Current Event

We had to ask our teacher about a current event that's happening with public education. We asked her how she felt about National Teacher Appreciation Week, and how important it was for her students to recognize her this week? She said every teacher wants to be recognized, but they doesn't expect it. "I don't expect anything, but it's nice when it happens." She feels it's just as important to be recognized during the rest of this week, and not just this week. Some people don't know how to recognize their teachers, but they can learn it. She also said you have to commit yourself to the kids, it can't be all about money or being appreciated. Otherwise, don't be a teacher. If it's all about money, where's the nurturing/loving/caring?
We also asked her about some teachers that went on strike in Florida, during teacher appreciation week. She said she thought it was completely inappropriate and it looks very bad on all teachers. She says because they are all educated people, they should be able to figure everything out without having to go on stike. She also said she wouldn't physically go on strike, but if she agreed with the reason for it, she would support them and not get in their way.

Observation

I'm sorry my blog is so late! I was supposed to blog a while ago, but I wasn't able to observe my teacher because my class was in an art class, and they couldn't talk or ask questions. So, I observed the next week, but my teacher wasn't there because she was sick, so I had to observe a substitute.
I observed their substitute, Mrs. D, during their writing time. All of the students were all over the place. They didn't want to listen to anything she was saying. One student was completely disobedient. He wouldn't write his paragraph, and he was just being difficult. She had to stop helping everyone else, and just focus on him, and the rest of the class got very side-tracked during this time. The boys were getting up and walking around and playing with things, and the girls were just giggling and laughing the whole time in stead of writing. I also noticed one girl just tattled on everyone and everything they do.
I was supposed to be observing any questions they asked, but they didn't ask very many since they were supposed to be writing, and when they weren't, they were talking amongst themselves. Questions and types:
Student #1: What do we write in the 1st paragraph? (Comprehension)
Student #2: Can I check the charts? (Knowledge)
Student #3: Did you sign it yet? (Comprehension)
Substitute: Student #1 and #2, how's your writing coming along? (Knowledge)
Subtitute: Were you following the rules during writing, Student #1? (Evaluation)

Lessons in Clarity

Whenever I'm in the classroom, my teacher is always teaching a lesson! So I've been able to observe my teracher's clarity. I've noticed that she does pay attention to the level that each student is at, and makes sure she isn't putting them at too high of a level. In my class there are a lot of different levels of students. There are a couple of very smart kids, and then there are a couple that are really behind in reading or math, and my teacher makes sure not to give those couple of students too advanced of books or math timed-tests.
One thing I think my teacher isn't very clear on is giving directions. The students always seem to be lost or confused. She tells them what they're doing, but it doesn't seem to be enough for these kids. I'm not sure if it's because they're only third graders, and they don't know how to listen yet, or if she need to finds a new way of giving directions...

Classroom Management

Well, I wasn't really able to observe how my teacher managed her class because this week they were doing OAK tests. The first time I went in there, I was only there for half an hour because people aren't allowed to be in the room while kids test, unless they sign a form, which I hadn't done.
But before they started, I did notice how the teacher would try to get them to be quiet and listen. She would just hold her finger up to her mouth to shush them, but it didn't seem the most effective way because it took the kids quite a while to quiet down. I think she could come up with another way, such as thumbs up or two fingers so the kids are more involved and try to be quiet.
Because I had to cut my observation short, I went back to the school to observe again. This time the teacher was out grading the tests so I had to observe a substitute teacher. I noticed that subs definitely don't get enough respect from the students. The students don't even seem to want to listen to the subs. Subs need to learn to how to get respect from the students instead of taking crap from them all the time. Just like in Educating Esme, the kids stabbed a pencil in a substitutes back because they didn't like her. I think it was nice that I got to observe a sub as well since I'll most likely start off as a sub.

Philosophy

The last blog wasn't really my teacher's philosophy. It was basically me complaining. So, I thought I would post another one!
My teacher's philosophy was to treat every student as a special and unique individual. Each student deserves a safe and respectful environ ment to learn and grow academically, emotionally, and socially. As an educator, she wants to encourage her students to their fullest potential. She also wants to encourage sharing, communicating, and compassion to other students. I think she has a fairly good philosophy, but I'm not sure if she actually follows it because I haven't been in the classroom yet.

I felt that the interview with my teacher was a little depressing. She was very friendly and it seems likt it will be fun to work with her, but it also seemed like she wasn't enjoying her job. She said that if she was thinking about being a taacher in today's society, she probably wouldn't do it. She said it was very tiring, and there is a huge problem with respect issues. Kids now-a-days just aren't very respectful. Now, she didn't get into teaching until she was about 40, so I'm wondering if she had started early, if she wouldn't have as big an issue with it?

Hey, this is my blog! A new post coming soon!