Well it only took two weeks for me to fail my "Weekly Reflection" goal! Hopefully I'll get the hang of this regular blogging gig eventually...
Week Three started as normal, with two days of standard classes, increasing levels of disruption in all classes, a call home to parents about one particular student, and a promise to myself to call parents more often after a very successful phone discussion with said parent and a notable improvement in behaviour the following day from said student.
On Wednesday the week got interesting as we headed off to Year 7 camp. What followed were some of the most exhausting days I've had since backpacking Europe. It was such a great opportunity to build connections with students, enhance our team cohesion and extend ourselves. We all faced our fears of heights with a giant swing, flying fox, abseiling and rockclimbing, drove dirt buggies, rowed dragon boats, completed an assault course, had a water fight, hosted a disco and more. The kids were so well behaved. It blew my mind how boundless their energy is though! At the end of each day I wanted nothing more than to trundle off to bed, but there they were running around after dark with torches, getting down at the disco and generally living it up.
Ten Things I've Learnt This Week:
1. Always, always, ALWAYS lock your cabin door.
2. Never underestimate your students.
3. We all need to get dirty every now and then.
4. Nothing beats a well timed Death Stare through a dark bedroom window.
5. You can never bring too much sunscreen.
6. You can never bring too many spare water bottles.
7. You can never bring too many Band-Aids.
8. Personally supervise all redheaded students' sunscreen application.
9. Teachers can go days without going to the toilet.
10. I can already see how much I'm going to miss these little tackers when they go onto Year 8. :-(
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Week One: Reflection
Well week two has started without me getting a chance to formally reflect on week one, so here goes...
1. Things that went well:
- My introductory letter idea worked really well. I got 60 letters to read on my first night, and it was such an excellent "shortcut" into getting to know the students. I really want to tap into their interests where possible, so knowing what they are was really important to me. Getting a very early glimpse at their writing level was very useful too.
- Relationship building is coming along nicely. I knew I could never adhere to the "don't smile before Easter" rule, and I haven't even tried. Rather, I've been trying to create a connection with as many students as I can, showing interest in them, making small talk where possible, to get to know them and create some rapport. That part is going well.
2. Things that I would do differently next time:
- Seating plan was very unpopular in all three classes. Although it IS a good idea and I need to stick with it, I wonder if I could have softened the blow, perhaps by allowing them to request a table buddy?
- I would have loved to have this first three weeks mapped out in a cohesive unit. The focus at the moment is on building a positive classroom environment, establishing a routine and introducing a couple of scaffolds that are popular at the school. I probably haven't focussed enough on the positive classroom environment side of things - I feel I don't have enough activities in my 'toolbox' for this.
3. Forward focus:
- I have several "big personalities" in one of my classes, who are a real concern for me. Not just that they are a disruption, but that I am SO afraid of not doing for them what I should be aiming to do for all my students: give them a quality education. I really want to work out the 'key' to all of them, but at the same time (and maybe first?) I have to combat their disruptive tendencies.
- As a 'good girl' myself, I have empathy for my 'good kids' - the quiet ones, who try to do their work, but are thwarted by the disrupters. The problem with the nice, quiet kids is that it's dangerously easy not to notice them. I have to consciously work on making sure that EVERY student gets my attention, not just the 'big personalities'.
1. Things that went well:
- My introductory letter idea worked really well. I got 60 letters to read on my first night, and it was such an excellent "shortcut" into getting to know the students. I really want to tap into their interests where possible, so knowing what they are was really important to me. Getting a very early glimpse at their writing level was very useful too.
- Relationship building is coming along nicely. I knew I could never adhere to the "don't smile before Easter" rule, and I haven't even tried. Rather, I've been trying to create a connection with as many students as I can, showing interest in them, making small talk where possible, to get to know them and create some rapport. That part is going well.
