The two articles I read were, "The Power of Our Words" by Paula Denton, and "If They'd Only do Their Work" by Linda Darling-Hammond and Olivia Ifill-Lynch. I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed when I read these articles because I'm trying my best to be a great teacher and there's just so much to do/fix. For example, in the article "The Power of Our Words", I read that my sarcasm can be harmful at times, but I can't restrain myself from using it. Also, I'm aware of the "knowing when to be silent" strategy but it's so hard to break my habit of asking a question and letting anyone answer it. I don't even have a firm policy on hand-raising because...well...I don't know why.
The article, "If They'd Only Do Their Work" talked about making homework "doable". Most of the suggestions they gave, I've somewhat incorporated in my class. Most of the time I give students a chance to work on problems similar to their homework while I walk around the class giving immediate feedback. The following day, I ask if anyone has hw questions, but nobody asks (maybe their too embarrassed). This topic also made me think about students that do understand the hw, but try finishing the assignment 5 minutes before it's to be turned in?
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That
The article "Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites" listed many great ideas and below are the ideas I thought would be useful.
For attention getting behavior: 1. "Use humor when talking to them about their misbehavior. (p.17) 2. "...give them the attention when they are doing what is expected of them."(p.18) 3. Compliment them in front of their peers..."(p. 18)
For students who seek control: 1. "Put these students into positions of responsibility" (p. 18) Usually if I have papers to hand out, I ask students to help so they can get up and walk around.
For students who are bored: 1. I will create more activities that allows students to "move and meet with a discussion partner. 2. Once I have taught more vocabulary words, I would like to play "math hangman".
For students who feel inadequate: 1. I'm thinking of pointing out how far they have come along and point out the math they do know.
After reading "The Warm Demander" I found that it listed a few things I am attempting in my class. I am at the stage where I am trying to build relationships with my students. I make it a point to "high five them" as often as I remember, I smile, and I try to greet them by also saying their names, but I'm not sure where I stand as far as becoming a warm demander. I'm not sure if I'm clear and consistent with my expectations because I'm not even sure what they are. The paragraph that talks about providing learning supports mentioned that, "Students preferred teacher who explained material thoroughly and in multiple ways..." and I find that my class is split in half when it comes to this. Last week I introduced the class to the "plus delta" table and found that some students loved how thorough I am with the material and others wanted me to speed up. This is a huge dilemma because if I keep teaching "slowly" a few students will be bored, and if I speed up I'll lose other students thus leading them to feel inadequate.
For attention getting behavior: 1. "Use humor when talking to them about their misbehavior. (p.17) 2. "...give them the attention when they are doing what is expected of them."(p.18) 3. Compliment them in front of their peers..."(p. 18)
For students who seek control: 1. "Put these students into positions of responsibility" (p. 18) Usually if I have papers to hand out, I ask students to help so they can get up and walk around.
For students who are bored: 1. I will create more activities that allows students to "move and meet with a discussion partner. 2. Once I have taught more vocabulary words, I would like to play "math hangman".
For students who feel inadequate: 1. I'm thinking of pointing out how far they have come along and point out the math they do know.
After reading "The Warm Demander" I found that it listed a few things I am attempting in my class. I am at the stage where I am trying to build relationships with my students. I make it a point to "high five them" as often as I remember, I smile, and I try to greet them by also saying their names, but I'm not sure where I stand as far as becoming a warm demander. I'm not sure if I'm clear and consistent with my expectations because I'm not even sure what they are. The paragraph that talks about providing learning supports mentioned that, "Students preferred teacher who explained material thoroughly and in multiple ways..." and I find that my class is split in half when it comes to this. Last week I introduced the class to the "plus delta" table and found that some students loved how thorough I am with the material and others wanted me to speed up. This is a huge dilemma because if I keep teaching "slowly" a few students will be bored, and if I speed up I'll lose other students thus leading them to feel inadequate.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
First Few Weeks
Hello everyone, well my first few weeks felt like a roller coaster ride. I had some highs and lows. The very first day of class I had the class try the "Who am I?" name tag ice-breaker we did during the summer retreat, and whoa did it go bad. I can laugh about it now, but I freaked out then because almost all the students looked at me as if I was crazy. About four out of twenty students gave it a try which was awkward (hahaha never doing that again). Soon after that I introduced myself, told them my life story of how I struggled in math and that's why I became a math teacher. I think this is what put them at ease and since then we have been growing closer as a family, sharing our views on math, etc...
One of the things I think is going well is that I can get the class to settle down if it gets too loud. If I'm speaking and students talk over me, I can give them a certain look and they'll know to stop. On occasion I have to verbalize it, and that works just fine too. Also, if students are using their cell phones during class, I ask them to hand over their phones and I haven't yet had a problem receiving them. At the end of class, I have them sign a contract which states that next time I'll keep their cell phone for the entire school day, and so far students have not refused to sign.
I have many concerns for areas of growth in classroom management, but the one thing that sticks out in my mind right now is how to get my students to WAKEUP. If my students fall asleep during class, I think right away that I'm doing something wrong...I'm boring! I hate being boring and I don't know how to get my students excited and enthused. Sometimes my personality alone can get them going, but that can only take me so far. I've taken the class to the park a few times for a change of scenery, and I've already had people suggest hands-on activities(which is a great idea), but besides that what else can I do?
One of the things I think is going well is that I can get the class to settle down if it gets too loud. If I'm speaking and students talk over me, I can give them a certain look and they'll know to stop. On occasion I have to verbalize it, and that works just fine too. Also, if students are using their cell phones during class, I ask them to hand over their phones and I haven't yet had a problem receiving them. At the end of class, I have them sign a contract which states that next time I'll keep their cell phone for the entire school day, and so far students have not refused to sign.
I have many concerns for areas of growth in classroom management, but the one thing that sticks out in my mind right now is how to get my students to WAKEUP. If my students fall asleep during class, I think right away that I'm doing something wrong...I'm boring! I hate being boring and I don't know how to get my students excited and enthused. Sometimes my personality alone can get them going, but that can only take me so far. I've taken the class to the park a few times for a change of scenery, and I've already had people suggest hands-on activities(which is a great idea), but besides that what else can I do?
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