Tip Toe into Teaching: Observing a teacher

In a previous post I mentioned observing another teacher as a great way to learn how to manage a classroom and pickup techniques for future use. A little while ago I had the opportunity to follow my advice and observe a couple different teachers in action. To do this instead of doing a high school close to college, I went home, back to my high school. Trust me when I say it was a step back in time, and I kind of felt out of place. Not quite a student, but not quite a teacher either. Even though this was true I picked up on different teaching techniques, learned some lessons, and got some great advice. Let me tell you about it.

I observed three different teachers all taught English and had very different ways of teaching. It was almost like the three bears from Goldilocks. The first teacher I observed was a teacher I had had previously, Mrs. W. It was strange being back in her classroom, even stranger yet not being a student. Her views on teaching were much more traditional, like the mama bear. Don’t get me wrong, she was very flexible, but still used a lot of the more traditional ways of teaching. She didn’t like using technology for younger students and forced them to read paper books. She also walked through the desks to interact with the students. When I think of a traditional teacher I think of her. Another teacher I observed, Mr. S., was the complete opposite of Mrs. W. He based a lot of what he did on the technology that was available. He allowed the students to use iPads to read and led them through a process to reserve books from the library via his own iPad on the projection screen. He stayed at his desk for most of the hour except when we went to the library. His process was let them work on their own and not hold their hand like a lot of teachers do. Like the hard chair of papa bear. The last teacher was Mr. H. He was a nice combination of the two. He used technology, interacted with his students, and still used some traditional aspects of teaching, like making them write on a piece paper with pen or pencil. It was a very interesting seeing all three in action, definitely gave me a better idea of the teacher I want to be.

 

Some lessons that were learned: Technology should not rule the classroom, but have some part in it. The biggest lesson was BE FLEXIBLE.

Advice given: “Observe different school districts. Poor, rich, middle class, rural, inner city, suburban, and everything in between. Your first job will more than likely not be the one you want, but doing these observations will make sure your ready for different situations.” Ms. Harker Schau

Now that I have all this information to use I’ll tuck it away until I have to use it as a teacher. This experience has expanded my rolodex of ideas, lessons, and advice for being a teacher in the near future.

Teachers, Media, and Expectaions

In my class we had to do a project about teachers int he media and how they are portrayed. Right now I bet you can think of some type of teacher in the media whether fictional like: Ms. Frizzle, Mr. Feeny, or Mr. Belding. Or a teacher in movies or based in reality like the news. All of these examples brought either high expectations or what a teacher should not do. All of this effect the way teachers are showed and the expectations they are held to, which is sky high. Which brings me to my point of how much media affects the expectations of a teacher.

In society expectations are high for all public servants especially teachers. The problem is society compares human teachers to fictional teachers that are seemingly perfect. With this state of mind society expects the real teachers to do everything the fictional teacher can do no matter what. However, what the public forgets is that real teachers have certain things, like budgets, that confines them in what they can actually do. The public also expects the teacher to give every student individual attention, but with growing class sizes that is almost nearly impossible. These are just a few expectations that the public has of teachers.

Even though society has some unrealistic standards for teachers, they try. They try to give students everything that they can even if it comes out of their own pockets. With ever growing classes and shrinking budgets teachers are getting more and more creative with teaching students, they have to. Instead of the media protraying the teacher as someone who can do everything I believe they need to show the world the underbelly of the education system. Show them that we are trying and succeeding with the limited resources, but there is a reason behind why schools are struggling.

Student Behavior

Student behavior is something that can dictate the entire classroom and day. Its these ranging behaviors that can cause the day to be spectacular or one of the worst days in the classroom. Knowing this, student behavior is something first-time teachers don't know how to handle due to inexperience or scared about handling it. To me, personally, this is the second most important thing for teachers to figure out in a classroom right behind their identity as a teacher.

This article from Scholastic is a gives great tips on how to handle situations such as words to use, things you can do in the situation, and even gives you tips on how to handle a situation if personalities don't quite mesh. In my opinion some of these tips can be useful in a secondary classroom especially the tips about clashing personalities, and things you can do as a teacher to calm yourself down before handling the situation. However, most of the other tips would be better used for an elementary classroom. On the flip side these tips can help students handle conflicting situations on their own something a lot of students don't know how to do. It would help them think before they use their fists. It might be difficult to instill, but it might help down the road.

