I have been meaning to write a blog post for a while now, but, due to being a first year teacher, life has become busy. To be honest, the inspiration for me to write this blog post came from a Twitter chat that I participated in earlier this week where I tweeted "If we, as educators, do not share out story, how can we expect that our students will?." I just finished my second week of teaching which is still a little surreal for me due to dreaming about this moment for a long time. I love my students, my school, and the colleagues that I work with, but that does not mean that everything has been easy.
Teaching can be stressful at times, and during these past two weeks, I have experienced some difficult things such as a parent email about bullying which led to an hour lesson about kindness. To be honest, that email kept me up at night because it was an issue that I did not want taking place in my classroom. After that email, I halted my plans and wrote on the board "How does kindness relate to toothpaste?" My students thought about this, and they gave me responses such as "It spreads". I began to explain how I was a camp counselor a few years ago and did this activity with my campers. I had them act out squirting a bottle of toothpaste on a plate, and, then, I asked how would they put it back in. Some students said that they could, but then I asked if they would be able to get all of it back in tube which led them to saying no. I explained how words can hurt, and even though a person may apologize, the words can still remain with the person for a long time. Afterwards, I told them that I wanted each student to write a letter to the school secretaries and one other individual at the school which ranged from the nurse and other teachers. I had four students deliver the notes, and, when they came back, they said that the nurse was speechless, and the school secretary said it was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for her. Towards the end of the day, the secretary buzzed in and said thank you to all of my students. That day was powerful, and even thought the lesson took longer than I thought and was not necessarily tied to a standard, it was powerful for my students to see how one small action can brighten someone's day. During these past two weeks, I have also been trying different strategies to keep all of my students on task. I have a few students who tend to get off task which rubs off on the other students. At first, I tried doing a teacher vs student tally where they would get a point if they were on task. This seemed to work well, but I wanted to try something different. Due to realizing that my students seemed to respond well to immediate gratification and knowing that financial literacy was tied to my social studies standards, I decideed to try out a classroom economy. Now, of course, this is not perfect, and to be honest, I struggle with doing this due to feeling out of place giving students paper dollars for being on task, but the students come to class excited to obtain money and mentined to me that it is helping them learn those real life skills such as budgeting. Of course, I am still learning and am going to try to figure out a way to use this system but make it more about promoting intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic. I was talking to a teacher aide yesterday who liked that idea but told me that consequences work well. After recess yesterday and thinking through what he told me, I wrote on the board warning, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes. I explained to the students that, if they are not doing what they are supposed to, I will give them a warning, and if the behavior continues, they will lose that many minutes of recess. This seemed to be the most effective because, in the afternoon, my students were truly engaged. The teacher aide also mentioned to me that he liked my spring in my step. I always walk down the hall in an enthusiastic manner, and I try to keep a smile on my face. He noticed that, and said that, as long as I keep my positivity, I will be okay. As a first year teacher, I know that consistency is key, and I truly am consistently looking up new strategies and techniques. I realized that I cannot be afraid to try something new, and if something is not working, I will just be honest with my students and figure out an alternative approach. Some days were easier than others, and two days ago, I felt slightly defeated due to dealing with behavior issues and still thinking about that parent email. I reached out to the parent who said that things have improved, and, later, after sending out a positive email home to one of my students, I got an email back saying that the mom noticed a change in her daughter which includes being excited to get up and go to school in the morning. The father said that was because of me. I almost broke down reading that email at night, and it truly brightened my mood the following day because I realized that, even on days when feel like I am not making much of a difference, I am even in the tiniest way. That student also wrote me a letter yesterday and said how I am a fabulous teacher already. That truly warmed my heart. I am guilty of self-doubt especially as a young teacher due to seeing amazing teachers on Twitter and in my school and wondering how I will ever get there. It is easy to fall into that trap of self-comparison, but I realized that I am unique and a work in progress. That is absolutely okay especially at this leg of my journey. Every person has a different starting point, and classroom management is something that I am working on. I am not there....yet, and that is okay. I was vulnerable in this post, but it allowed me to get my thoughts and feelings out there. I am loving my first year so far, and I know that I will have good and bad days, but by taking that first step and writing about the good and bad, I can help myself grow as a teacher. I plan on reflecting each week and keeping you up to date on my journey.
2 Comments
Alana Stanton
9/1/2018 08:24:20 pm
Susan I love how you are sharing your journey with us. What a love you have for your students! They are blessed.
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9/3/2018 09:26:39 am
Hey Susan! Found an interesting blog post that might help you: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/well/family/which-is-better-rewards-or-punishments-neither.html
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AuthorMy name is Susan, and I will be starting my first year of teaching this year. Archives
December 2018
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