It is no secret, that anyone who decides to teach is not in the profession for the pay. For teacher, the rewards are not monetary, but still they are heavy in worth.
This semester has been trying for me. After spending 500+ hours gaining experience in the classroom, I have confidence in my ability and my knowledge to teach. At times during this semester, I step back and have to laugh that I am full time teaching, including all of the responsibilities but instead of getting paid for my hard work, I am paying to do it all. Paying for the late nights spent planning, paying for the late evenings preparing materials and the classroom. I found myself getting caught up in the notion that "I'm doing this for free as part of my education, even though I feel like I'm ready to do it 'for real'".
Tonight, at parent teacher conferences, I realized I'm not doing this for free. I'm still getting the rewards of teaching, and that is worth all the late nights, all the stress of juggling school, full time teaching, and a part time job. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if I've done enough? Do I deserve it all?
Earlier this week, out of no where a little girl pipes up with, "I love you Miss Emily." Every single day, I get more hugs than I can count. Every afternoon, someone has written me a piece of mail and placed it in the mailbox for me to find. Last week, I had two parents thank me for something I had done for their child.
A child who at the beginning of the school year, couldn't get through a single day of school to the point where he would sleep it away and who wouldn't talk to anyone, wouldn't play, would do nothing ... well, today he went to a workstation, did the work, and lined up IN LINE AMONG HIS PEERS.
Another student, who at the beginning of the year, could not listen, could not share, and struggled with learning and engaging in the routine - became engaged in the workstation, was determined in his play, ENCOURAGED HIS PEERS TO MAKE A PLAN, sat a circle like a perfect student, and SHARED THE BALLS with others. Being able to reflect on his accomplishments and his growth with his mother at parent teacher conferences really hit home for me. It was the eye-opener, the refresher I needed - the reminder of why I do, what I do. Seeing his mom bask in his accomplishments, become emotional when talking of his growth, and share the wonderful things she's been seeing, was worth more than any pay check - especially when knowing I shared a part in all of this.
To many, these occurrences I write of, may sound petty - some may laugh and say, "so what if the kid lined up", "so what if the kid shared the ball" ... and to them, I would say - you just don't understand. You don't understand the hard work and the deliberate and purposeful planning and conversations that have occurred about and around the students to get them to that point. You don't understand what these children are coming from and you surely don't understand how large of an accomplishment these "petty things" are, and you certainly don't understand that that one child lining up among his peers deserved a celebration today. Because, you simply don't understand these children like I do.
Reflecting on the accomplishments on the growth of the children over the course of these two months is amazing. I can only imagine where they will be at the end of this semester, let alone the end of the year. I don't know what it was about this week - but I saw so much growth that has rekindled my fire - my need to continue to grow myself in order to continue to challenge and better these students, every single one of them. It was as if this week was a sign - coming to me, when I needed it and serving as a reminder of what really matters, the students.
I'm still in awe of the week that we had. The minor daily occurrences that were HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENTS for individuals - the satisfactions of knowing that what we are doing, IS working. You just can't get any better than that.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Week 3 Full Time Reflection
This week was a week of adjustments and a week of firsts.
It began by having an ISE day. This was the first time I have been included in a ISE day. My assumptions was always it was a day for teachers to work in their rooms and attend small professional development activities and/or meetings. Boy, was I wrong.
At least for this particular ISE day, we had NO time to work in our classrooms. We spent the first half of the day, recognizing our partners in education and cleaning out the stage in the school - as required of every teacher. The second half was filled with a Choosy Kids follow-up seminar to our grant responsibilities. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and hadn't completed the items that I had hoped or planned to do. My expectations sure did receive a reality check!
Second up that week, was a field trip. While I had attended field trips in the past, I had never been the "responsible/acting" teacher at the time. I was truly amazed at all the precautions that most be completed before attending. Such as, meeting with the nurse to gather all medications, epi pens, inhalers, etc. that needs to be available in case of an emergency. And, with little ones, the importance of getting everyone to the bathroom before boarding the bus - which takes TIME.
I feel I was successful in getting the students prepared for the field trip, even if I did wait a little too long to begin bathroom trips. We went over expectations - both of their behavior and in what they should expect while on the field trip. To help with behavioral issues I strategically paired up the students with a student that would be "best" for them in keeping behavior in check. For one of the more "rowdy" boys, I deliberatly paired myself with him. Held his hand while boardin the bus, sat by him on the bus, and near him during the play. I truly feel that the field trip was a great time for the students, and a nice change of pace to help reinforce fire safety.
