Isa-Teachers Blog

I believe that a very important strategy of being a good teacher is to have a relationship with each students. As a future teacher, I aim to make time to talk to each of my students individually every day. But during my weekly practicum visits, I am finding it hard to make the time to have a meaningful conversation with each student when there is so much going on. Do some teachers go to the lengths to make check off lists of which students they have talked to in a day? Do some teachers call children up individually to have a conversation with them? Maybe some teachers spend the first 5-10 minutes of the day catching up with the class as a whole. This would be nicer in a intimate setting such as circle time. I wonder what strategies other teachers have to go about this making time for each child. When you have a class of wonderful children you really DO want to talk to all of them, not just to help you as a instructor, but because all of the children are so great.

It is really difficult to see some of the students in my practicum class who have learning disabilities have troubles with making friends. So many of the students in this class seem to be close friends, constantly chatting, but the ones with learning disabilities never have anyone to talk to. The other day a student was very upset that the EA easy working with another child. It is probably because the EA is basically the only one who chats with her during school. I know that her parents are working so hard to get her up to speed, but they are helpless when it comes to making friends. This is typical in many classrooms, and it is very unfortunate. I see another boy with autism constantly be disregarded in PE class because he has trouble staying on task and participating. It must be hard to feel like you are not of value in a lesson such as PE/ teamwork.

It would be nice to implement some lessons on inclusion. This type of material should be implemented in every grade, so it is more ingrained in the students as they progress through elementary school. Ideally, students should make all of their classmates feel as though they matter.

Cooperative /collaborative learning is a teaching strategy involving children’s participation in small group learning activities. Collaborative learning can be a motivator in school for many students in many ways. One reasons is that student-student support enhances self esteem, reduces anxiety, and even the lower grade-level students benefit from these discussions because they are often inspired by the learning ability displayed by their peers. Students are also encouraged to learn material in greater depth and think more critically than they might otherwise have done.

Cooperative learning also fosters social interaction among students, improves relationships among peers, and promotes inclusion among diverse/ minority students.

There is a concern for students getting off track, or the noise level in the class getting too high, but I believe the benefits of collaborative learning outweigh these costs. Teachers should make sure they have firm classroom management policies in place during these times.

Doing DPA in your classroom everyday can be a real challenge. Students often take a long time to get organized when starting tasks, can be chatty and not get a lot done, and there is a lot of material to cover in a days span. Going outside and doing some quick exercise with the class is often easy because the space is more open, but children changing their shoes and settling down can also take a lot of time. Now that we have technology is is easier to come up with DPA activities to do on  rainy days. There are endless dance and work out videos for children,  and these are a good option because you don’t need a lot of space to do some dancing or jumping jacks.

The downside to technology though is that children arent getting enough exercise because they are spending too much screen time. Watching TV, playing video games, and using the computer are activities that we see children doing more and more now a days, and we have to make up for it by increasing the amount of DPA that we do in school. We see so many children that are overweight now and it is a real concern to get them doing the exercise they need. Once they are in your class all of their fate is basically in your hands, and parents might even hold you accountable to get them moving. There are so many things  a teacher needs to do in a day that fitting in DPA can be a real challenge. Many teachers dont even do it. Its not like a subject that gets graded for the children, and therefore is can be overlooked easier. As teachers we need to constantly be seeking easy approaches to get DPA done quick and effectively.

Althought I haven’t had a lot of time to put these into practice yet, teaching practices that are important to me are to: 

Having a classroom that has a strong community, focused on building positive relationships and an environment where all students feel safe and accepted. This goes for the teacher too. The teacher should be open up to let her students get to know her/him.

Lesson plans should be directed for unique class. Every year the class may be different and lesson plans should be adapted. Additionally learning is a 2 way street. The teacher should not be lecturing students, but they should be involved in the lesson in a transactional manner.

Students should have the opportunity to explore their own passions and develop a love for what they are learning. Whether the student is interested in art, music, math or whatever, they should have the opportunity to explore what they love.

Learning should be active, memorable, and meaningful. Students should be getting out of their seats and having experiences that they will look back on years from now and be able to appreciate. Teachers should attempt to make lessons fun.

Math is a challenge for many students. It was never my favorite subject either. I believe that teachers should be doing what they can to get their students engaged in every subject, but math can be a bit tricky. Worksheets get boring fast, but working with manipulatives can be different, engaging, and can even make math easier to understand. In my practicum classroom, the teacher has just recently started using Cuisenaire rods in math class. Cuisenaire rods are rods of all different lengths and colors from 1-10. They can help students better understand addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, finding divisors, and much more. I think manipulatives are important because they help children better visualize what they are learning, children can play around and find answers in a different way, and it gives students change in pace in their work. My SA told me that she will be working with them for most of the year and that I am encouraged to use them during my practicum time. I will be looking more in to how I can incorporate the use of Cuisenaire rods into my lessons.

