I definitely NEVER thought "fantastic" was one of my pet phrases. I think I said it over 20 times in one period. It's kind of annoying.
Here are some other things I observed about myself and my class:
My class gets TIRED. They start tuning out at some point during every class, but especially they are wiped OUT by fourth period! I thought I did a good job of raising the energy level in the classroom and keeping them involved and active. The students probably were slightly annoyed with me, but I cannot work in a class where the students are laying on their desks or holding their heads up.
I liked the activities I had planned, but I think the concept was too over their heads, so it didn't work as well as I had hoped.
I have no neck.
My classroom management is so-so. I let some shirt tails come untucked and didn't say anything. I didn't necessarily follow through with my threat to sing the "alive, awake, alert" song if they were falling asleep. My classroom climate is VERY comfortable, and I know that will be a problem in the fall with a full classroom. I definitely have to tighten up (at least to start with!)
I love teaching :)
This class was a little frustrating because I wanted to accomplish more than I did, but that is something that I will have to get used to.
I am getting more used to watching myself on video.
The kids like the video camera. They notice guests. Guests make them nervous.
I want my students to be comfortable with me in the fall. I do NOT want a silent classroom. Activities are KEY.
HAVE FUN WITH TEACHING!!!!!!
That was probably the most random blog ever.
As I look around my room right now, I can't help but think that some people would enter and probably have an anxiety attack. I've definitely had a messier room at times, but the types of things strewn about were usually clothes or something along those lines. Now, I have random lesson plans, worksheets, books, stuff from EDSE 500, construction paper, posterboard, transparencies.........the list goes on and on!
I could potentially be stressed out about this, but last weekend I instead chose to let it motivate me to organize my life (an overstatement probably, but moving on...). We hear over and over in our classes and meetings that it is so important for teachers to stay organized, and I planned on doing that! Apparently, it doesn't just happen without some effort.
As I said, last weekend I was motivated to get myself back on track. I had visions of how I wanted to organize everything so I could reference it easily or find it in a second when I wanted to use it in the fall. I felt a little like Monica from Friends with how excited I felt about getting everything together. That feeling quickly flew out the window when I started out on this task. What I thought may take a couple hours (tops) turned into a project that I can't see an end to! You'll notice that the beginning of this blog says "as I look around my room RIGHT NOW"........I'm not organized!!!! My efforts to become more organized made it look SO MUCH WORSE!!! I have definitely experienced this before, but wow!
My organization skills really have not caused me any real problems or grief so far, and I know finishing out summer school will not be a problem because of my organization (or lack thereof), but I really hope that I can do better in the fall.
I just wanted to share one of my favorite Bible verses. It has been especially significant over the past year in my making my decision to join the teacher corps instead of keeping on pace with my fellow pre-med classmates and going straight to med school. It also has popped into my mind a lot in the last few days in regard to our classmates who have decided to pursue other paths in their lives. Good luck to you girls if you're reading this. I'll be praying for you!
Romans 12:6-8
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
In the past, whenever I've heard my own voice on voicemail messages or videotapes or anything, I would cringe. My voice always sounds so annoying to me, I always wonder how people can ever stand talking to me! While this may be true (and if I annoy you, you can keep those comments to yourself), it was not quite as bad when I was watching myself teach. This was probably a lot because I did not do that much talking in the lesson – the students were mostly working on activities and independent practice. I think I could have possibly learned more for improvement purposes had I videotaped a different lesson, but there were still some things I picked up on that I can work on.
One thing I noticed the most that needs to change is keeping a confident voice the whole time. This is mostly in reference to talking too fast during some instructions that I gave AND a couple times when I just mumbled something out. Even I could barely understand what I said when I was watching myself. I need to decide what is important to say and what is not, and either say things confidently or leave them out.
I found that if there are longer silences between a question and an answer, I tend to rephrase it pretty quickly. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing because sometimes my questions may need clarification, but I think I could use silences more to my benefit and let the students get uncomfortable enough to provide an answer.
Another thing that bothered me was that I look like I don't know what to do with my hands a lot of times. I'm either playing with a marker, paper clip, or just holding my hands together in front of me. This looks a little insecure to me, and I am going to TRY to change it!
Overall, I thought the lesson went well, and it was a great experience to watch myself teach. This term I am going to tape and watch a different type of lesson, so I can see myself in a little different setting.
