As the semester progresses, I'm finally starting to feel like I CAN do this! Of course, there are still those days that are confusing, but overall, my confidence is emerging. Thankfully, I recently received the score for my third and final Praxis exam (PLT, Language Arts, and History), and I passed! So, having those tests out of the way is a big relief in itself. Aside from that, I am feeling more confident about lesson planning and classroom management every day. I've come to the realization that learning to be a teacher is a lot like learning how to play a new sport...practice, practice, practice! There are so many different plays to learn, so to speak, that you must be ready for whichever one comes your way.
I think the most important lesson I've learned in the past few weeks is how to manage my time when planning lessons. One of my pitfalls in the past has been overthinking activities for students before nailing down the simple objectives. I have to remind myself to go back to the basics, look at the standards, decide what I want students to learn, and then and ONLY then can I start to add exciting and fun activities that allign with those objectives.
As far as classroom management, which as many of us know is one of the most difficult tasks for new teachers, I am beginning to see the benefits of being strict. I've always been a little too soft, as one of my fellow classmates called it, and that just results in bad behavior. Firm, fair, and friendly sounds fabulous, but it is much more difficult than it sounds. Finding the balance between choosing which behaviors to ignore and which ones to address can be challenging. While it differs from one student to the next, I think I am slowly getting the hang of it. In the past, I thought I needed to be extra nice when I first met students (to gain their trust and cooperation) but now I see that middle school students will view that as a sign of weakness. I am discovering that it works better to be more firm when addressing the whole class and then loosening up a little when speaking with individual students. This still allows students to see that I care about them without looking like a pushover. I am also discovering that there are times to be serious and even though I tend to smile ALL THE TIME, that doesn't come across to students the way that I had previously believed. However, you still won't catch me being serious all the time...it just isn't possible...and I will NOT be the teacher who focuses on the negative or raises my voice in anger. I just don't think that is necessary or helpful to students. I am curious how other student teachers deal with negative behavior that requires a quick response. We all know that there are school procedures in place to deal with most incidents, but what do you do to get students' attention quickly in urgent situations dealing with inappropriate behavior?
And finally, I want to say that I am SO thankful to be student teaching in a school with teachers who love what they do! I can always find someone to brainstorm lesson ideas or help me with anything I need. That has been one of the most encouraging aspects of this semester. I hope all my fellow classmates are as lucky as I am to have caring teachers in their placement schools!
