This week
was an interesting week. It was the first full week of our school experience
and it definitely felt long. It was a learning experience as well. I was able
to make strides toward a few more of the program goals that I hadn’t yet really
touched on. This week I worked on effective communication with students,
effective teaching practices, connecting with students as well as working
respectfully with parents.
One of the aspects of teaching that
I learned the most about this week was using effective teaching practices. This
week during my lessons I implemented different types of teaching. I used the
ELMO(the document camera) to demonstrate activities visually, with moving pieces for math and
manipulatives. I tried using verbal and visual instructions as well as getting
more student involvement to try to vary my teaching practices. I worked on my
pacing, clarity and projection during my lesson. Not only myself pacing around
the room but ensuring the pace of my voice and my instructions was not faster
than the students could take in. I tried to focus on my projection as in the
past I have had a problem being more soft-spoken than I should be. I wanted to
ensure that my students could really hear me all the time and that I was never
speaking more quietly than any one child could hear, unless the situation
required it.
Another aspect of teaching that I
worked on this week was effective communication with students. For me this
week, I tried to vary my communication with my students depending on the style
of communication I felt they needed most at that time. I spoke directly to each
child, varying instructions depending on their needs. I changed my instructions
to more visual or more auditory depending on how they seemed to need it. I
chose examples that related to their lives to make it easier for them to take
in.
I think both of the previous aspects
of teaching, effective teaching practices and effective communication both
really require the input of knowledge and connection with students. Knowing
your students really relates to knowing their academic level and needs and I
think that being able to choose effective teaching methods and communication
styles all involve that strong knowledge of your students educational level. I
really try to pay attention to my students and take in as much as I can about
each and every one of them. Connecting with your students is pivotal to making
sure that you can effectively communicate and teach them. Using examples that
relate to their lives or their interests really helps connect them to the
lessons so I tried to use examples that made the subjects more real.
The class went on a field trip this
week and it was a great opportunity to connect with the students. Being able to
see them in an out of the classroom situation and talk to them while they
walked to and from the pool made it incredibly fruitful. I was able to laugh,
joke and really connect with many of the students on a personal level. Another
situation that makes for a great opportunity for connection was Halloween.
Seeing the students’ costumes showed their interests as well as some of their
creative abilities. It was an incredibly insightful week as far as making
connections with my students goes.
The field trip was also a great
opportunity for me to make some great connections with the parents. Some of the
parents came on the field trip with us and I was able to have some great
conversations with the parents to try to and fortify that sense of camaraderie.
Working respectfully with parents is one of the program values that is really
important. They are all important but ensuring to the parents that you are on
their team and really are working for the best interest of their child is
incredibly important. I was able to have some strong conversations explaining
to the parents that I am there for their child and I look forward to having a
great working relationship with each and every child and parent.
This
week was an interesting one full of excited students and learning
opportunities. I look forward to each and every day I get to spend at the
school. Every interaction makes me a better teacher and gives me more
opportunities to work on improving my practice
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