Blog Entry 8: The Most Important Thing I Learned

I learned a lot of important things while working for Mrs. Call as her TA.  I learned how to manage a classroom.  I learned how to teach.  I learned a ton of fun activities that I plan on using in my future classroom.

But by far, the most important thing I learned was why people become teachers and why I should become a teacher.  This actually didn't happen during the brief time that I was doing fieldwork observations but instead happened in January.  At Lincoln Academy TAs work as the substitute teachers if the teacher ever has to leave.  There had been a nasty flu going around and Mrs. Call was not exempt.  She missed four days of work and I was left to teach.  These four days, although miserable for her, were the best four days of my life.  It was the longest stretch in a row that I had to sub. And because she was sick her sub plans were somewhat incoherent which means I also had to use my own knowledge and skill.  But I loved it.  I even started crying one morning because I just so happy to be there and knew that my students were going to come in soon.

So, what was the lesson I learned?  Being a teacher is hard.  It requires a ton of hard work with little respect, little pay, and little reward.  So, why do people do it?  They do it for the kids.  They do it because they love the kids and because they want to see the kids grow up and succeed.  And I knew that I needed to become a teacher for that reason.  Nothing made me happier than seeing kids get concepts that had been hard to them previously, a smile on their face when they realize that you care about them, or the kindness that they showed to each other and me.  I would do absolutely anything for those kids, and that includes the daunting task of finishing college and becoming a teacher.  Which leads me to the path that I'm taking now.  I'm not very good at University but I'm doing it and finishing my degree for them.

Blog Entry 7

Mrs. Call was really good at keeping students on task and making sure that they behaved.  She would use rewards such as treats, kisses, and table points.  She would also take away minutes of recess if they were misbehaving or unable to finish their classwork on time.  She taught me that one of the best ways to manage a classroom is to have the students respect you.  However, I quite frequently felt like the students were more scared of her than just respected her.  And although I was trying to learn from her, this was one aspect that I felt like I could not apply in my future classroom.  I do not want my students to be scared of me.  I want my students to feel like school is a safe place and that I'm a safe person to talk to.

Perhaps not using fear relies too much on intrinsic motivation, though, I'm not sure.  Because I was terrible at classroom management.   I did feel like the students definitely respected me, because they knew I respected them.  They definitely didn't fear me.  I was told that I was "too nice to be strict."  But they didn't take me seriously either, probably because they saw me as more of a peer rather than an authority figure.

Learning how to manage my classroom is one of the things that I look most forward to learning.  I know there must be an in between from having the students fear me and having the students not take me seriously at all.

Blog Entry 6

Mrs. Call does quite a few different activities that encourage student participation such as interactive notebooks, classroom discussion, and science experiments.  But one that I noticed that she does that the students really love and seems to be very effective in a 5th Grade classroom is her reviews.  She'll keep a container full of chocolate kisses and ask review questions that will help the students on the test.  Immediately most, if not all, of the hands in the room are in the air.  She waits a few seconds and then will call on someone.  She's really good at knowing who she's already called on and her withiness is really good too so she's equally as good at making sure to call students in all parts of the classroom.  I'm not entirely sure how she does this.  If they get the question right she'll throw them a piece of candy.

I actually did this technique myself one time when I was teaching the class.  There were no students that weren't paying attention and all of the students really enjoyed the practice.  I was actually surprised because there were certain students who I would think would not pay attention.  But getting candy thrown to them is a lot of fun.  And it's a good way to get feedback of what they know.

Blog Entry 5

There are two important roles that I think teachers play in their students life.  Both of them help students become productive members of society, when they become adults, and thus make the world a better place.  One, is to encourage students to believe in themselves and the other is to teach the standards and make sure the students understand them.

This is why history was so important to Mrs. Call.  She would use her history lessons to teach her 5th Graders how to be better citizens and people.  She also always had high expectations for them and expected them to reach them.  She trusted the students to their best.  Because she trusted them, even when they messed up, they learned to trust and believe in themselves.

