Week 3 Reflection

Are there any strategies that you use to encourage teamwork among your students? What ways are you adopting to instruct students who have varying abilities?

            To encourage teamwork among my students, which I value highly, I have established several “fun Friday” activities which allow the students to bond. The students sit at tables of four which are linked to make tables of eight. I use these tables to establish groups which are consistent for a few weeks. This allows the students to get to know the people at their table and learn how to work with these peers specifically. The large groups of eight become teams for the “fun Friday” activities and work together to earn extra credit. In addition, I encourage students to support one another in their academics. In my senior class the students are doing individual research papers. However, we have set up a system for the students to share their research sources with one another, so that if two students have similar topics, they can benefit from the knowledge of one another.

            One example of my developing abilities to instruct students of varying abilities is also the research paper for my senior class. The students are allowed to choose their topic for the essay. I have encouraged my strong achieving students to branch out in their topics to more difficult research and writing styles. I also provide these students with a different level of feedback for their writing. For my students with special needs or who are lower achieving, I tailor my feedback so as to not overwhelm the students. I focus my attention on aspects of the paper that they must improve to be successful, rather than finding every error with their work. Also, I try to encourage them to write about things they are interested in, yet that they also feel they can be successful with. I have found that simple adjustments like these are essential to making each individual student successful.

Week 2 Reflection

If a student is consistently late to your class, how would you handle the situation?  How do you give your students recognition?  Do you think a student can have too much recognition?

            Since I teach first period, I have quite a few students who are repeat offenders of the tardy policy. Sadly, some of these students are at the mercy of older siblings or even parents who do not bring them to school on time. While I sympathize, I am always adamant about accurately marking students as tardy. The school has a tardy policy in place, which unfortunately I do not find very effective. Some teachers have taken to locking their classroom door and keeping their students outside for the same amount of time that they are late. However, I do not subscribe to this method. While I am sure fear is a strong motivator to show up on time, I hate to sacrifice more of the students learning time because of their poor habits.

            I am a big believe in giving recognition to students who do things well. I feel that it is important to show students that their peers have found ways to be successful in the course, because I hope that it inspires all of my students to work harder. For instance, last week when my students gave PowerPoint presentations, I had one student who did an exceptional job of making her PowerPoint slide. It followed all directions and exceeded expectations for this level of education. She also did an excellent job presenting, and I feel her PowerPoint slide was one of the reasons. After her group’s presentation I told the class how impressed I was and how pleased I was with her work. I also did this, not only to recognize this student, but also to demonstrate to the class, what exceptional work looks like to a teacher. I feel that students benefit from this type of modeling which is realistic. I feel that a teacher can only give too much recognition if the teacher is failing to acknowledge multiple students. If a teacher consistently uses the same student as a model of excellence, the students become disengaged and disinterested in the recognition.  

Week 1 Reflection

Week 1: Do you have a set of rules in your classroom? How do you put them across to your class?   How do you establish authority/ discipline?  What do you do when a discipline problem arises?

            I have tried to follow the discipline guidelines and practices of my master teachers since I represent the master teacher in policies. In both classrooms I do not allow the use of cell phones during direct instruction or classwork time. I have made this rule especially clear, however, my teenage students continue to resist. Per the suggestion of my master teacher, I have begun taking cell phones from students after one verbal warning. I give the phone back at the end of the class period, but if a student becomes a repeat offender I plan to take this issue up with my master teacher as to whether I should alert administration. The use of cell phones in class is a major discipline struggle in all of my classes. I believe this is due to the fact that other teachers may be more relaxed about this. However, I have found that cell phones are a major distraction to the students, and that they do not perform their work well or follow instructions that are given because of cell phone use. I have had to reestablish my authority a few times this trimester, especially with my senior class. Since I am not significantly older than my senior students, they at times view me as more of a peer than their superior. While I do appreciate that I can relate to my senior students quite well, I do become frustrated with the level of respect I receive at times. To reestablish my authority, I expressed my frustration to the class and reminded them that I am their teacher. Immediately following this, I became much more ardent about taking cell phones and bringing all side conversations to a halt. I have even moved students to a new seat to break up discipline issues in the classroom. I can tell that discipline and authority will be a bit of a struggle for me as a new teacher. However, I hope to continue to learn successful methods for establishing classroom control.