Even though, I had to go home sick on Wednesday, I feel I had a wonderful and successful circle time. In the morning, I had students make a guess as to how many marbles were in the jar. There were 14. I had guesses from 5-100. At circle, we counted them all together and found there were 14. I then had them count 14 other balls with me, and we compared what those 14 balls looked like in relation to the marbles. They all agreed that it looked like there were more other balls than marbles becuase they were bigger. Some of the students still had the misconception that there were more balls than marbles because of their size. To help bridge this gap, I then passed out the marbles to 14 students and then handed them each a ball from the other bin to physicall prove there were the same amount. During choice time, I also found a great opportunity to extend a student's play. This student was "baking a cake" in the sand area. I turned this into a shared writing experience by having this student dictate what they were adding into their cake mix and writing it down.
On Thursday, I felt I made another successful adjustment during circle time. I saw students were become antsy towards the end, and we still had a couple more minutes until we could get ready for gym. I had planned to read the story, Bounce. I continued with my plan of reading the story, but I had them stand up and act out the story as I read (bouncing along like the characters). Integrating movement kept the students engaged and helped control their antsy behavior.
I was also quick thinking and began using the term, Inside Muscles. Students have a clear grasp on inside voices and respond well with those reminders when playing inside. We have a few students who struggle to play nicely and not as rough while inside, so we had a discussion on inside muslces. The secret sender included the term in the morning letter and then the students had to explain what they thought it meant and how they could use it.
On Thursday, during choice time, I was observed by my coordinator. The feedback was all positive and noted my abilities to redirect and provide ideas for behavior at the dramatic play area. She noted my strength in modeling behavior, asking questions, revisiting children and their work, providing praise, and integrating interests (puppets) into the transitions and behavioral reminders.
Overall, there were many adjustments that needed to be made this week. The schedule was different because of the ISE day on Monday, Field Trip on Tuesday, and then I went home sick on Wednesday and then on Thursday, had to enter in check points with my teacher in the afternoon. From all of these adjustments, I found that I am flexible and I found the benefit in having detailed lesson plans. As my teacher was able to resume responsibilty from my lesson plans on Wednesday and Thursday the substitute was able to use my plans as well.
Looking ahead into next week, I have a few questions.
I am unsure how to balance imaginative play with teacher directed play. Some students when left to their imagination it turns into a behavioral problem, too rough, using weapons, etc.
How do you moderate and extend play for those at a lower level? This goes in with the question above, some of those students struggle with taking teacher input for extending purposes.
It began by having an ISE day. This was the first time I have been included in a ISE day. My assumptions was always it was a day for teachers to work in their rooms and attend small professional development activities and/or meetings. Boy, was I wrong.
At least for this particular ISE day, we had NO time to work in our classrooms. We spent the first half of the day, recognizing our partners in education and cleaning out the stage in the school - as required of every teacher. The second half was filled with a Choosy Kids follow-up seminar to our grant responsibilities. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and hadn't completed the items that I had hoped or planned to do. My expectations sure did receive a reality check!
Second up that week, was a field trip. While I had attended field trips in the past, I had never been the "responsible/acting" teacher at the time. I was truly amazed at all the precautions that most be completed before attending. Such as, meeting with the nurse to gather all medications, epi pens, inhalers, etc. that needs to be available in case of an emergency. And, with little ones, the importance of getting everyone to the bathroom before boarding the bus - which takes TIME.
I feel I was successful in getting the students prepared for the field trip, even if I did wait a little too long to begin bathroom trips. We went over expectations - both of their behavior and in what they should expect while on the field trip. To help with behavioral issues I strategically paired up the students with a student that would be "best" for them in keeping behavior in check. For one of the more "rowdy" boys, I deliberatly paired myself with him. Held his hand while boardin the bus, sat by him on the bus, and near him during the play. I truly feel that the field trip was a great time for the students, and a nice change of pace to help reinforce fire safety.
Even though, I had to go home sick on Wednesday, I feel I had a wonderful and successful circle time. In the morning, I had students make a guess as to how many marbles were in the jar. There were 14. I had guesses from 5-100. At circle, we counted them all together and found there were 14. I then had them count 14 other balls with me, and we compared what those 14 balls looked like in relation to the marbles. They all agreed that it looked like there were more other balls than marbles becuase they were bigger. Some of the students still had the misconception that there were more balls than marbles because of their size. To help bridge this gap, I then passed out the marbles to 14 students and then handed them each a ball from the other bin to physicall prove there were the same amount. During choice time, I also found a great opportunity to extend a student's play. This student was "baking a cake" in the sand area. I turned this into a shared writing experience by having this student dictate what they were adding into their cake mix and writing it down.
