I think the continuing trait I am learning in teaching is flexibility.
Each day is so different and never goes as expected. Each week things change. It is constantly changing and evolving in new ways both expected and unexpected.
This week we continued looking and discovering ants through the story Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg. The main skill I was working on was ant perspective compared to person perspective compared to giraffe perspective, for instance. As we were discussing perspective and vocabulary words, the word exhibit popped on the screen. I started to explain what an exhibit is, and began to go into museums and dinosaur exhibits. Only two of my students had been to a museum, so I took it as a learning opportunity to show them pictures of what an dinosaur exhibit looked like. This led us into a conversation about dinosaurs and fossils and paleontologists. It was a little side-tracked and not planned in my lesson plans, but I thought it was a great learning experience for those students to see some pictures of dinosaur bones and help make a concrete image of an exhibit in case that is the only chance they ever get. We eventually tied it back into the skill by saying how to us dinosaurs and huge and monster like, but to ants we are huge and monster like. From there we jumped right back on track and continued our lesson for the day.
This week I also had my first experience teaching with a substitute in the classroom. I had been preparing myself all week, because I knew the students would try to test me, like they would a substitute because the main teacher was out of the room. I knew I had to stay stern and teach the day like any other day. I was expected the students to be excited and maybe a little frazzled that there was a substitute in the room, a new person, but I never expected myself to get so frazzled! It was difficult because there was a lot happening that day. We had to get in the computer lab to take a reading test, come back to the room to take the paper part of the test, then the spelling test. The reading test was set up differently then normal. When we went down to the computer lab, like we do every Friday for reading tests, I told the students beforehand what the instructions were for the new process of that day’s test. Madness broke loose. Of course that day the computers decided to be more temperamental then normal. Some wouldn’t type, others wouldn’t scroll. By the time we all reached the same point to start the test, the kindergarten teacher was knocking on the door with her entire class in the hallway informing me that they were signed in for that time slot. So…we logged off and went back to the classroom to begin the paper portion of the test. The students were so confused about what was happening that it through them off a little. My student with Autism did not respond well to the quick change, or the emergency computer lab session we had in the afternoon. There were a few things I would change about that day. There was a 15 minute time slot in the afternoon that I wish I would have taken advantage of for a quick math review or language practice. At the end of the day I felt like I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to and I didn’t like that feeling at all. Long story short- stay prepared, follow your instincts, and remain calm!
I sense that you are trying to juustify why you went off your lesson plans with the museum. Just remember that your plans are just a guide. Even the "seasoned" teacher does not stick to their plans as written every day. You picked up on a vital missing puzzle piece. Students had no idea what a museum is so therefore they could not make connections. Without connections students can not internalize and learn the necessary information. If you had not spent the time up front, you would be spending it in the end because students would not have comprehended the material.
I think the continuing trait I am learning in teaching is flexibility.
ReplyDeleteEach day is so different and never goes as expected. Each week things change. It is constantly changing and evolving in new ways both expected and unexpected.
This week we continued looking and discovering ants through the story Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg. The main skill I was working on was ant perspective compared to person perspective compared to giraffe perspective, for instance. As we were discussing perspective and vocabulary words, the word exhibit popped on the screen. I started to explain what an exhibit is, and began to go into museums and dinosaur exhibits. Only two of my students had been to a museum, so I took it as a learning opportunity to show them pictures of what an dinosaur exhibit looked like. This led us into a conversation about dinosaurs and fossils and paleontologists. It was a little side-tracked and not planned in my lesson plans, but I thought it was a great learning experience for those students to see some pictures of dinosaur bones and help make a concrete image of an exhibit in case that is the only chance they ever get. We eventually tied it back into the skill by saying how to us dinosaurs and huge and monster like, but to ants we are huge and monster like. From there we jumped right back on track and continued our lesson for the day.
This week I also had my first experience teaching with a substitute in the classroom. I had been preparing myself all week, because I knew the students would try to test me, like they would a substitute because the main teacher was out of the room. I knew I had to stay stern and teach the day like any other day. I was expected the students to be excited and maybe a little frazzled that there was a substitute in the room, a new person, but I never expected myself to get so frazzled! It was difficult because there was a lot happening that day. We had to get in the computer lab to take a reading test, come back to the room to take the paper part of the test, then the spelling test. The reading test was set up differently then normal. When we went down to the computer lab, like we do every Friday for reading tests, I told the students beforehand what the instructions were for the new process of that day’s test. Madness broke loose. Of course that day the computers decided to be more temperamental then normal. Some wouldn’t type, others wouldn’t scroll. By the time we all reached the same point to start the test, the kindergarten teacher was knocking on the door with her entire class in the hallway informing me that they were signed in for that time slot. So…we logged off and went back to the classroom to begin the paper portion of the test. The students were so confused about what was happening that it through them off a little. My student with Autism did not respond well to the quick change, or the emergency computer lab session we had in the afternoon. There were a few things I would change about that day. There was a 15 minute time slot in the afternoon that I wish I would have taken advantage of for a quick math review or language practice. At the end of the day I felt like I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to and I didn’t like that feeling at all. Long story short- stay prepared, follow your instincts, and remain calm!
I sense that you are trying to juustify why you went off your lesson plans with the museum. Just remember that your plans are just a guide. Even the "seasoned" teacher does not stick to their plans as written every day. You picked up on a vital missing puzzle piece. Students had no idea what a museum is so therefore they could not make connections. Without connections students can not internalize and learn the necessary information. If you had not spent the time up front, you would be spending it in the end because students would not have comprehended the material.
ReplyDeleteNow you will know and understand what it will be like in your classroom when there is a substitute! lol
ReplyDeleteSorry I had to be out though.