The great thing about the residency program is the many opportunities to grow and develop the skills I will be using as a teacher. This week, I got to do a lot of that. On Friday, I did another read aloud and I worked on improving from the last time. Before, the students were too rambunctious when I showed the pictures and the words at the same time. So this time, I waited to show the pictures of the book until I was finished reading the page. The students were well-behaved, and were able to listen to the story. I was actually able to have a book discussion while reading because they were calm and paying attention. Something Sara was talking to us about this week also made me think about my selection of read-aloud books. Sara told us we really have to get to know the books in our library and love them. I realized this as I was reading. I have never read the book before so I wasn't as passionate about it, and this showed. I tried to get into the book, making different voices and having fun while reading, but I noticed it was forced. I wasn't truly into the book. I realized the importance of Sara’s statement, to get students to love reading, you must put forth your best effort to be passionate about your books, get into them while reading, and get your students to love reading as well.
I also learned a lesson about classroom management. Previously, I read about having set rules and procedures for the classroom, and how it takes a while for the students to understand and follow the rules without reminders or prompts. It is quite a few weeks into the school year, and I thought the students had enough practice with the rules for putting items into their cubbies. When a representative from the Boy Scouts came in and handed out a paper, I told the students to put the paper in their cubbies. I did not mention how the behavior should look, so they got up and were very loud and talkative, when they should have been quiet. I took note of this and had a conversation with my CT about it. We discussed that the best and most effective teachers might not get their lessons conveyed because they do not have classroom management. She told me, from experience, that if classroom management is not achieved my October, we may never get the class to follow set rules and procedures. I got to practice giving procedures again. This time, I told the students to put a worksheet we completed together in their cubbies. I told them the procedures before they got up, and it worked out quite well. They followed my directions and they got settled and ready to work right away. This just reminds me of the importance of classroom management and giving students directions.
In my ESOL 1 class, I watched a powerful video about the effects of discrimination. As a lesson, the teacher said that the students with blue eyes were better and smarter than the students with brown eyes. She said mean comments about the people with brown eyes, and made them have fewer privileges than the blue eyed students. She reversed the experiment the next day. The change in the students was dramatic. Within 15 minutes, the “superior” students performed better than they had before, they were more confident and took advantage of their power. They put down the other students, called them names, and excluded them from activities. The “inferior” students performed lower than they had performed before they were separated. They were fulfilling their roles, performing lower because they were being treated as so they were not as smart or capable. And the “superior students” performed better because they had people believing in them and they believed in themselves. When the lesson was over, the teacher explained discrimination and reunited the class as a whole again. I was amazed with this video and how quickly the students reacted to their roles. It made me realize that, no matter the stereotypes of our students, every one of them is capable of succeeding, and we, as teachers, just have to show them that we believe in them.
On a final note, this week went extremely well. I was able to practice the skills I will use as a teacher, learn from my mistakes, and correct them as I continue to practice. The students are coming up to me and asking if I can check their work, have them read to me, and help them with assignments. I even took the initiative and sat with a student at the reading rug to help him with this reading. And lastly, the science fair is coming up! I have been helping my teacher look for experiment ideas. I am hoping to be more involved with this project throughout the weeks.