Week 3

Week 3
      This week was for the most part really good. I had the opportunity to meet with parents for conferences, meet with curriculum committees, and meet with my teacher and the principle to discuss parts of the changing curriculum. Everything that I have been privileged to be a part of has been a huge blessing and real eye opening. I have learned that teaching is not just teaching. You don't just go to school every day and teach. There are a ton of behind the scenes stuff that happens. You have to be part of committees, attend school events :), have teacher in-service days, and you are always redesigning the curriculum maps. I am learning a lot about curriculum maps while at Calvin. Sally tells me all the time that she wants me to know what it is really like to be a teacher and to feel the craziness that is constantly going on. She is so great about giving me opportunities to know and experience what it is like, while still giving me a break, because this is only my third week.
      There was not really anything exciting for Monday and Tuesday. They were very standard and normal flowing.
      My supervisor came to observe me on Wednesday. That was very nerve-racking. I had never met Ms. Hysell before, which was part of my anxiety. It was made worse by how hectic it was that day. I felt like I was rushing through everything. Mr. Allen, the man who comes every Wednesday for math centers, likes to stay late and that was cutting into my science lesson that Ms. Hysell came to observe me for. Like I said, hectic, but I think it went really well.
     Thursday's math lesson did not go well. The lesson was taught well, at least I thought it was and Sally thought it was okay too. The students were just not motivated to participate. I was very disheartened, but Friday went a lot better. I'm constantly being nice and not forcing them to do anything and I think that is part of the problem. On Friday, I was more of a task-master. I simply told them that it was fine if they didn't want to participate in class, they could spend time with me working during recess. That got them to work. I think that it is important to have the students respect me as a teacher. One student said to me, "you're just a student teacher." My response was, "I'm still a teacher and I am teaching you, so that should not matter." I know that they like me and I love that, but I want them to see me as a teacher and I think they are beginning to really do that. They are beginning to see that testing me is not getting them very far.
     Friday I had the opportunity to see the schoo-lwide Scripps Spelling Bee. It was awesome to see the whole school come together and support their classmates. I was also able to participate in Faculty devotions after school for the first time. The camaraderie and caring between the staff is so amazing to see. I love being at this school and am already say that there are only 4 weeks lefts here.
     This week I will be doing everything but social studies. I am very excited to begin teaching the language arts block.

Schmidt
     The reading from Schmidt was very much in tune with the book that I read last semester, Other People's Children,  by Lisa Delpit. Schmidt also mentioned Delpit's book multiple times throughout the chapter. Different cultures and diversity are topics that are talked about a lot at Trinity and there is a lot of emphasis placed on diversity in the education classes. I really enjoyed how Schmidt was not constantly focusing on cultural diversity, but diverse learning styles as well. It is important to not have the mentality that every child is the same, so forget the differences. What you need to have is the mentality that while every child is capable of learning, they do not all learn the same way and they are not the same. Cultural differences should be embraced and celebrated. Don't try to hide the fact that there are different cultures represented in the classroom. Find ways to talk and learn from each other. It also important to realize that every child, while capable of learning, learns differently. It is up to you as a teacher to find ways throughout the day, to reach every child. Obviously is it going to be impossible to cater to every single student at every moment, but there should be multiple opportunities throughout the day and throughout the course of the subjects. Diversifying your content and teaching styles to make it more applicable to your students is something that every good teacher does.