I want to start this post with my FAVORITE QUOTE. I have this all over my classroom because I'm constantly preaching to my students about the goodness change can bring about. However, like the quote says, if I expect my kids (my "world" for 9 months) to change for the better...I have to be willing to change with them!
As I wrap up another year as a 2nd grade teacher
in St. Cloud I’m left to reflect on the past 9 months. Through changes in our
building, in my personal and professional life and my experiences and
development through the St. Mary’s Graduate program I feel I’ve bettered myself
in many ways. I’d like to focus on a few specific areas:
Classroom Environment and Relationships
This is an area that I’ve always strived to make a top
priority in my teaching. It’s very important to me that my students enter our room each day feeling cared for and
safe. Something I’ve always done is
stand at my door (one foot in the room, one in the hallway) greeting every
student as they come in. One change I made to this “procedure” this year was
the expectation of eye-contact and a good morning or “hello” in return. I had
never put much thought into it but mid-way through the year realized how many
of my students would come through, elbow-bump me as I looked at them, smiled, and said good morning, and wouldn’t
return the gesture. This change occurred through a simple conversation during a
morning meeting where I explained that I wasn’t feeling respected in the way I
want all members of our class to feel. The next day almost every student
made that change and it continued every day for the rest of the year. I think,
overall, that set the tone for each day together: one of respect, safety, and
routine.
Instruction
I think this is an area where teachers should never cease to
grow and I feel I experienced the most change within the area of how I teach. Through the ENVoY training
I became very aware of the importance of appropriate pausing, voice levels, and
how to deliver instruction and directions in a way that students were more
likely to hear me. I noticed some BIG changes in my students and the amount of
management needed once I began implementing these strategies. Also, through the
introduction to Backwards Design, I became more intentional about presenting
lesson goals and essential questions to my students at the beginning of each
lesson. I felt myself doing less teaching actually and allowing my
students to do more exploring. I think this came from the idea of allowing for
creativity and allowing our students more time to PLAY!
Discipline (what I teach)
Another change that occurred for me in this area was how
intentional I became about what to
teach. It’s hard not to get caught up in the cutesy lessons and activities
found throughout various blogs and ALL OVER Pinterest (especially when you’re a
primary teacher). However, when I began to analyze what big ideas and
understanding was really important for my students to understand I was able to
cut out some…fluff.
Assessment
Through various readings, ROL’s and AR’s, and blogs I’ve
followed I’ve been exposed to many different ways to assess my students in a
way that will help to guide my instruction. The biggest change in this area was
I became more intentional about using formative assessment to guide each days
instruction. In the past I knew I should be doing more to check for their
understanding but didn’t feel I knew exactly how to obtain the data I wanted. It
turns out you don’t need a fancy assessment, long-winded quiz, or
time-consuming activity to know where your students are at. Through the use of
the various assessment ideas I obtained (padlet.com, exit tickets, Socrative,
Infuselearning.com, etc.) I was able to have a pretty clear picture at the end
of each lesson (sometimes in the middle of one if necessary) to help form
groups, make changes where needed, and guide my instruction.
What big changes have you experienced most recently?
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteIt is very important to me to create a classroom where all the students feel loved and cared for. I stand at the door too. Some of my students try to sneak in so I don't see them to be funny. I like that you had a conversation with them about feel respected. We spend a lot of time talking about greeting others at morning meeting, but I have never mentioned to them about how I feel when they don't return the gesture in the morning. Next year!
Lori, I was surprised what a difference this made! This also allowed me to tap into where my students were at before they even stepped foot in the room. Sometimes my kids come to school really tired or upset or having had some kind of argument with a brother/sister/parent/friend. I found that by "grabbing them" with that eye contact and greeting right away I could also work through what was going on and "keep it in the hallway" instead of bringing it into the classroom and allowing it to affect their day.
ReplyDeleteI also struggle with getting everyone to greet each other with eye contact and a shake. There are some students who need reminders everyday! I just have to remind myself that a good greeting is important and even though I constantly remind them and it gets frustrating, I am teaching them how to be a good person.
ReplyDelete