Online Reflection #6 : Reinventing the wheel

It's Sunday night, the last night of Spring Break. Where has the time gone? Come 8am I'm sure I'll not be the only one asking that question. It's also the last major break before summer. There is a lot of focus in classes about starting school off on the right foot; that the first two weeks are crucial to the school year. While I have no arguments against those sentiments, the last weeks of the semester should not be disregarded simply because it is the end. Most of my senior students have had senioritis since their return from winter break; but now that senior project is winding down, I wonder how many are going to start checking out?

Over the break I've kept busy with odds and end jobs, but one thing I tried to focus on was what I was going to be teaching after the break. As the freshmen finish Blima they'll be starting into Romeo and Juliet. The seniors had Catching Fire pushed back around their projects, and have been focusing in on the theme of dystopian societies. To try and help gather ideas of how to go about these two works in a way that provides a motivating and engaging activity, I re-discovered a website that I had all but forgotten: Teachers Pay Teachers. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, this website is a great host of resources. Some, I know, cost money- but there are a handful that you can find free to download. Resource groups such as this are also great for those unexpected class periods (from choir absences, chronic flu absences, snow days or what have you) that keep students learning relevant detail of information but add a little fluff so that main activities can stay on track between all of the classes and students. I'm sure there are many others I could find from a quick Google search, but this specific group I have come to time and time again. Since it comes from other actual teachers, the information is almost always accurate. Besides that, just searching around can spark an overflow of ideas!

Hopefully everyone has a great first day back!

Reflection #5: Pushing through!

It’s the week before Spring Break and everything seems to be piling up together! This is the time that I really get a taste for both sides of the spectrum. As a student I’m working on my KPTP, I have a presentation to give tomorrow night, preparations to make for my observation on Wednesday, and a general craving for break so that I can simply sleep in past 6am on morning (not to mention the fact that we lost an hour last night). As a teacher, however, I see the last minute planning and preparations behind the scenes to try and get the students where they need to be and everything caught up to date. Not to mention and inservice day followed by a seminar meeting that night which leads into a workday on Friday at which point all grades must be caught up to date. Add onto this two Praxis tests, an early morning PD meeting at 7:10am and an open house for senior projects and this week seems pretty hectic and nearly impossible to navigate! While classroom management has been one of my big goals this semester to work on, I’ve realized that time management has easily become another.

Thankfully my CT is thoroughly organized which has helped to keep me on a straight track as well. Without those skills this week would look downright terrifying! Even the simple things, such as paper and file organization techniques as mentioned in this blog has become a key tool to manage time efficiently. I can see what copies have been made or need to be made, and using plan time or before/after school to get those accomplished saves a last minute rush at the copy machine. By being organized I have time for breathers- and with this upcoming week I feel that they will be needed a lot! But I was also searching around for some other forms of advice to help keep me calm and collected when I discovered this article. It has a lot of good resources and tidbits that should be taken into consideration! Taking the time to get organized, keep organized and help myself stay on top of everything is the overarching goal for this week. Spring break is a teasing thought away, but as both a student and a teacher I know that I need to focus on the tasks at hand so that when spring break does make its way here I can savor it.

Have a great week, everyone!

Reflection #4: Dealing with ED

Every classroom has their challenges, especially for up and coming teachers. Classroom management has been one of my main goals this semester to better myself on and learn more about. But how does one learn to manage an emotion disorder when they’re still learning the basics of classroom management as well?

It can be easy at times to tell when students play off a disability versus when they are seriously in need of help.  But other times it’s a lot more difficult to separate the two. This is the case in one of my classrooms right now. My CT and I, along with one of the school counselors, are attempting to figure out just what is going on with a certain student. This student is acting quite similar to how they treated my CT at the beginning of the school year, but at the same time this student is suddenly utilizing the “calm down” classroom where they hadn’t before. The student is coming into the classroom and immediately shutting down and asking to leave in accordance to their IEP. Is it that having two figures of authority is too much, when we both try to get the student to stay on task? Is it the fact that the student just started opening up to the CT in January, when I came and interrupted the student’s frame of mind and security with the change? The student and I have had several good chats together but is overly guarded (with many other teachers, as well, I have learned). As I mentioned last post: change is difficult for many of my students. Almost all have begun to adjust and see me as their teacher by now. However, this particular student with ED is posing an interesting challenge to my learning and ability to apply my knowledge in the classroom settings. And I must admit: it’s much harder than it seems. Thankfully I have an amazing CT and staff at the school to try and work together to get a transition plan into gear. I’m also going to try and have a personal chat next class with the student, as that’s often hard to do when I’m in charge of managing the entire classroom. It’s a hard learning experience, and it’s been frustrating at times, but I’m thankful that I get this opportunity now while I’m still having support. Our goal is to try and get on the same page as the student, and to come to an understanding that both of us can agree upon (in terms of going to the calm down room, signals perhaps, and trying to identify true anger issues versus the choice to not listen).

On another note, I have the link to the website I mentioned last post! It’s a great resource, and the freshmen really seemed to enjoy using it with their Holocaust project! Be sure to check it out here at big huge labs!