Hello my fellow teacher-ee's!
Now while trying to brainstorm on what issues or concerns I was going to blog about I initially had a hard time coming up with something because I felt like it was still a little too early to really voice any major concerns. See, I am at a school that has blocked scheduling, and for some of you, you may have already been with your students for 2 going on three weeks, while I have only been with 2 classes, each of them for one week.
Then it hit me! The timing/start of a new placement is crucial for how the rest of the semester may play out.
Throughout my time in the Education Program (going through Cores 1 & 2, and now 3) I always make a note, whether it is mentally or literally about techniques, rules, or lessons that I plan to incorporate in my future classroom. Now as you are reading this you are probably thinking "yea! me too!" or "doesn't everyone do that?" because I also have these thoughts, but surprisingly I am finding it a bit challenging to do this at my placement school. When we are teachers I assume that it will be easier to dictate the course of the class because we will "be in charge" and we will have been with the students from the very first day and everyday afterwards; which I believe is an essential part of building personal relationships with students. This initial meeting is the point in which the teacher explains their expectations for students and class as a whole, tells students a little bit about herself and allows the same opportunity for students asking questions like "what do you want to get out of this class?", providing opportunities to get to know the teacher and their peers. Bomer further agrees with my feelings by suggesting in his text Building Adolescent Literacy in Today's English Classrooms, "that the best possible beginning to a school year just might involve finding out about students as literate people, while also building a relationship with a listening attitude" (p. 21). I have missed out on that first initial meeting point (where they met their teacher and started the class) and I'm a little unsure on how to "make up for it."
While in my placement it is hard for me to try and build those meaningful relationships with the students because there is really not a lot of down time. Of course, when the opportunity presents itself I engage with students (for example: One of my students was reading a recreational book and I quickly just asked her to explain what it was about), but like I have mentioned before we mostly talk about the assignments. I often hear the stories you guys tell about how you have conversed with students about the music they are currently listening to, the latest dances, and so on. I guess one of my main concerns is not being able to further connect with students, so then my question becomes: What do you guys suggest I do in this situation without digressing from classroom content? What steps have you taken to build that relationship with your students? and Who else is having this same issue? (I sure hope I'm not the only one).
Thank you so much in advance!!
Always Happy Blogging, Destinee Manns <3
Word Count: 556
Destinee,
ReplyDeleteThank you for addressing this issue! I believe that it is difficult in a bigger classroom, as well as the obstacle of block scheduling, to engage in getting to know students better. I would suggest asking the teacher if you could create a “Getting to Know You” worksheet for your students in order to get to know them. You could include questions that ask them what types of books/genres they enjoy, what hobbies and/or extracurricular activities do they participate in, and what type of assignments and activities they enjoy in the classroom. With this information I believe you would achieve not only getting to know them better but also gathering useful insight from your students on how you will plan your future lessons. I would also further suggest asking your CT for the class seating chart and address the students by name. It gains their respect and they are more likely to engage with you when they realize that you see them not just as a student they see every so often, but an individual that you are interested in teaching and getting to know on a personal level. I think that the use of a Glog, like we did in Core I, to introduce yourself to the class would also help them get to know you better as a teacher and as a person. Of course you would have to clear it with your CT prior to using this idea but I’m sure that the students would enjoy getting to know you better as well. Maybe you could even do your Glog presentation and then pass out the worksheets after presenting? I hope I helped give you an idea of what you can do based on the obstacles you have expressed in your blog. Keep us updated on how you overcome these obstacles, and whether or not you decide to use this type of resource! :)
I have provided a link for you http://specialed.about.com/od/holidaysthemes/ss/Back-to-school.htm#step-heading that gives a basic example of a “getting to know you” type of worksheet. (Tab through at the bottom, there are three worksheet examples.)
Thank you for sharing, Destinee.
ReplyDeleteI have also made several mental notes during my placements over the past year, about which strategies seem to work well for my CT's, and which I think would benefit both my CT and the students alike.
I agree with you on how difficult it is to build a rapport with students when we seem to only have time to talk about assignments, if we are lucky. I wish we had the opportunity to talk to the students in more of a conversational setting, taking time to get to know everyone better to understand how they learn and what methods work best for each student. I believe that next semester will be somewhat easier since we have had a chance this semester to begin getting to know our students, and will continue getting to know one another this spring.
Again, thank you for sharing your insights and ideas!