZERS. I understand the my mentor believes that homework is meant to reinforce what we are learning in class. But as far as I can tell, none of the homework that has been assigned so far has anything to do with anything we discussed in class.
Again, I have only been in classes for two days, so everything could change by next week. Either way, I am looking forward to what comes next. On Monday, I get my first taste of Middle School, and my mentor there is very encouraging about me taking an active role from the first day, and I hope to make the most of it. I hope to spend more energy next week focusing on my inquiry in a more formal way. I have been taking mental notes and a few digital pictures of the classroom, and will start to outline my approach on Monday.
posted by yhoffman @ 6:01 PM
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