Much to Learn

Recently, I've been caught in a whirlwind of experiences at West. I've seen numerous teachers, their teaching styles, and, most importantly, how they run their classrooms. I've also been to a pep rally that seemed dull at first, but definitely got the pep it was after before it was done. Of course, the most lasting impression came with teaching lessons and getting students engaged.

Lately, in some of the classrooms I have observed, I've noticed that too many teachers run their classrooms like ships. The teacher-captain gets all of the say, and the agenda is never at the whim of the students. With that, I can fully understand how many students would want to sleep in class rather than listen to their teacher ramble for an hour and a half, because I know that technique should be on its way out the door.

Perhaps the most startling example of this was when I noticed how one teacher thought about his lessons. As class began, he told his students to take out their vocabulary homework, and he read the answers out to the class. To me, this looked like a missed opportunity to see what the students learned from the homework. If he didn't want to hear how they answered the questions, why did he even make them do it?

This was not the end for his reign over the class, though. He also read a number of poems aloud to the students and rarely asked for feedback, but he did sometimes pause to clarify. I did not exactly expect him to group the students up and have them read separate poems, or anything slightly-more-than simplistic like that, but I did feel that the students could have at least done an activity to break up the monotony of the class, because the worst was yet to come.

For half an hour at least, he read to his tenth grade students. In some respects, this does not seem like an altogether bad idea, because some texts might require an approach like that. What I find to be most offensive, though, is that not a single student had a book to follow along with because the book he was reading was his own, written down in a binder, unpublished. To think that he should chose his own work to read for so long when the students couldn't even follow along upsets me, and reminds me that this profession is not about grandstanding before a crowd of young adults, but getting them involved and LEARNING.

For the very first lesson that I taught at West, I knew I had to make it a little fun and more engaging than just sitting at a desk, listening. I grabbed the funnest looking ball I could--a green, squishy ball with stretchy multicolored tentacles spaced fairly far apart--and (for lack of a better method) attached Post-Its to the ball and wrote directions such as "Two Synonyms/Antonyms," "Draw It," and "Act It Out," which the students would follow upon receiving the ball.

The students had to toss the ball about the room, from classmate to classmate, and the catcher would have to follow whichever direction was prescribed by the ball. For this, I had the students choose whichever direction was closest to their left thumbs. Then, the students came up to the room and had their classmates guess which word they had to showcase. And, if only for the action of throwing a squishy ball around the room, I saw that the kids were having fun, and that they--rather than I--taught themselves.

Week One: New Teachers, New Students, New Everything

This week, I finally went to West Henderson High School! I was a little nervous to meet my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Davis, on Tuesday, but I learned quickly that there was nothing to be scared of. She was much too welcoming when I first arrived, and immediately let me introduce myself to all of the students.

Once her planning period began, Mrs. Davis was able to bring me around the school, giving me a nice tour and letting me all of the other staff members that she works with. Many of them claimed that I'm working with the best in Mrs. Davis, and I'm sure that they're right about that. 

I even got to help a student right after I arrived! He told Mrs. Davis that he needed help with some homework--not from her, but from me. I couldn't believe it! Of course, he was working on Algebra II work, which I'm a bit rusty in, but I gave it my best shot, and I really think he was starting to understand it. 

I went back on Thursday, and Mrs. Davis had arranged for me to shadow a couple of other teachers on her hall. I had only seen Mrs. Davis in her element briefly the day before, and expected to work with her again then, but she wanted me to get a more diverse experience early on.

To do so, she got me into the classroom of Mr. Parent, a 9th grade English teacher and West Henderson Alum. By doing so, she gave me a chance to see a male teacher in a high school classroom--something you don't see every day--and to see what it was like in the 9th grade setting. He handled the lessons well (punctuation and capitalization, and point-of-view), especially for a teacher of only 3 or 4 years. It seems that he will be a good role model at West Henderson.

I also shadowed a teacher of upwards of 25 years, who was very kind and ran her classroom smoothly. Perhaps it was because she had an honors class at the time, but I am more inclined to say that her personality is what does the trick. She's just too nice to start any trouble!

I am looking forward to the coming week, as I feel it will involve me getting a bit more hands-on in the classroom and getting to know the students better.

I can't wait!

Being Anxious Isn't A Bad Thing

This was the first week of classes back at Western Carolina University, and it seems so far that I have a couple of classes that are essential to my success this semester with professors who are dedicated to helping me whenever possible, which makes the upcoming semester a bit less menacing.

However, I have yet to actually meet my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Teresa Davis. Until this past Wednesday, I was scheduled to meet her and get to know her classroom, the school, and the rest of her team on Thursday. Unfortunately, a meeting and training session came u that left her unable to meet, except for early in the morning, and I was too far away to meet her on time.

There is good news about her meeting though--she now has access to a brand new iPad 2 in her classroom! This will open up entirely new possibilities for the 22-year teacher, and I am sincerely hoping that we will be able to find a few new uses together.

As things stand now, I will be attending the first days of West Henderson's classes, hopefully attending for a short period on Monday and for the entire day on Tuesday. I expect that this will be the best time to meet the students--on the day that Mrs. Davis does as well. I hope that this will let the students get used to both she and I as their teachers, rather than becoming acquainted with her first and then seeing me as a total outsider.

Being there all day on Tuesday will also allow me to do some planning with Mrs. Davis, to see what kind of lessons she thinks I should teach, and what I can do in the meantime. I'm incredibly excited to be up in front of the class to teach for the first time, but I am anxious knowing that it will be a long road. Thankfully, I have numerous supporters, and I know that mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow.

Time to Learn

Over the upcoming semester, I will be posting numerous blogs reflecting on my experiences in the classroom of Teresa Davis as I prepare to enter my own classroom in just over a year. These blogs will be used to review my progress in the classroom--have I been learning new strategies, or been interacting the students in a more professional an efficient way? These questions and more will be tackled as I aim to learn and absorb new and different methods of teaching--hopefully lending an air of freshness to potentially stale classrooms across the state.

Taking a self-reflective stance is difficult, especially when I may be afraid of admitting that I've done something wrong. But, in order to be the best teacher I can be, I will observe my actions and methods objectively, and improve on them over the course of the next year.

So, stay tuned for new content and developments from me as I enter West Henderson High School English classroom, and set about on a long road of education.