Even though student behavior can be a dictating force their are things you can do to try to not make it that. The best way to figure out how to handle students in different situations is to do teacher observations is various different classrooms. This will help give new and upcoming teachers different ways to handle students. For me personally, I'm not scared. I have had previous experience dealing with students, but I know it will be different when I'm in charge of my own classroom. At first it'll be difficult, but will become easier over time.

Teacher Idenity

Going from college classes to student teacher to finally a teacher is the natural progression in the education of teachers. What people don't realize or understand is that until we are a teacher we identify ourselves still as students. This search for our identity as a teacher can make the first few years of teaching that much more difficult.

This topic and many others are covered in a book called, Early Career English Teachers in Action. In chapter () all the personal narratives cover teachers telling stories about how they found their own identity as a teacher. Reading these stories help beginner teachers not feel alone, and gives insight to what it's really like as you transition from student to teacher, like me,

Topics like teacher identity are extremely important for teachers to discuss and know about in their first few years of teaching for many reasons. One being that it helps with classroom management as well as increased confidence for the teacher. Both are very important things when it comes to running to a classroom. This important step in forming an identity makes you become the teacher you need to be and want to be as your career goes further on. This article is a personal experience of a student teacher turning into a teacher herself. https://ed.psu.edu/englishpds/inquiry/projects/yerkes04.htm

Nothing But The Truth By:AVI

Over the weekend I finished a book called Nothing But The Truth. This book was written in 1993, but has a story line that stretches over the course of time. It is a multi-genre book. It contains diary entries, letters to and from other people, memos, and actual conversation between different characters. It is a quick read, but as a future teacher it is also one that hits a little to close to home.

The story is about a student named Philip Malloy and his English teacher Margaret Narwin, and the conflict that happens between the two of them. Philip Malloy in the beginning of the story just wants on the track team, but can't when the tryouts come about because of his grade in English which ended up being a D. He had already disliked Ms. Narwin, and this didn't help. However, while in her class he talked back and didn't try leaving Ms. Narwin no other choice than to fail him. She feels though she isn't connecting with him and other students and wants to. Ms. Narwin was a long standing teacher at Harrison High. She taught for twenty years.

As the story continued things started getting out of hand. Changes in homerooms forced Philip to not only be in Ms Narwin's English class, but homeroom as well. He started to hum The Star Spangled Banner, which was played over the pa system every morning. He only started this after being put into Ms. Narwin's class. The rules read before the playing of the National Anthem says that they be silent while its playing. Philip continued to break that rule, and Ms. Narwin sent him to the principal's office which resulted in his suspension. After this it all spiraled out of control.

Philip's story of his suspension was published and was soon not only in the hometown paper, but everywhere in America. Without Ms. Narwin's side being published Philip got all the support. People lashed out at Ms. Narwin and called for termination for her actions. By the end of the book Philip felt bad about what he did, and still wasn't able to be on the track team. He transferred to a local private school. Ms. Narwin resigned and decided to move down to Florida with her sister and her husband.


Overall this is a story that happens more often than we'd like to think. It's something that happens all the time in the media. They share only one side of the story and you never to get to here the other. If you do it's months later, careers are destroyed, and everybody already has their view already set. It's had to backtrack public opinion. This is a major subject that affects education and teachers all time. As a future teacher I know it is a subject that I have to pay attention to and make sure it doesn't happen to myself.

Introduction

Hello everyone!

My name is Cait and I'm currently working on a Bachelor's  Degree Secondary Education History Major with an English Minor at Western Michigan University. I already have an Associate's Degree in General Education from my local community college. I'm currently a junior here at WMU, but this is my first year on campus. It's been an interesting year that's for sure.

More about me is that I come from a relatively large family. I have one older brother, but 13 cousins on one side alone. I'm loud, but can listen at the same time. In a family like mine you have to be loud to be heard most times.

This blog is to talk about different readings that will be read in this class as well as interpretations of the readings that are done. So sit down and enjoy the ride. It should be an interesting one.