I've been putting this off for several personal reasons (see more below) but now that I've got some time, I figure I'd better get some thoughts down before I forget them. I guess the best way I can go at this is by looking at how I've seen myself grow and learn in all the different aspects of teaching that I can think of. I'll start with the basic things (curriculum) and move on to the more abstract qualities that will make me a good teacher).
Math
This is an area where I feel that I have a strong knowledge base and that I have a good idea of what it takes to improve. I've always felt this way, but at the same time I realize (I'm going to state outright here that I'm spelling things the way I grew up with, since this is MY reflection for MY purposes) that being good at something doesn't mean you can teach it well. In fact, it might mean the opposite.
I've definitely wrapped my head around the math curriculum a bit more in my first 11 weeks. My major focus this term was getting basic facts and place value ingrained with the students. I think, to a degree, I have been successful in that regard. The improvement shown by most of my students on the basic facts tests have been nothing short of phenomenal. Several of them have plateaued and others have had slow improvements, but on the whole there have been massive gains. Place value has been hit or miss. I certainly focused on a few concepts, but there is room for some improvement (i.e. stressing what each number in a bigger number really means - 527 has 5 hundreds, 2 tens and 7 ones, etc). Having moved most of the children up to stage 5 has been a huge source of pride for me so I'll take that as it comes.
As the term went on, I did become more comfortable with certain concepts and became more focused with how I teach them. Since the groups are all at different levels, this has paid off hugely at the moment as my lower groups are at the point my upper groups were a few months ago. So taking the same lessons and adapting them has helped a lot.
I'm also learning a lot about what to do with the children when they're not with me. To be a great teacher, I know that that is where I need to be more productive. I've been developing a few new activities this term. I recently started Buddy Work - where I get someone from a higher group paired up with someone from a lower group, working on the lower student's level. I'm hoping this consolidates the knowledge of one student and helps the other become confident with it. I'm continuing to develop the Reading Books About Math activity. Time permitting, I'd like to make activities to go with each book so that the students can gain more from that. Some areas of further development might be to make the Basic Facts Practice an activity that the children can run themselves and to create a huge bank of activboard activities to reinforce each of the concepts on stages 4 and 5 (and most likely 3 and possibly 6 next year). I just want to be able to incorporate more resources and materials into math lessons and will be working towards that.
One final note is that I've been trying to add a few more math-related activities to the morning message. We've done some work on multiplication and on fractions. The brain teasers had mild success and weren't really accomplishing much, so I think I'll use those few minutes to give a math problem that will help them with their knowledge.
Reading and Writing
There are several areas within reading, so I'll break things down within the Daily 5 and then a few other aspects.
Read to Self: For the most part, I've accomplished what I wanted to with this. I wanted to have a class library that was full of great books. Slowly but surely, I've built up a great collection. There are definitely some gaps (not enough non-fiction) and there are several books I'd like to get, but the progress has been great and I think I have a lot of books that are exciting for the children to read. I think this is important because the more they read (and the more they enjoy it), the better their reading and their writing will be. One strategy that I've not found the time to implement (but is super important) is to stress to children
One thing that I've started to do has been to make activity sheets (general ones) that work on each of the strategies I've been teaching during the guided group lessons. These sheets have a lot of room for improvement (and the way I use them can also be greatly improved - it was only a day or two ago someone suggested they be glued into the literacy book, and I've noticed the lack of a WALT as well), but I'm on the path to making things work. One thing at a time I guess.
Read to Someone: Managing behaviour and getting students to be on task as much as possible (this falls into Read to Self as well) has been a difficulty at times. Certain students have major difficulties focusing during both of these times and I need to be adopting new strategies to deal with them. My problem seems to be the need for a balance between how much time is spent on organization (i.e. setting them off, pairing them up) and actual learning time. Time pressures have been difficult in several areas (as I'll write below when I talk about behaviour). However, I feel that at times, Read to Someone works well, and I need to increase the proportion of time that this happens.