On Thursday, I felt I made another successful adjustment during circle time. I saw students were become antsy towards the end, and we still had a couple more minutes until we could get ready for gym. I had planned to read the story, Bounce. I continued with my plan of reading the story, but I had them stand up and act out the story as I read (bouncing along like the characters). Integrating movement kept the students engaged and helped control their antsy behavior.
I was also quick thinking and began using the term, Inside Muscles. Students have a clear grasp on inside voices and respond well with those reminders when playing inside. We have a few students who struggle to play nicely and not as rough while inside, so we had a discussion on inside muslces. The secret sender included the term in the morning letter and then the students had to explain what they thought it meant and how they could use it.
On Thursday, during choice time, I was observed by my coordinator. The feedback was all positive and noted my abilities to redirect and provide ideas for behavior at the dramatic play area. She noted my strength in modeling behavior, asking questions, revisiting children and their work, providing praise, and integrating interests (puppets) into the transitions and behavioral reminders.
Overall, there were many adjustments that needed to be made this week. The schedule was different because of the ISE day on Monday, Field Trip on Tuesday, and then I went home sick on Wednesday and then on Thursday, had to enter in check points with my teacher in the afternoon. From all of these adjustments, I found that I am flexible and I found the benefit in having detailed lesson plans. As my teacher was able to resume responsibilty from my lesson plans on Wednesday and Thursday the substitute was able to use my plans as well.
Looking ahead into next week, I have a few questions.
I am unsure how to balance imaginative play with teacher directed play. Some students when left to their imagination it turns into a behavioral problem, too rough, using weapons, etc.
How do you moderate and extend play for those at a lower level? This goes in with the question above, some of those students struggle with taking teacher input for extending purposes.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Week 2 Full Time Reflection
With each passing week, I am learning and understanding the responsibilities and duties teacher have, it is imperative that lesson plans are thoughtful, purposeful, and meaningful, as it can make the world of difference.
This week, I found that integrating "two themes" was very difficult. We had to hit on fire safety as we are going on a fire safety field trip next week, but yet, I had planned to begin my action research and the exploration phase of our ball study. I realize now, I should have postponed the action research and ball study and focuses solely on the fire safety, as it would have been more meaningful for the students.
The main lesson learned this week:
Less is more.
Less is more.
So far, it appears the students are very interested in the ball study. I am so excited to continue on with more exploration next week and then getting into more focused discoveries around balls. I found students writing on their play plans that they wanted to visit the ball collection. I also found the ball collection helping students behavior. As some of the boys who struggle with staying on task, not being rowdy, etc. are so interested in the ball study that they will stay in that area during choice. It even leads to more focused learning for them, as they were eager to classify the balls, asked to write and act out a play around balls, and use them outside.
Overall, integrating the balls into the classroom has helped teach sharing and turn-taking, as students are engaged in throwing games (action research) in which they must take turns. This benefit is huge - as a main goal of preschool is socialization and social skills!
The addition of picture word cards to the mail center has been wonderful. Everyday the mailbox continues to be full of letters written by the students to their parents, teachers and other students.
I also found that the students enjoy class projects, such as building the 3-D house for the fire poster competition. They were all so eager and wanting to help add to the house. I hope to incorporate more group projects like this in the future. The students also LOVED the book "Stop that Ball". It was a book that my mentor teacher picked up the night before I began the unit. I did not have time to look it over before hand and I wished I would have, as I realized after reading it there were so many extension activities that could have been done - such as having them act it out in the dramatic play area, or extending the story by creating a picture with a little red pom pom ball. I also realized through reading this book the available and new vocabulary words that were picked up by the students.
As a result, next week, I will be encouraging students to take the book with them to the dramatic play area to act it out with a red ball. I also will be beginning a word wall that is located in the writing center that will display new words learned with the picture and word so students can include them in their letters.
Overall, I feel good about this week. As mentioned above there are a few areas in which I could have improved, but I am looking forward to moving into next week.
Questions to look into from this week:
How can you help facilitate instead of leading play writing?
What can be done for students who struggle with self-regulation and listening?
How can you help facilitate instead of leading play writing?
What can be done for students who struggle with self-regulation and listening?
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