On becoming a better teacher

Disclaimer--"better" in no way implies "good."

Four main things are helping me to make strides in the right direction. I really believe that all 4 of these things are leading my students to achieve more and more each day.

1. Balance. Trying to take care of myself, and spend less than 12 hours at school every day. Leaving more school stuff at school. I bought a bike! I went backpacking last weekend!

2. Organization. I've figured out some systems that actually work for me and my students that are reducing the crazy hurricane of papers in my room...thereby reducing my stress level.

3. Smaller Classes. We got a new teacher at semester, so our class sizes are more normal. This has helped in a myriad of ways. The most notable is that there are few enough kids in my classroom at any given time that I can begin to see their individual needs. Next step: actually address their needs. A big part of this has been to shift my mindset from thinking that my trouble students had behavior issues to realizing (with the help of my PD) that they are so far behind that they don't understand my instruction. It is better to be rebellious than to be labeled stupid. It turns out that I need to break things down MUCH farther for some of my classes and not rush things so much.

4. Differentiation. This is directly tied to number 3. Break things down for the kids that need it, provide extension work for the kids who are bored. Now I am better able to do this because I am not so overwhelmed by simply teaching the same thing to everyone.

I feel like something has clicked. I may actually be on my way to becoming competent. Let's not count any chickens just yet...

I still miss my friends and family in Oregon immensely. I wish more of you could come and visit and that everyone could spend at least one day with me and my kiddos in my classroom. It is such a funny place and they are so hilariously wonderful (and sometimes terrible). I really do count my blessings for getting to work with them. I only wish I was better and more each day to be able to give them what they need.

A semester passed

I complete my first semester as a teacher tomorrow!!! WOW! I was looking around at some other first year TFAs yesterday afternoon and I realized how much OLDER we seem now than we did 5 months ago. We don't look so shiny and obviously new. We are a small bit wiser, but mostly more tired and worn out. Though we live in the valley of the sun, we are all very pale from all the hours we spend under fluorescent lights.

Somehow, I am starting to feel more comfortable as my teacher self. I am starting to realize that I can handle difficult situations when they come my way. This morning, as my students were coming in, somehow one of my students ended up being knocked to the floor and for a minute couldn't seem to get up. He even started crying. All the while I am trying to get my other students to settle in and get their work out. I found myself standing over Bryan on the floor while looking up and counting down for my other students to be at their desks in between asking Bryan if he is ok. Luckily, Bryan is my tiniest little student, so i could just pick him up to get him on his feet once i realized he wasn't seriously injured. Never a dull moment.

Yesterday afternoon I decided, based on a recommendation from a Program Director, that I needed more face time with my Spanish speaking parents. So, I decided to go to the houses of a couple of my...i guess you could say...challenging students. I called ahead and was able, with 2 hours notice, to be able to sit down with both parents and the student at each house. It was great. I think we made some progress. The students, I think, were shocked that I actually came to their house. I made it very clear to them that I was there because I know how smart they are and I want to help them do better because they are fully capable of more. I also made it clear that I was tired of them disrupting my class. We made some plans...rewards and consequences. They both did much better today. We will see how long it lasts...but i think they know that i will have their moms sitting in class with them if they don't shape up...and i will be back at their houses if i have to. Today one of them earned being able to stay after school. Isn't that funny? FOr him, detention is a reward rather than a punishment. I should do this home visit thing more often...

I have to get out of here! SO much grading to do, but it is all at my house.

hasta luego

ups and downs

My students wrote very formulaic 5 paragraph essays this week about their place in the family. I am going to write a blog post in the format that my students used:

