At least in the classroom. So, my master teacher and I have been teaching every other day. So, yes, that means I am doing full days of teaching. In charge of every little thing. She's there, of course, but the kids know that on Mrs. Maxfield's days, they are supposed to come to me with requests (bathroom, drink, etc) and on Mrs. Garza's days it's her. We both jump in and help eachother when needed, but they know that one teacher is in charge at a time (for the most part).
Anyway, as she's observed me now a few times and has had plenty of positive feedback. But the main area that I need to work on (according to myself and her) is the classroom management.
But here's where it gets confusing. Her style is to have them pull a card. They get a few warnings, and then it's a card pulled. And she does a lot of reprimanding. Which, is unavoidable in 1st grade, I'm sure. But, see, I really really really like to avoid too much of the "don't", "stop", "here's a punishment" sort of thing. And so it's hard for me to actually make them pull a card. But, as she's pointed out, they have to know to take me serious. Especially as they are getting to know me and my style (heck, I'm barely getting to know me and my style).
So I will admit that classroom management is REALLY hard. I mean, there are 5 kids out of the 20 who literally have .5 second memories when you ask them to not do something, and they disrupt the rest of the class constantly. Sometimes I want to stop in the middle of the lesson and scream. Often, at that point, I will send a child to the back of the classroom or back to their desk (if we are at the rug area). I have to constatly decipher between bad behavior, and lack of impulse control. So....is Brandon actually deserving a consequence? Or is he just having a hard time controlling himself next to Grant, so moving him to a different location would actually solve the problem.
I could write a book on my frustration with this. But I think two things. 1) I need to really find MY authentic style of managing the children. Setting rules, expectations and the classroom flow. 2) But the problem is, I am coming into ANOTHER teacher's classroom mid-year. So I can't really just flip flop the whole thing and change what doesn't work for me. It's a challenge!
It sure is interesting to constantly intercept the questions/comments thrown at me in the classroom! Like, Makayla came up to me really excitedly and said "Mrs. Maxfield, my Uncles got their ears pierced yesterday!". Quickly, I decided to just say "Really? Wow!". Because what else do you say to that?
Or how about on Friday, as I was reminding them that today we get to make root beer floats, and Jaedon said "My dad made a BEER float one time and I got to taste it". And I said "that sounds really gross". Then Garrin piped in "No it's not gross, my dad lets me have beer and it's GOOD". I mean, they are SIX years old! I just changed the subject on that one.
After six weeks, I already love these kids. I get a quick teary feeling when I think of saying goodbye to them in three weeks. I am on quite the ride!
7 comments:
Ashley has a student teacher in her class and he is having the same problem. He is trying his own way of discipline and my daughter HATES it. She has never pulled a card, but is on pins and needles with the new guy. He counts to 10 in his mind and if the child is doing the same thing they were doing 10 seconds ago, they have to pull a card, without warning. So, I think that if it works, and at least for my child pulling a card works, then try to find your own groove and go with it. You are a great Mom and I know a great teacher. Keep up the good work!!!!!
I never got into that "pulling the card" thing. Too complicated for impulsive 5-6 yr olds. But for your sanity, just follow the established pattern during student teaching and then do what feels comfortable when it is actually YOUR class. It must be quite comfusing for the kids now!
it's a tough one. my kids don't have card pulling anymore. in jacobs class they have frogs in a pond with their names on them. they have to take their frog out of the pond if they misbehave. who knows if it works. lindsay's class has smiley faces with magnets on their desks. they get smiley faces taken away if they misbehave. if they get all four taken they have to leave the classroom. i remember my teacher writing my name on the board with a check mark for each bad thing. I'm still traumatized to this day that my name was on the board for all to see. I think when you have your own class you will know exactly what your style is.
Yeah I remember the card pulling system when I was in school. For me who stared out the window and couldn't pay attention for the life of me it just made me more frustrated and disappointed in myself. It is hard to feel one thing and be in another teahers style classroom. My old roommate Alona says that teaching is interesting for the fact of what kids say. It can be shocking at times. Aly's first teacher said that her first year of teaching a student talked about how their mom would have "different uncles" come spend the night when their dad was out of town. Come to find out that child's mom was the town hooker. NICE. It is sad and eye opening to realize that your kids are better off then you thought they were.
that is funny the variation of things you hear from your LITTLE students, most of which we would not hear here in UTAH. And yes, discipline is by far the most challenging thing in the classroom. And I have also found that it changes somewhat from year to year, because what seems to work for one set of kids, doesn't the next year. I can't believe you only have 3 weeks left! You are doing awesome :)
I love Beth's experiences with her kids. The frog/pond thing actually sounds really creative. I like the idea of associating it with a sort of "story" like that, frogs in the pond are taken out. And the magnet thing is great too cause there are several. When Jade got older, the card thing was kind of nice, because there were different colors for different actions, and I knew exactly what was going on. (I'm talking about 4th grade and up). So someone who kept talking would get a different card than someone who hit. (but I think I was one of the rare parents who actually WANTED to know what was going on in the classroom) I know they had different cards when she was younger, but it didn't seem as many, seriously like the whole rainbow in the card system for the older grades. She also had a teacher who used magnets, but they were clothes pins with the student's names on them. I wish I had more ideas, I think I will ask around. I bet the more ideas you get, probably the better, so you can brainstorm and find what feels right for you. I am SO proud of you, only 3 weeks left with that class!!! Really, that is SO awesome!!! I'm doing the "happy dance" for you, I think you are doing an amazing job! love you!!!
Identifying the problem is half the battle.....right??
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