M is for Management. I've been struggling with this part of teaching lately. Well, okay, I've been struggling with it all year, but I've reached a point where I don't know what else I can do. The problem, I know, is that I was too nice/lax in the beginning, thus setting the stage for the kids to walk all over me for the rest of the year. Trying to be tough after being nice is like pulling teeth. Next school year, for my student teaching semester, I am going to be super tough at first so that I won't have to deal with as many discipline problems later on! I do have a good group of students though-their main problem is that they like to talk, talk, talk (which is good for ELD kids but bad when you're trying to walk quietly down the hallway, read a book aloud, or teach a lesson).
M is for Monolingual. We got a new student in our class yesterday. She's monolingual-she only speaks Spanish, although I did find out today that she can count up to 6 in English. I also found out that it is very hard to teach/communicate while following Arizona's "English Only" mandate. I wish lawmakers would get their butts into a classroom every so often to see what education is really like.
M is for Motivation. I've been lacking in this area as well. I am nearing the end of my fourth year, or eighth semester, of undergraduate studies. I am SO READY to be done!!! Only a handful of assignments, half-day summer school teaching in June, and a semester of student teaching + a 3-credit course stands between me and graduation!!!!!! Wait...that's a lot. Better to just see it in terms of months-8 more till I am faced with the Real World! =O =D
Your on your way baby!!
ReplyDeleteI AGree ; ) with being tougher on the start of next year.
I'm so proud of you!!
Hi! I agree that management is one of the TOUGHEST parts of teaching! I am in my second year teaching 5th grade, and last year I had an awful time with management. What helped me most was to teach and RETEACH routines and expectations, especially if chattiness is a problem. When my students are noisy in the hallway, sometimes we will spend part of lunch recess time "practicing" walking quietly in the hall. Works like a charm! Good luck the rest of this year and in your student teaching next year! I will be following along. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback! A few times I have had the students re-do lining up, and it did seem to work somewhat. I think if I am more consistent with consequences, and next year if I really focus on expectations/procedures at the beginning, I will see improvement.
ReplyDeleteGlad to have you here. :)