First Week

Hello All!

As I have promised myself and others that follow me, I shall be "trying" to post something on my student-teaching experience.

So....week 1!

Wow...

I am LOVING IT! I'm so blessed to find a job where I have to wake myself up at 6am in the morning *cringe* and actually be excited about going into work! Super blessed!

Anyways...where to begin..

I LOVE my school. It's so open and chillax. While some of the teachers are bad examples of what a teacher should be (aka: complaining about everything and having NO common sense) the majority of them are caring people that want to make a difference and are actually trying. My only real big beef with the school is how there is little time spent in Social Studies and how Science is an elective.... really?!?

My teacher is pretty neat. She is a good person at heart, and I really appreciate that. We get along, she is very open to share new things with me and does all she can being a mother, with two children, and having to go to physical therapy due to a previous bout with breast cancer. She's a trooper!

The only things that makes me a little "off" with her is me having to "fish" for information a lot of the time. Like..what I should be doing...when I should do this... what is this, etc. She is willing to share, but it can be a little frustrating sometimes.. especially when I have to teach the whole class for 7 weeks by myself. She also does not WAIT for anyone. I literally was in the teacher's lounge talking to another teacher and she left without telling me....without saying ANYTHING. v.v ugh....

But besides from that, it's all good. My other problems are things that consist of just teaching in general as opposed to the teacher.

I read a very interesting and great book about the global achievement gap in American schools today.

The Global Achievement Gap by: Tony Wagner

It basically said that we were teaching our children wrong and that we need to focus on how to have them critically think instead of teaching to the test and just "giving" them the answer. Keep in mind, it's not really the teachers fault. We never had to teach students this way because they were either going to go home and work on the farm, some other blue-collar job or reproduce. This is the FIRST time in history where the majority of the jobs in this country depend heavily on people-skills and critically thinking. Not to mention that this is the first time in history where we are now competing with the rest of the world on a much larger scale. We have to teach our teachers how to teach completely different!

Here are the 7 "survival" skills that the books lists that we need to concentrate on as teachers.

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2.Collaboration ACross Networks and Leading by Influence
3.Agility and Adaptability
4.Initiative and entrepreneurialism
5.Effective Oral and Written Communication
6.Accessing and Analyzing Information
7.Curiosity and Imagination

So, based off this list you maybe can understand why I CAN'T stand constant worksheets. That's all we do really. It's either a worksheet in reading, or a workbook page in math. Just follow directions basically and you SHOULD do well. NO, NO, NO.... gah! (can you tell I'm frustrated?) That's NOT how the real world works... le sigh.

Anyways, now to the students... LOVE THEM! I have an inclusion classroom so there are a lot of students in my class with SLD's or behavior problems, but I look at it as more of a learning opportunity and a great way to help me grow as a teacher. I'll go into more detail about them next week so I shall have something to write about. :)

One of the things I had them do was a multiple intelligence test. By analyzing how they learn best I can better understand their learning styles and it helps me prep for future lessons.

Anyways, hope this was helpful or at least enjoyable! Till next week!

Brittany :)

2 Days 2 Go

Welcome wanderers, friends and perhaps future educators,

What better way to view the progress (hopefully) of my teaching than to view the many entry blogs that I intend on writing (aka at least once a week).

I hope you gain something useful from reading these, even if it's strengthening your skill on criticizing my poor grammar or writing ability.

None the less...

The countdown begins.. I begin student teaching in a 4th grade classroom starting January 9th. Of course, the first day will consist of getting ready and I won't actually meet the students till they come back to school on January 10th.

I am excited, surprisingly not nervous, and am anxious to learn from both my cooperating teacher and students!

Some things that I would like to keep in mind as I embark on this journey are

1. To focus on the students, it's about them, not YOU

2. Take every mistake as a learning opportunity

3.Don't take everything so personally

4. Remember, everyday is another opportunity to teach and learn something new

5.You will be, forever young.

Thank-you all, and enjoy reading, and in the mean time, I will try to get into a regular sleeping schedule. A.K.A. not waking up at 1pm.