What crazy, interesting, confusing, strange, amazing experiences do I have on a weekly basis? Maybe my students made some off-the-wall comment. Some other time, I might have a story about a wonderful teaching moment. There may be some weeks that I reflect on my strengths/weaknesses as a teacher and others where I need advice. I'm dealing with the experience a day at a time.
I've had a pretty "proud" teacher week. I have been the full-time teacher for a few weeks now. Last Thursday and Friday I was out of the classroom at a Regional conference for NCTM. When I returned on Monday, I had several students welcome back and say they missed me. I know for me, making an impact in at least one student's life will be an achievement. I feel that I have at least left some print on those students who made comments about me being back. They cared enough to express sweet comments. It is so appreciated. I always worry that the students are counting down the days until Mrs. Orton resumes teaching. Honestly, when I was in school I had similar thoughts about student teachers. I am there to help them succeed not hurt them. Teaching is my passion and I do it for the students; if only more students realized that.
The other thing I am pretty excited about is class averages on a test I just gave. For the past few weeks I have been teaching solving equations. It has primarily been my unit with Mrs. stepping in when I was gone. I wrote the lessons; I planned the activities; and I wrote the test. As a whole, none of my class averages was below an 80%. I had two classes with averages in the 90s and three in the 80s. As a new teacher, I have this ideal image in my mind that all the students will get As on the tests. Slowly I am starting to realize that this is highly unlikely. Some students never utilize their full potential or put in the required effort to even be average. All a teacher's efforts may never be enough to reach these students. Rather than being disappointed, I accept the level the students did achieve and have a more realistic understanding of assessing students.
Today I also gave a survey titled "When I think about math..." I haven't had a chance to read through them all but I hope that they may provide me some insight into my students' learning styles and preferences. I think this is a good strategy to use at the beginning of every year in order to help shape your instructional methods. I'll share my findings when the time comes :)
I've had a pretty "proud" teacher week. I have been the full-time teacher for a few weeks now. Last Thursday and Friday I was out of the classroom at a Regional conference for NCTM. When I returned on Monday, I had several students welcome back and say they missed me. I know for me, making an impact in at least one student's life will be an achievement. I feel that I have at least left some print on those students who made comments about me being back. They cared enough to express sweet comments. It is so appreciated. I always worry that the students are counting down the days until Mrs. Orton resumes teaching. Honestly, when I was in school I had similar thoughts about student teachers. I am there to help them succeed not hurt them. Teaching is my passion and I do it for the students; if only more students realized that.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I am pretty excited about is class averages on a test I just gave. For the past few weeks I have been teaching solving equations. It has primarily been my unit with Mrs. stepping in when I was gone. I wrote the lessons; I planned the activities; and I wrote the test. As a whole, none of my class averages was below an 80%. I had two classes with averages in the 90s and three in the 80s. As a new teacher, I have this ideal image in my mind that all the students will get As on the tests. Slowly I am starting to realize that this is highly unlikely. Some students never utilize their full potential or put in the required effort to even be average. All a teacher's efforts may never be enough to reach these students. Rather than being disappointed, I accept the level the students did achieve and have a more realistic understanding of assessing students.
Today I also gave a survey titled "When I think about math..." I haven't had a chance to read through them all but I hope that they may provide me some insight into my students' learning styles and preferences. I think this is a good strategy to use at the beginning of every year in order to help shape your instructional methods. I'll share my findings when the time comes :)