As we progress in to an era where technology is everywhere, we see children using technology younger and younger. There is no doubt that children love technology, and that many are more sophisticated in using it than older adults. The use of technology in the classroom can be motivating for many students, and there is no doubt that they should know/learn how to properly use a computer in this era.  When students have the opportunity to use a computer, they may be more interested in working on their assignments. The well behaved students are expected to be working efficiently on the computers/devices. However, computers also offer avenue for distraction. Thinking about  a specific example, while a student was working on a writing assignment on the computer, I noticed her color coding each sentence differently. There was no reason for this she was doing it because she was side tracked on her work. Unlike traditional table work, computers offer access to the internet, games, camera, and much more that can be distracting. I think that the use of technology is important, and that it can definitely be motivating and engaging for students who are often disengaged in their work, but teachers need to pay specific attention that the students are constantly on task.

There are also many other benefits to using technology in the classroom, such as more resources for the students, less marking on paper for the teacher/ easier editing, automatic spell checking, students gaining life skills

It is commonly known in education that a student who is intrinsically motivated for school will probably do better in the long run than a student who is extrinsically motivated. Intrinsic motivation occurs when a student pursues learning due to having an interest in the topic. Intrinsic motivation is also important to have when you have a career goal. Extrinsic motivation has more to due with external factors to the student, such as rewards or punishment. This can be expensive, but most of all it is a short term solution to learning. There are many ways a teacher can try to tap into intrinsic motivation (which I will explore more during my inquiry). In some of the more difficult students however, intrinsic motivation can be difficult to tap in to. The question then remains, is extrinsic motivation an incorrect way to teach? Or is utilizing both methods acceptable? Extrinsic motivation is often a fast way to get things rolling. There is a lot more planning that goes in to intrinsic motivation and often the curriculum can be restrictive of this.

My inquiry topic is focused on motivating children who don’t like school. The topic of motivation first came up for me after entering my practicum school and finding that one child immediately told me that she doesn’t want to be at school, and would rather be watching videos on her iPad. Further disengagement has occurred almost everyday. This behavior includes vandalism, resistance to do work, behavior that is well below her age (crawling on the floor and under desks), arguments with the teacher and students, running out of class unexpectedly, staying in the washroom for far too long, and much more.

For my first blog entry I would like to disscuss social and emotional learning (SEL). Positive teacher student relationships enable students to feel safe and secure in their learning environment, and can positively impact their social and academic outcomes. Students who perceive their relationship with their teacher as positive, warm, and close are motivated to be more engaged in school and to improve their academic achievement (Hughes, Cavell & Jackson, 1999). Building a solid relationship with your students is a vital part of being a good teacher, but it is especially useful/ critical for problematic children. I noticed that this student does open up and show interest in talking to me when we don’t talk about school. Building a relationship and having conversations with this student is probably the only salvation to get her to listen to me. She doesnt always listen to me, but I am not there everyday and it is hard for me to focus on building a relationship with her while also having a class full of other students who deserve my attention. I can see this also being tricky as a full time teacher. One teacher with so many students is a lot to juggle. I will continue to keep focused on building a positive relationship with this student, and hope for the best.

In a way, dealing with a student in your own class is almost like dealing with your own children. A situation came up during my practicum this past week. There is one student who is defiant. Her moods go up and down, but the teacher tells me that lately she has been acting up a lot. I approached her in effort to help her with her work, but she quickly became very argumentative. Reluctant to take an feedback on her work, she then ran out of the classroom. Now I don’t often have situations in my life where someone is so argumentative with me without me ignoring them or shunning them out. But as a teacher you cant ignore. As  a teacher you must either give punishments, alternative options, have conversations, talk to parents, ect. You want the child to grow in the right direction, learn, prosper, correct their behavior, and succeed. It is part of your responsibility. As a student teacher I am still unsure how to handle these sticky situations. I told the teacher and the EA ran after her. I am trying so hard to be SEL focused with her, and build a relationship with her, and sometimes it helps, but other times it almost makes no difference. Its especially difficult to when I also have so many other students to focus on. I cant devote all my time to one person. To be honest it is difficult to have someone to be so rude to your face and just keep dealing with it in a polite and calm manner. It is almost natural to want to just ignore the person, but with this job you cant. I guess in a way this is what parenting it like. Not that I would know, but I feel like being a teacher will help me with a lot of the parenting I will do one day, and vice versa.