2. Things that I would do differently next time:
- Seating plan was very unpopular in all three classes. Although it IS a good idea and I need to stick with it, I wonder if I could have softened the blow, perhaps by allowing them to request a table buddy?
- I would have loved to have this first three weeks mapped out in a cohesive unit. The focus at the moment is on building a positive classroom environment, establishing a routine and introducing a couple of scaffolds that are popular at the school. I probably haven't focussed enough on the positive classroom environment side of things - I feel I don't have enough activities in my 'toolbox' for this.
3. Forward focus:
- I have several "big personalities" in one of my classes, who are a real concern for me. Not just that they are a disruption, but that I am SO afraid of not doing for them what I should be aiming to do for all my students: give them a quality education. I really want to work out the 'key' to all of them, but at the same time (and maybe first?) I have to combat their disruptive tendencies.
- As a 'good girl' myself, I have empathy for my 'good kids' - the quiet ones, who try to do their work, but are thwarted by the disrupters. The problem with the nice, quiet kids is that it's dangerously easy not to notice them. I have to consciously work on making sure that EVERY student gets my attention, not just the 'big personalities'.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Week One: Getting To Know...
Well week one is only half way through, and I'm stuffed! This is just a brief note since I have planning to do for tomorrow between now and when my head hits the pillow (in roughly 59 minutes!).
I have three year seven classes, and so far they all seem like really nice kids. I have the obligatory handful that will be a challenge - just some low-level behaviour to keep an eye on - and some kids that will need some special attention from me, but thus far I'm pretty happy with my bunch.
I wrote a letter to the students before the first week and asked them to write me a letter on the other side, introducing themselves, their interests and so on. I told the kids it was to get to know them - and it was - but it was also for assessment purposes as well. It made for really lovely reading on my first night, and I'm looking forward to pulling the letters out again later in the year to see how their writing has changed.
Other than that I am just run off my feet, trying to get the hang of the level of organisation I need to keep on top of things, and looking forward to a sleep on the weekend. Will write again soon!
I have three year seven classes, and so far they all seem like really nice kids. I have the obligatory handful that will be a challenge - just some low-level behaviour to keep an eye on - and some kids that will need some special attention from me, but thus far I'm pretty happy with my bunch.
I wrote a letter to the students before the first week and asked them to write me a letter on the other side, introducing themselves, their interests and so on. I told the kids it was to get to know them - and it was - but it was also for assessment purposes as well. It made for really lovely reading on my first night, and I'm looking forward to pulling the letters out again later in the year to see how their writing has changed.
Other than that I am just run off my feet, trying to get the hang of the level of organisation I need to keep on top of things, and looking forward to a sleep on the weekend. Will write again soon!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
One week down...
Well I've just finished my first week of being a teacher - minus the students. This week, "Week 0", was all induction and professional development sessions, curriculum planning meetings, year group meetings, new staff meetings, and so on. I found most of the sessions really useful - although I can see that for returning staff they could feel like a waste of time. I certainly got value for my time though - getting to understad the whole school curriculum philosophy, their use of the Learning by Design framework, dipping my toe into Cooperative Reading and more.
I have my very own classroom (lucky me!) only two doors down the corridor from my staffroom, which is REALLY convenient. I spent a couple of hours in there making it 'mine', rearranging the desks into sets of four, taking down some old student work from the walls and generally tidying up a little. I'm really excited to have an interactive whiteboard, TV, video/DVD player and computer in the room - although I'm not planning on being a heavy ICT user until I'm much more comfortable in my style of teaching, it's great having these resources in there. Especially the IWB - I find I use it mainly as a projector at this stage, displaying Powerpoint prsentations, but after I get some more training on the Notebook software that could change.
By the end of the week I actually feel quite comfortable at the school, and as though I've got a fair idea of what I'm doing this term (or at least next week!). But I haven't clapped eyes on a student yet! So the real test is still to come. I'll TRY to do a weekly reflection on here I think, but it'll depend on my time management skills. Wish me luck!
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