Overall I was very pleased with my performance in today's lab. I began by greeting my students at the door, I handed them their bellwork, asked them to find their assigned seats, and did brief introductions at the door. I felt like students were welcomed and invited into the learning environment.
As students entered they received the bellwork which was a pre-test for the first unit. It was extremely hard and was designed that way. My intention was to address; the age old question why are we here? I wanted students to come in sit down and look the questions over. I quickly noticed exactly what I expected which was a sense of confusion. I wanted students especially those who may have background knowledge to realize they will be learning. The school that I am student teaching in is rural and it is animal science II. With those things considered I wanted to address students prior knowledge. I feel as a student teacher I need to establish some credibility with my students. I personally worry students will look at me and have two initial reactions. Number one she is new, what makes her worth listening to. My second and probably biggest fear is with teaching Ag mechanics. That fear is of the traditional female stereotype, "she's a girl". I know I am capable and competent to teach the class, however that is always in the back of my mind. Getting back to my peers comments on the bellwork being too "hard".
Following the bellwork, I jumped into classroom procedures, expectations, and consequences. This is an area I can certainly improve my presentation. However, I am really unsure on how to accomplish this goal. I think it is necessary to cover this information, however I think it is hard to be fun and interesting at the same time. I had some feedback that said I lacked enthusiasm, in my own defense I find it very difficult to get excited about policy and especially discipline.
I finished my mini lesson with going over the pre-test. I wanted to transition from the pre-test into the rest of days activities.
I learned that even with good preparation unseen circumstances will arise. I also realized that the pre-test idea may not engage all students the way they do me, some find them as turn-offs. I like to set the bar high and show the students that they are capable of achieving success.
The biggest thing that I would like to hear feedback on, is adding enthusiasm to the lesson when going over student discipline. I find that behavior issues are a nuisance! They take away from my instruction and student learning. I also learned that a student who is distracted, whether by technology or attitude hears nothing I say. I realized this during my role play as the student distracted by technology, I did not hear anything the teacher said and when called on had no idea where he was at. That experience taught me that even when it is tempting to ignore those behaviors, we are actually hurting the student by not disciplining them.
This entire experience will relate nicely to my chosen professional and especially in student teaching. I feel that my procedures, expectations, and consequences should work well. I know that I definitely want to send home an informational packet on the first day. I think both students and their families should be informed of my procedures, expectations, and consequences. In addition, I want to send students home with a course outline, grading procedures and a lay out of the final project.
My Procedures:
- Take your seat
- Bellwork
- Take out homework
- Be prepared for class to start
- Be on time
- Be respectful
- Be prepared
- Be engaged
- Be honest
- Verbal warning
- Loss of Points
- Written warning
- Detention
Mindy,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I like how straight forward your expectations and procedures are. There will be no miscommunication there! I really like your idea of a pre-test, but I wonder if it would be better to do that separate from the bellwork? I may be a little too intense and no over engaging, although it gets your point across! You know what you're doing (an can teach wiring like a pro). Don't get too worked up about the stereotypical definition of enthusiasm. You will learn how to better share it in your own way. Keep up the good work!
Mindy, I am glad you are so confident with your first day! That's great, we must be sure that we can be successful to actually be successful.. no matter what craziness arises.
ReplyDeleteAs you ask for it, I would advise to thing about how you can make yourself more motivated/enthused about the classroom expectations. As you say it, you want respect and since its your classroom, you should have it if you OWN those expectations and share them as a personal necessity. Maybe make them a little more inclusive, so that you are including yourself with the students and expectations in general.
Also, I would recommend maybe changing the format of giving the hard pre-test. You mentioned that you like to set the bar high and show students they are capable of achieving success. However, if they come in feeling incompetent through the test, they may not want to try and achieve success? Maybe try something more exciting/able to bring classroom bonds and comfort so that you can set the foundation for including high-level content. After all, you only have one first day! :)
Mindy,
ReplyDeleteI see your point, it is very hard to be enthusiastic about procedures, expectations, and consequences. It may be that enthusiasm doesn't have a place in dealing with consequences. I think it's important to be strict and stern so the students take you serious and enthusiastic everywhere else in your lesson. Also I think that students may have that age old stereo type of she's a girl what does she know about Ag mechanics, but its obvious to all of us that you know much! It definitely won't take long for them to see your talent!
Mindy,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a lot of good things on your first day of school.
The idea of a pretest could be a useful idea. I think it is important to make it light enough that you can actually have fun with it so that the students do not think the class is going to be too much work.
I could not agree more when you see the role playing students are a nuisance. It is really hard to stay organized and thinking when you have these kids giggling and whispering right in front of you.
As for the stereotype thought, just let your performance show them. I think a good idea for teaching ag mechanics is to walk through the steps. I think it is important for them to see first hand how it is done. I know you know the stuff, they will too.
I like how you numbered your expectations and procedures. This is something I did not do, and is something I will make sure I will do as I improve.
Mindy,
ReplyDeleteI to find it hard to e happy to go over rules and procedures but it is something that needs done. One way to make them fun is to have a game at the end of the first day going over the rules again and seeing what students were paying attention.
As far as the pre-test, I can see your view on how you like to set your standards high, but personally I would not want to walk into class the first day and be thrown a test. In the book "Teach Like a Pirate" he gives the advice of doing nothing class related for the first 3 days of school. Now yes, I think that 3 days is a long time but I can agree with not starting the content or even testing on the first day of classes.