As part of my required work for being a first year teacher this year, I have to observe teachers who are doing good things in area's that I want to work on and improve in. My focus for improvement this year is primarily math. I say primarily because at the end of the day, I really think I can improve in so many different ways, but I need to focus on one at a time to be the most successful.
So, on Monday, I went and completed my first two (of many) observations that I needed to do. I went with the attitude that I just need to get these done and over with so that I can check the box and get back to the craziness of things that need to get done in my own room (and preparing for my own fall observation and evaluation by my principal this week).
What did I find from these observations? A quick realization that I like little to nothing that I am doing in math. What seems like forever, teaching math for 80 minutes a day, flew by and we went OVER in time after trying some of what I learned! My kids were more engaged after I tried what I learned and I am certain were far more successful than they have been in this unit thus far.
Up to now, my math lesson has been to follow the teacher guide to help me think about the lesson because I was convinced that I couldn't do it all this year and had no idea where to start thinking about "creating" my own math lessons. I went to observe a fourth grade teacher in my building today who uses the book titled Number Talks by Sherry Parrish to guide her own "number talks" in the classroom. After 15 minutes of watching her and taking notes constantly, I was so excited to get back to my classroom, pick up my kids and dive right in. I changed my math lesson the minute the kids walked in and did a variation of these "number talks."
What I found to be different? My kids were more engaged than they have ever been in math, my instruction was more focused than ever before, and the result at the end of the lesson was that the kids got the concepts and information I needed to get to them. I typically have 6 or 7 students working with me as I re-instruct them from the lesson that day, but today, I had 2! I am so excited about this lesson and how it went, that I cannot wait to try it again tomorrow and see how it goes.
So in the end, I found that observing other teachers, no matter how time consuming or tedious it seems, it really is one important key to success in the classroom. The two teachers I observed (one fourth grade and one first grade) gave me so many great ideas to try and work with in my classroom this week and in future weeks that I cannot wait to teach 80 minutes of math tomorrow!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Balancing Time: Is it Possible?
I am finding myself feeling so overwhelmed the last few weeks. Is there ever going to be enough time to complete everything?? I have found papers getting back logged in grading, planning not being considered until last minute, and a constant list of meetings to plan for daily.
I am realizing in the midst of the craziness that I really need to sit back and think: What is most important and beneficial for my kids at school? Is planning a week in advance really beneficial? Or should I focus more on getting my kids their feedback back on their work? I want the piles to disappear in my room and the "To Do List" to get checked off, but that does not seem to be benefiting my students. After all, my desk being full of papers to get to has earned the nickname "Tornado Ally" from my class this year. Is that really a bad thing? They are using analogies in a practical way!
I am quickly realizing that it is the intentional planning based on our previous learning and class discussions that day or the day before that is more important than sticking to my original plans made a week ago. I am finding that checking in with my students and giving them feedback on their practice is more valuable than making my practice pages "pretty" or putting everything away in my classroom everyday. What is valuable and worth my time and focus is what impacts the kids and their learning the most.
Time is unfortunately not infinite and I am having to learn the balance of that in such a real way. I can't work on school work 24/7. My kids will never have a teacher that understands the world they live in or can discuss the current events that affect them now and later if I don't balance. I will burn myself out of the profession before I know it if I keep it up. I have to have time for the things in life that are more important to me like family. This is modeling it for my class. They will need to have the ability to balance their time someday and I need to model that life skill for them.
I love my job and I want to be the best I can be at it (and the perfectionist in me is convinced that more time will make that happen :-)), but I will have to accept that I will never be perfect. After all, who ever met a teacher that said he/she was perfect at his/her job and he/she was done learning and improving his/her practice?
I am realizing in the midst of the craziness that I really need to sit back and think: What is most important and beneficial for my kids at school? Is planning a week in advance really beneficial? Or should I focus more on getting my kids their feedback back on their work? I want the piles to disappear in my room and the "To Do List" to get checked off, but that does not seem to be benefiting my students. After all, my desk being full of papers to get to has earned the nickname "Tornado Ally" from my class this year. Is that really a bad thing? They are using analogies in a practical way!
I am quickly realizing that it is the intentional planning based on our previous learning and class discussions that day or the day before that is more important than sticking to my original plans made a week ago. I am finding that checking in with my students and giving them feedback on their practice is more valuable than making my practice pages "pretty" or putting everything away in my classroom everyday. What is valuable and worth my time and focus is what impacts the kids and their learning the most.
Time is unfortunately not infinite and I am having to learn the balance of that in such a real way. I can't work on school work 24/7. My kids will never have a teacher that understands the world they live in or can discuss the current events that affect them now and later if I don't balance. I will burn myself out of the profession before I know it if I keep it up. I have to have time for the things in life that are more important to me like family. This is modeling it for my class. They will need to have the ability to balance their time someday and I need to model that life skill for them.
I love my job and I want to be the best I can be at it (and the perfectionist in me is convinced that more time will make that happen :-)), but I will have to accept that I will never be perfect. After all, who ever met a teacher that said he/she was perfect at his/her job and he/she was done learning and improving his/her practice?
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