'Flexible' has new meaning to me...

The most valuable aspects I found this week have to do with being flexible. After this week the word 'flexible' has new meaning to me. It encompasses not only an attitude toward what needs to be done and when it will be done, but it can also be an approach to handling the students.

The week started off by making up things from the previous week when there were two days that had two hour delays throwing the schedule into chaos. So, we (my co-op and I) came up with a plan to have everyone complete what we started the week before and back on track. But that was before the snow flew... and that was before two days were cancelled due to the weather conditions. So, our plans to get back on track were thwarted and we were thrown even further behind in the schedule. As I look to plan for the upcoming week I now realize the importance of good planning. By having plans in writing and even an outline of a weekly schedule, it allows me to easily identify what was missing and prioritize what needs to be made up. Without the detailed plans and the higher level plans, I would spend a lot more time trying to figure out which end is up and how to get back on track. The higher level outline allows me to review the schedule at a glance and rearrange lessons. The detailed plans give me the freedom to quickly rearrange activities and/or lessons in order to consolidate material while still ensuring that everything is covered. Up until this week, the true value of planning lessons was lost on me.

Another aspect of this week where flexibility played a role was during a class where a student was very mouthy and yelling at the co-op. The co-op did not back down but showed enough flexibility that the student didn’t feel trapped to the point where she had no choice. The co-op was flexible but stern which allowed the student a way out without any further escalation. This could have turned into a nasty confrontation but because of the quick thinking and flexibility of the co-op, it was resolved.

If I could change anything about this week it would be to plan with even more detail. I once thought that detailed planning would not allow flexibility because every element was being arranged. I now realize that careful planning is what permits you to rearrange a schedule, get back on track, or to be spontaneous and improvising while not missing any aspects of the lessons.

Don't doubt yourself...

This week was fun! The week started off with mid-term exams on Tuesday and Wednesday. The exams should have been last week but were postponed because of school delays. So I didn't actually start to teach until Thursday. The first class I'm taking over is a Computer Apps I class and I picked up with WordArt. To introduce the lesson and myself at the same time I created a mind map of me using WordArt. I had a section that was my family, one for me as a student, one with my travels, my charity work and my favorite sport teams and players. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here it is...

After I created this and wrote my lesson plan I started to doubt whether or not the class consisting of 1oth through 12th graders would be interested in this or bored to tears... as it turned out they were actually engaged and asking questions. They asked if my school work was hard, about the rescue group I work with and of course we could have talked about the Sports category all day! I was thrilled. I told them that I can relate to them when I was talking about being a student because there are times that I think my assignments are useless and that I don't want to do them but I have to because I want my degree. They were all nodding their heads and smiling. I also explained that they will see my instructor in class at times and that I would greatly appreciate their cooperation on those days. They laughed. This actually worked out better than I imagined. Then we went into the lesson. Being new and not wanting to bore them, I went through the lesson quicker than I should have. I need to keep in mind that everybody doesn't learn the same way. I am very much a visual and hands on learner and usually want to jump right into things and assume everyone else does too. I showed them around WordArt, giving them a step-by-step lesson on how to create something and then let them at it! My coop suggested showing them more examples before giving them the assignment. The assignment was for each of them to create a Mind Map of themselves. They had to create five main categories which was completely up to them what they wanted to put in it. The only caveat was that it had to be school appropriate. I asked them to please not get me fired before I even get started! Under each main category there has to be a minimum of three items... these can be clip art, more word art, photos, logos, whatever they want. For the rest of the period, you could have heard a pin drop in that room. Usually they're talking, on the internet or shut down 10 min. before class is over. Not only were they working but they worked until the bell went off and this was the last period of the day! I gave them two classes to complete this and they were just as engaged on Friday afternoon and some were even there after the bell!