I wasn't her student but she did the same thing for me.  This might be a bit too personal for this class but when I started as Mrs. Call's TA I didn't believe in myself or trust myself at all.  I had let myself down in a colossal way and I wasn't sure if I would ever recover.  I had let go of my dreams or any ambitions for myself because I didn't believe I could accomplish them.  But Mrs. Call expected my best, even just as her assistant, even when I messed up.  Because she trusted me, because she had high expectations for me, I learned to trust myself and believe in myself again.

This is what a good teacher can do for you.  And this is a good example of how Mrs. Call was with her students as well.  Good teachers can give hope to the hopeless.

Blog Entry 4

One of the things that I helped my teacher with as far as assessments go was I graded her spelling assessments.  Most tests she handled grading herself as she preferred essay and short answer assessments but I always graded spelling.

Spelling went like this:  on Mondays she would give them a homework sheet with all of the spelling words for that week.  Each sheet would have the word and then space to write it out by syllables and to write it out three times.  On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays she would introduce 10 words.  Students were expected to guess on how the word was spelled (pre-assessment) and then write it down when she had written it on the board.  Then at the end of the spelling lesson the students would stand up and repeat the words back to her using syllable and reading pronunciation.  On Thursdays the students would play games and review the words they had learned throughout the week.  On Fridays they would turn in their homework and take the spelling assessments. 

Blog Entry 3

Mrs. Call was always very willing to work with the students who had learning disabilities and needed other accommodations.  For instance, students that were a bit more fidgety were placed in the back so they could stand up and move around without disrupting the class.  One student, in particular, was one of the most intelligent students in the classroom but would never sit down.  He only got in trouble if he was causing problems with other students or could cause classroom damage.

Another student struggled with spelling tests and would get very stressed out while doing them.  Mrs. Call contacted the parents of the child and asked them what they would like to do.  She ended up only grading a few of the students spelling words every week.  She would do oral tests for students who struggled with writing.

When Mrs. Call taught, she would always teach to the top of the class and have high expectations.  But, she was always willing to work with the students.  She treated every student differently according to their needs.

Blog Entry 2

One of my favorite opportunities that I had was when I was able to work with a student one-on-one.  The rest of the students were taking a test that this student did not have to take so I was able to work with her in the back.  We worked on cutting and gluing papers for her history notebook.  This student is one of the quietest girls in the class and unless you work with her one-on-one chances are you're not going to get to know her very well.

So, we were just cutting and gluing and it was going well because it's not a task that requires a lot of thought we were able to talk quietly.  I asked her about some of the things that she had been learning and some of the activities that had been done in the classroom.  I ended up learning that this girl, despite her quiet nature, actually has quite a good sense of humor.  I could also tell that she enjoyed getting positive attention.  Being able to work one-on-one with this student was good for her and for me.

But another confirmation of the importance of getting to know students individually actually came from watching the teacher work with the students individually.  While the students were in music class she would pull them one by one and test their reading skills.  She didn't really have conversations with them for more than maybe ten seconds because she was short on time.  But still, even just checking their reading they were able to get to know her better and she was able to get to them better.  It was a positive experience for both people.  And it's a good way to know what type of learning style that student is.  In addition, working one-on-one with students makes it so that you can help each student individually even if that student has disabilities.

Blog Entry 1

For my service placement, I've decided to volunteer in Audra Call's classroom.  Since it is the end of the year Mrs. Call has mostly been teaching history which is good since my plan is to be a history teacher.  Mrs. Call introduces the topics, teaches them a little, has them watch some videos, organizes activities for them to do, and then reviews what they've learned with them.  It seems to me that she acts as their teacher but also, sometimes, just as their facilitator.

Each student connects to different elements of the lesson.  Some students prefer videos and that's how they learn, other students learn better from reading and writing, and some students learn best from what the teacher says.  Mrs. Call is good at using different learning styles to make sure different students understand the concepts.  But even with all the different learning techniques, there are still different levels of student retention and understanding.