Mrs. Nehs showed up at my door and asked "there are 4 students out here in the hall who claim they are with you," I look out in to the hall to see that, yes indeed, 4 of the students I was helping during my lunch hour, were standing sheepishly in the hallway. It was clear that they knew they had done something wrong. I teach Reading and writing to 130 11 and 12 year olds. Each day brings many new challenges and rewards.
Classroom/student management is one of my greatest challenges. I am constantly trying to figure out the best way to get my students to stay on task, finish their work, not throw things, not call out, not shoot each other with rubber bands, take care of the classroom, be respectful towards each other, walk in a straight line without talking. The list could go on forever. Each day I figure out new things that work and encounter new classroom management challenges.
Teaching effective lessons, aside from the classroom management side, is another one of my challenges. Some days, I feel like my students really understand what I am trying to teach them. Other days, I see blank stares and I wonder if I will ever learn to communicate in 6th grade language. I am also challenged to write engaging lessons that wont bore my students to tears. Facilitating student learning is one of my greatest challenges.
With so many challenges, one might ask, "why do you come back each day?" There are moments. There are days. THere are times when I believe that my students are really learning. That they feel respected by me. That they grasp hold of their writing goals for the year and really want to achieve them. They know that I care about them and their learning. This is true for many of my students. Knowing that I am reaching students keeps me coming back each day.
Classroom management can be very tough. Presenting material in an engaging and understandable fashion is also challenging. Changing the lives of children, no matter how clique that sounds, makes all the challenges worthwhile. Being a 6th grade teacher is the hardest thing I have ever done, but I cannot imagine myself doing anything else right now.


There it is...perhaps my sentence fluency and word choice is a little higher level than my students, but that is the format that I am teaching them to use. They are a little overwhelmed, but they are getting it.

I want to jump off a cliff all day and then there is a moment ...

that makes me realize why I come back to school every day.

back to school, back to school

After a week off, I feel recharged. I feel like I can tackle what's in front of me. At the same time, I wonder what this next quarter will hold for me. I wonder what challenges will come up. I wonder how much work I will have to do to retrain my students after a week off. As one experienced teacher at my school said "teaching is a lot like being a firefighter. You never know what you are going to end up doing in a day." Having done both of these jobs, I certainly agree with the analogy.

one reason to teach in Arizona

FALL BREAK!

My mom came and visited. We took some time to play, but mostly got stuff done...the stuff that normal people do on a regular basis but you neglect when you are completely consumed by your work. Now I am taking time to plan for the next quarter, trying to set my students up to learn a LOT more than they did 1st quarter. I am also reflecting on how I can better involve parents, and also how I can keep my classroom culture positive. I can feel that things could explode...the students like me and trust me, but issues between students are brewing. These conflicts could spell disaster for my goal of a "positive, productive learning space." Hmmm. Right now I am focusing on having my quarter planned out very well--my learning objectives calendared, and some idea of how I am going to teach those objectives. I need to have a more coherent idea of what I am doing this quarter so I can communicate that to the students. This is much easier said than done...but it HAS to get done. Teaching is such an interesting profession...so many things to think about!

OK that's all I got for now.

I have to admit it's getting better

I have to take the moments to embrace the things that are getting better. I am FAR from an excellent instructor, but I am making lots of progress. My classroom is running much more smoothly...at least most of the time. There are still moments of chaos at the very end of the day.

A couple funny stories:

I had the kids correct a messed up sentence. In it was supposed to be "piece" but instead it was spelled "peace." I asked the kids what "peace" meant and one kid says "you know, like peace out, when you are leaving."

Monday my class got video taped by my program director. I had to step out of the room to round up some loose kids. While I was out a student went to the sink to wash his hands. While he was up there he broke the faucet. It came clear off. A couple kids joined him at the sink to watch as he put it back on. The funny part was that I had no idea this had even happened until I watched the tape this afternoon. I almost fell out of my chair laughing. I can't wait to bring it up to the student tomorrow.

SO MUCH ASU HOMEWORK. OK, if i was a good student and did it throughout the week it wouldn't be bad, but it makes for a rough Wednesday night when you put it all off. but TOMORROW is the last day of this darn technology course that eats up so much of my time. Next 9 weeks is ESL which will be much more useful, I hope.

I am enjoying myself in my classroom more often lately...getting overwhelmed with frustration a bit less often, and looking forward to next week off. I hope to get my next unit planned well during my time off. It'll be exciting to have more effective instruction :)

ohhhh i'm a nerd, but i love it.