Friday proved to be interesting as my coop had a personal day. There was a substitute that by his own admission knew little about Comp. Apps. but that was fine. I talked with my coop and we planned for me to do this lesson with all of his classes. So this was a good lesson for me on the differences in the make up and/or personality of a class. The one class has more than half of the students with IEPs. I was fortunate that the assignment was completely adaptive because the students can make what they want out of it.

If I had to do it over, I would take my coop's advice and slow down a bit on the lesson part of this. I would give them several examples and styles and then let them work on their own. The positive thing about the way I did it is that it gave me the opportunity to walk around and observe the students and what level each one is at. I talked with each student a bit about his/her mind map and helped whenever asked. Before this, I didn't have a sense as to what these students could do and how much they knew.

The best part of the week was when I was talking with an art teacher on Friday afternoon and she said that students in her class were talking about what they were doing in my class. She was amazed how much they seemed to enjoy it! I guess the lesson for me this week is: don't doubt yourself. Prepare it, plan it and go into it with enthusiasm. If you are enthusiastic and enjoy the lesson, you have a good chance of the students feeling the same way. If you're not, the students certainly won't be either. Always go for it and do it with a smile!

First Days Can Be Stressful But Educational

This week I had the unique experience of having two first days of school. My placement fortunately was changed mid-week which brought about two nights of not sleeping because I was anxious about the first day of school. At my age and with my experience I thought that I would have been over this kind of jitters. I’ve done multi-million dollar presentations and slept the night before with no problem. But the first day of school brought me right back to when I was a child with all of the nervous anxieties that go with it. Ironically enough, the coop that I had who has been teaching for 32 yrs. said that she couldn’t sleep either knowing that I was coming for the first day. So for all of you that had the same experience on your first day, my week consisted of two first days!

The best part about having two first days this week was that I was exposed to two very different schools and school districts. In so many ways the schools are on opposite ends of the spectrum. One is a rural school and one is urban. One is a very old school building and one is relatively new. The urban school is very diverse in all categories and the rural school has some socio-economic diversity. The rural school seemed to be much more rigid with policies and procedures than the urban school and the most obvious difference was that the urban school student population is almost three times that of the rural school. But with all of the differences, there was one common thread... the students' smiles. I found walking through the halls of either school seeing the students smiling, laughing and joking with their friends to be an invigorating experience. Regardless of race, gender, socio-economic conditions or exceptionalities, their smiles showed strong and bright reminding me that each one is an individual wanting the same attention and respect as I do and every other human being does. Seeing both of these schools and the vast differences and yet the similarities in the students really hit home with me that each student needs to be recognized as an individual and treated with respect. This was especially apparent at the urban school where the teachers that I observed treated the students with respect and in turn were respected. It seems that the old saying 'you get what you give' could not be more true than with the teaching profession. It holds true with lesson planning and activities, but mostly in developing relationships with the students and having the ability to connect with them.

I think everyone has one, maybe two teachers that they remember all of their lives. And what is it that makes these teachers memorable? Is it that these teachers taught them Einstein's Theory of Relativity or some great scientific theorem? I don't think so, I believe it is because these teachers showed them respect, connected with them and maybe believed in them more than they believed in themselves. This week has been invaluable in reinforcing what I already believed, that treating the students with respect can be one of the most important aspects of classroom management and the students' willingness to learn.

This week, divided as it was with its polar opposite schools, brought another very valuable insight to me, the fact that as much as I may want to help and teach the students, the students have choices and must make the right choices or suffer the consequences. And sometimes suffering the consequences is what makes the lesson. During my two short days at the rural school I heard a phrase that I'll always remember... "You have the right to fail." The teacher said this to the class as it was just before the end of the semester and as a reminder that their grades are up to them. They can choose to do the work and follow the instructions or not; and they can fail. That is their right. That is their decision. And their decisions will always bring consequences - for the better or worse - there will always be consequences. This is a lesson that students need to learn and understand early in life.

As stressful as this week was with two first days and the schools and school districts being completely different, I wouldn't have changed a thing! It was fun, it was exciting, and it was very, very educational.