This week in class I learned a lot about being persistent and not giving up. We all have a need to do our best, and to strive to be what we can. Some people excel at this and continue to push and claw their way through their classes and will take the world by storm. Other people will see the work and effort as too much or too hard, and slowly sink into the lower ladder of life. I have seen students strive... push themselves... and their hard work will pay off. If you are persistent in what you do, whether it be the mundane or the life altering changes, you will succeed. Students will try their best and prove that they will be on the top of their class and make this world we live in a fantastic place. All it takes is determination and persistence. If I could say anything to you as a teacher or just a fellow human being; Don't give up. Times might be rough and times might be easy, but what you do in that time is some of the most important decisions you have to make. Never give up, and push to be everything you can, because someday it will be rewarded.
Although I wear a name tag, a button up shirt/slacks, and aspire to be a teacher in a classroom like this one day, I am still very much a student and a learner just like all of the English 12 students in class. I wasn't sure what to expect when coming back to high school, but I didn't think it would go like this. I was dreading the possibility of expectations of me to be a disciplinarian, sit in the back of the class--bored--or be expected to "sink or swim" as a pre-service educator. Well, Mr. S definitely flipped that script. Having the opportunity to be here in this English 12 class is helping me realize that I am going to learn just as much in these next ten weeks as all of the high school students whom I share desks with. We may have different goals at this point in time, but we are all here for a common purpose--learning. Mr. S is showing a healthy contrast to the tired classrooms of my high school and really presents all of the learners in this class with an opportunity to gain all that can be gained from his instruction. Week 1 for me and I am already learning about how I am going to develop my teaching style and you best believe that Mr. S' methodology will be incorporated often and with, hopefully, as much purpose and impact as he is getting across. From spoken word poetry to start the class, SSR to keep our reading sharp, and multimedia instruction to keep everyone interested and our minds moving, I can confidently say that Mr. S is a pleasure to be observing and learning from. I cannot relay nearly enough how excited and fortunate I am to have been matched up with him for my pre-service teaching. I'm stoked. Although I have only been Pre-Student Teaching with this class for two days, I feel as though I have learned quite a lot from observation alone. I have seen multiple ways of positively changing a students habits, thinking processes, and overall education. At one point we talked about our "This I Believe" essay that you will all be working on. Your teacher talked about his belief of hard work and determination, and I have taken his lesson to heart. This week has been incredibly rough for me due to school, moving, and my workload from school and even a part time job. I could just tell you that life is hard and vent to you, but I also learned that in this class... the power of storytelling is key. I thought I had it hard and that life was just too difficult for me to comprehend. I heard a very moving story from my brother that changed the way I think. After listening to this story, I realized just how captivated I was and motivated I was to change my way of thinking. All of you... each and every one, will have your own story to tell, What you believe in, what you stand for, and what you will fight for are strong lessons that I intend to listen to carefully and intently. This week has taught me about voice, structure and reason within a classroom. Just by observing this class, and asking the students questions and watching their work unfold has given me a clear understanding of what I want in life. You are all special, and you all come from different backgrounds. As me serving as a Pre-Student Teacher, I am taking into account all of the possibilities that you are all capable of, and that everyone has their own story to tell. Stories are reflective, just like this one, and it is the reason we must voice ourselves. Not because we are asked by the teacher, but because communication and our reasons for it are ultimately priceless.
Wow! I have to say I am impressed with the students in my 3rd period 12A course. They all seem interested in learning and bettering themselves; they all have engaged in the conversations we had in class; and they all are beginning to take risks as learners. Because of this, they will grow more than they realize.
I have changed my strategies a bit this year to put the focus on student-centered learning a bit more. As I grow as a teacher I find the less I interfere the more they are able to learn. One idea that seemed to resonate with my students is that of interdependency. It started by discussing the connection between reading and writing which shifted into an understanding that we are all readers and writers interdependent upon one another in this classroom. This one idea has already begun to take root in the minds of my students. It seems they are becoming more comfortable with each other only four days in. I really appreciated Annie's help when we had a new student enter and she worked with him right away to get his class website set up. An amazing part of this week is the fact that my 4th period students are on par with the strides 3rd period is making. This tells me that it's not an individual group of students that I have, but it is the strategies that are working. I am pleasantly optimistic about the rest of the trimester as we learn and grow together. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2017
Categories |