When I look back at my initial blog this semester is it exciting to see how much I have grown. I honestly feel like I have improved as a teacher more this this semester than in any previous semester. The first goal that I made at the beginning of the semester was to “improve on building professional relationships in my clinical setting”. I certainly feel like I have gotten better at this. Something that I made sure to do this semester was be more conversational and open with my cooperating teacher and other faculty in the school. Another goal I made was to become more comfortable with teaching science and social studies. After teaching my social studies and science lessons I feel more knowledgeable in these areas. I know I need a lot more practice with teaching but my lessons went well and I feel like I learned a lot about how to give lessons in these subjects.
I also wanted to work on integrating technology into my lessons. This is something that I have done a little this semester but I would consider it an on-going goal. I have used the Smart Board in my classroom but I want to continue to broaden my horizons to other types of technology (ie. iPads, interactive games, websites, virtual field trips, etc.). My last goal was that I wanted to work on my classroom management skills. This is something that I have made a very conscious effort to do. I feel like I have learned a lot this semester through both my classes and my clinical teacher about how to work on classroom management. I know that this goal will be one that I will keep working on every year when I am a teacher. Developing effective classroom management takes a lot of careful consideration and experimentation.
Next semester in student teaching I know I will continue to work on these goals and add more. One of the main goals that I really want to pay attention to during student teaching is to learn as much as I possibly can from the teachers I get to work with. I know that I have so much to learn from professionals that have been in this field and have years of experience. Another goal I want to work on when I am in student teaching is developing connections with the students. This is something that I found a little tricky in our clinical settings because we only get to see the kids once a week. However, I know from my experience working at a Montessori school during the summer that forming these relationships with individuals can be one of the most rewarding parts of being a teacher. My ultimate goal is to one day be a teacher that students feel comfortable and connected with. Lastly, I want to work on being enthusiastic and energetic when I am in at school. I know that the mood of a teacher completely shapes the tone of the classroom. I know I will have work to do myself with getting on a better sleeping schedule so that I can be rested and ready to teach everyday.
When I look back at my clinical experience this semester I realize I have learned a lot. I was lucky enough to have a clinical teacher who was very open and took every opportunity to teach me more about being a teacher. She was full of advice and she has taught me about working with students, groups, and coworkers. Now that I look back at my goals I can see how much I have learned. This personal growth makes me excited for how much I am going to learn in student teaching! I am looking forward to being in one classroom everyday of the week for an extended amount of time.
Here is a link to an article I read about how the mood of the teacher can impact students. This is one of my goals that I want to make sure to always be contentious of.
Hey Eva,
ReplyDeleteI noticed you and I had many of the same goals this semester. I too set out to build stronger relationships with the faculty in my school and with my CT. We also both set out to plan and teach strong social studies and science lessons this semester. Some of the new goals we share are building strong classroom management. My final lesson did not go as well as I would have liked on the classroom management end. For some reason my students did not respond well to it. This made me realize this is an on-going goal for me also. I also want to work on building strong, positive relationships with my students in the future. You made a good point about the amount of time we are able t o spend in our classrooms this semester but student teaching will definitely be a different ball game. My sleeping schedule is the first thing I plan to change in order to accomplish this. Being a night owl showed me the negative effects it can have on your ability to teach all day. I look forward to reading through the article you posted from the Professional Learning Board. I am one of many who can benefit from it. You may enjoy my A Lesson Learned blog about lack of sleep and my personal experience this semester.
Thank you and good luck,
Christine Allen
Eva,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to hear that you have found great meaning in 294 this semester for your development as a teacher! I have seen you grow in the field, and I know this will just keep going for you! I am excited to talk more about this with you tomorrow-- Also, awesome connections above in Christine's comments!
:)Kira
Eva,
ReplyDeleteIt’s great to hear how much you have learned and grown with the goals you set at the beginning of this semester. I also feel this was a semester where I have grown and improved as a teacher much more than in previous semesters. I think this will always be an on-going progress towards improvement. It was also one of my goals to improve on building closer professional relationships and developing classroom management skills. I think these two are very important. I would encourage you to jot down notes or strategies to use that you have learned or would like to learn more about in developing these skills (same with the other goals you have). I like that you listed some types of technology that you would like to try to integrate into your lessons. This is something I would like to add to my goals also. I also love that while you are in student teaching, you would like to focus on learning as much as you can from teachers and building connections with the students. This something I would like to continue to do also in student teaching, and it will definitely help that we will be in the classroom everyday! My CT also noted that this will help when planning lessons by getting a better understanding of what the students are learning, getting to know the students more, and the students getting to know you more! One goal I also had and still need to continue to work on is my teacher voice, and being enthusiastic and energetic. I totally agree that, “the mood of a teacher completely shapes the tone of the classroom.” I love the article you posted about how the mood can impact students. The quote that sticks out is to “leave your troubles at the door and walk in with a smile.” This is something we have talked about with Kira, and I have talked about with my CT, not only in having a happy and positive attitude but also having a good tone of voice. This is a crucial element in having a fluid, confident voice that I believe comes along with knowing the content and the students and feeling comfortable. Furthermore, I’m glad you became more comfortable with teaching science and social studies, as I did also. I think as we gain more knowledge and experience with the content, strategies, and student learning, we will become better teachers! Overall, I’m happy you had such a great experience with your students and CT as I did also! I can’t wait to see what student teaching has in store for us next. :)
P.S. here is a blog that I follow called “The Positive Classroom,” which has several classroom management techniques for Early Childhood and Elementary teachers.
http://www.thepositiveclassroom.org/
Eva,
ReplyDeleteI noticed that we had many of the same goals at the beginning of this semester. You specifically mentioned a goal about being more comfortable teaching science and social studies lessons. I think we struggled with this because we didn't have our classes about teaching social studies or science until this semester. I am glad that you have been able to find some comfort after this semester as well as feel more knowledgeable about these subject areas. These are definitely some important areas in the classroom. We have learned a lot this semester in all of our classes, which will be so helpful when we are out in student teaching next fall. I also really connected with the professional development link that you posted. I know that children can be quite insightful and feed off of their teachers feelings and moods. It is important to always show a positive attitude so that the students will see your positive attitude and, hopefully, return it back to you! I am also so happy to see that you posted some amazing goals you have for yourself for student teaching. As a teacher, we need to see that we can always make improvements upon ourselves, we are not perfect!! As teacher candidates, this is an extremely important thing to know and see within ourselves where we need to focus our attention on in the future as we continue on our journey to become wonderful teachers. Eva, you will do AMAZING out there in England, and I am so proud to have walked the halls with you as a teacher candidate here at ISU :-)
Good luck you!