I taught today for the first time that was not to a classroom of peers. It was in fact a real, live classroom swarming with hormonal teenagers who want nothing more than to flirt and show off to each other. I was nervous for several reasons:
1. i had been interactive with the classes, but i wasn't sure how much they respected me. previously i had introduced topics, led a couple discussion questions, and walked around and helped students. However, I don't generally have an authoritative presence, and so I knew that the longer I was in the classroom the more the students would feel comfortable talking over me. On Thursday as I had led the classroom in discussions, several of the classes found it unnecessary to listen; thus I was nervous to begin classroom management. The other aspect was that since I see 75 students a day, I only know a handful of names.
2. I was teaching on Hercules and I have no idea about Greek mythology. I had done my research but I still didn't really know much.
3. Mrs. Rivera was observing me in my very first class on my very first day of teaching.
However, I came up with plans:
1. I had sat in on another teacher who teaches the same seventh grade classes that I have, and she used a rewards system of two kinds: individual and corporal. As each student was behaving and following directions, she would give them raffle tickets, and at the end of the week she would hand out a prize (like a candy bar) to the selected winner. Corporally, she awarded each class with a number of points which she wrote up on the board, and once they reached 30 she would let them choose a reward. So I followed suit and decided that on this important day I would buy candy. And candy did I buy. I also went over classroom management procedures with them before I began, telling them that we were trying something new and would be interacting a lot. This was a privilege, and if they couldn't handle it then we wouldn't do it anymore. I also let them know that they would be rewarded with candy if they behaved. We also came up with a method of gaining attention again - I would flick the lights meaning they had to stop talking and look at me again.
2. My lesson wasn't all I had wished it would be, but it was very subject-to-life. I chose to teach on the theme of the hero from Hercules, and so I began by showing "I Need A Hero" from Shrek 2, showing them the lyrics, and asking them to pinpoint how a hero is being portrayed in the lyrics and movie clip. Then we talked about personal heroes and their characteristics. I deviated from the lesson plan a bit and wrote characteristics on the board as they named them. We then read Hercules and they analyzed the text and shared what Hercules did to be thought of as a hero. Then we went through the list on the board and labeled which ones were more personal and which were more typical for a superhero. Finally, as an evaluation, they created their own hero and I gave them the choice of drawing (and writing characteristics) or writing a description of their hero. All in all, it honestly wasn't too shabby.
3. Mrs. Rivera loved my lesson. And for some reason, the class was completely calm while she was there. A couple girls asked me afterwards how I did, and I said "how do you think I did?" They said they thought it was really good. I asked them how I could improve, but they didn't give me any pointers. Mrs. Rivera's comments were very helpful; she suggested that I show/use models for the class before I ask them to do something. She also told me that after I asked the class to listen or to open their books to a certain page I had to wait for them before I moved on.
The next classes weren't as good as the first, and so I rewarded candy according to what each student deserved individually (though every student got at least one piece).
I also wish that I knew which students had special needs so that I could group them accordingly. Honestly, I think that to achieve better classroom management, the students have to be moved around. Cooperative learning really did work well with them, and I tried to go around to each individual group to try to empower and encourage them. The cool thing about these students is their willingness to share, and I was honestly encouraged by how many of them chose their parents.
In the afternoon we gathered as a group, and my small group discussed the use of slang in the classroom. As an English teacher, I will not allow the use of slang in my formal assignments and papers. I think that the use of slang in the classroom is great and very natural, but I wouldn't let students use internet slang in their papers; nor would I allow them to use their slang. Josh also asked our groups if we would use their slang words in our classroom or that was almost degrading in a way, as though we had to talk down to our students. I disagreed with him on that point because I think that we should participate in colloquial language. We should also hold our students to a higher standard and use more advanced vocabulary in our everyday language.
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