So yesterday I went to a staff meeting at the school. It was an interesting experience. After an announcement made by the principle in regards to the “Staffulty” of the month, there was a sort of trophy handed off to that teacher as a physical symbol of the good work he had done.
The meeting itself was very much like a class. The teacher who gave the ‘lesson’ did so using teaching strategies and methods that they would have used in their own classes; In essence, reinforcing our teaching behaviors through clear, concise modeling. After a description of the lesson, the teachers were broken up into groups to create a product to present to their “class”. It was interesting to see the teachers all working together in a manner similar to the ways that students work in class. Each group had their strengths and weaknesses, goofballs and focused adults. It was interesting, and it all tied directly into the goals that the staff and faculty of the school wanted to set to continually improve themselves, and the school they work at.
I’ve been thinking about my own teaching as well. Since I am now in the heart of teaching a full load of classes by myself, I find a lot of struggles coming to the forefront. Planning lessons seems to be the easier part. I know what I want to teach the students when I come into the classroom, and I come up with strategies for doing so. The problem is in implementation. While I know some of this is tougher simply because this is not “my” class, persay; meaning I didn’t start with this class, and they may see me as a more glorified substitute teacher. It makes it difficult to command the same respect that my mentor teacher does. I know a lot of this also comes from my experience with classroom management. I don’t yet have eyes in the back of my head. I can’t tell what each student is doing just by looking at them. I don’t fully grasp the spocial dynamics of a class well enough to perfectly group the students where they will be most effective. That said, I have noticed some improvement in what I’m doing.
One of the issues I struggle with is dealing with students who need to use the restroom during class. I certainly don’t want to be an ogre that never lets them go, but I also don’t want to be taken advantage of. In reading the book I’m teaching as a class, having a student get up to use the restroom is an incredible disruption. Not only is the student missing a chunk of the book that they are absent for as they disappear to the restroom, I also have to stop the class to remind the student what page their on now, or one of their peers has to do it. Either way, it’s distracting the students from learning.
I spoke to one of the other teachers on campus who has an interesting approach to bathroom breaks. She offered a great system that I’ve decided to implement with my students. The students need to use the restroom during break, during lunch, and during their passing periods. If they ask to use the bathroom during class, I allow them to go, but their name gets added to the board. If they ask again (even on some other day, since the names stay all semester), they get a check next to their name that indicates that they’ve moved down a level in their citizenship grade (From Outstanding to Satisfactory to Unsatisfactory). Each time they ask to use the restroom during class, they receive an additional check. Obviously if they have a specific problem with this (For example, a medical condition) then there will be accommodations made. All in all, though, I think this is going to work out very effectively for me.