Spelling/Word Work: This has been in a bit of flux. To start the term the two were completely unrelated, and I was having the children do actual activities during spelling. Then I had a lesson and the activity was the word work. That seemed to be a bit all over the place as I was often teaching concepts more related to writing. One activity that I've been doing, which may or may not have any value for their learning, is reading and spelling from high frequency word lists. At the moment I've been doing three days of this per week: one day of reading, one day of spelling and one day of making sentences with the words. This has all been done as a group at the activeboard. I'll be the first to admit that this is a bit of a lazy way around things, but the truth is, to make several flipcharts per week is extremely time consuming and (as I'll write below) this is not a realistic expectation at the moment if I want to keep my sanity (or stay in this job to be quite honest). That being said, I need to find a mixture of activities to work on the HFW lists and on other aspects of spelling. There is definitely HUGE room for improvement in this area and that is near the top of my list on things to do.
Listening to Reading: This has often been cut due to lack of time. I've had some issues with time management (though I feel the children are not completely losing out - see Shared Book below) but when I've had the chance, I've been able to read a lot of the books from the class library to the children. The other side to this is that I have been reading a chapter book to the children, almost daily. We finished Charlotte's Web in the first term and now we're tackling The Hobbit. It may actually be an ambitious choice (both for length and the language and sentence length of the text) but I think it will be a worthwhile attempt and we might even be able to finish it by the end of the year. I will be using this as my listening to reading book for a while, but also as Story Time in the afternoon.
Writing: Writing was apparently one of my strong points when I first started. I was pretty excited about trying to get the kids to do a lot of new things. The only problem was the amount of time I was putting into a) making flipcharts and b) marking books. It was just not possible to do it all and have some sort of balance in my life. I did have a lot of success with some students. However, I've noticed some students still have not made any progress. I feel particularly bad about those lower students who I haven't yet been able to move up to level 2. I need to be working with them in more of a one-on-one setting to help build up their confidence and their ideas. I find the biggest problem is that those low students don't actually read all that much. Without reading they won't have the ideas or the exposure to good writing and won't be able to do it themselves. So part of my failure I guess is that I need to find ways to encourage those children to read more (probably by finding books that are at their level and that they enjoy).
Shared Book: I think this has been a strength of mine, even if it takes up a lot of time. I've been doing new books from my class library each week and have been focusing on the strategies from the reading CAFE (or FACE of a reader for the class displays). I've tried to mix up the strategies each week. I'll usually have one day of Expanding Vocabulary (usually the first day) where we look at new words, a couple days to look at a strategy (introduction the first day, some consolidation the second) and a third day to practice fluency, expression or reading the punctuation. On Fridays I would usually have a set of six questions to correspond to the six levels of questions of Bloom's Taxonomy. I found the children were learning a lot from each of the parts of these shared books. I have yet to prepare one for this term, but I've working on one for next week and hopefully will be able to continue with this. The only problem is that this cannot be done in 10 minutes. Often I would have to not only cut out Listen to Reading, but would also have to cut the other reading rounds short. Not doing this the past two weeks has opened up a lot more time to make sure I get the reading rounds in. Again, with most of my comments, balance is what I need to be focusing on, and finding ways to do this more efficiently.
Reading Groups: This has been steadily improving over the course of the term and I'm finding I've gotten into a better groove. As I've mentioned above, I've been creating activities to do during Read to Self to reinforce the strategies taught in the reading groups. This needs to be developed so that the children remember the strategies. I will look into making a display (as I've seen in a few other classrooms) so that children can know which strategy they are working on. Often I find that when I ask the children which strategy we've been doing, they don't have any clue and don't even try looking in the modeling book which is open right in front of them! However, I think this aspect of the morning block is much better than it was when I first started so I'm happy with how things have turned out.
Handwriting (and presentation in books): I've tried to do this once a week and feel like I've done a decent job of it. That being said, I think I need to be more vigilant when it comes to standards with class work. I know some teachers rip out the pages of books if the work is not up to standard. I'm not sure I want to be that teacher, but perhaps being harsh like that might have a positive effect on the children's learning. This is something that I hope to discuss with my new tutor teacher.
Topic and Discovery and Other Subjects
Honestly, I was a bit like a chicken running around with its head cut off last term. I wasn't really sure what was going on and we had many interruptions. I think I did a decent job with the guidance I had, but it's definitely an area where I need to make massive improvements. My biggest problem was that I'd work all weekend sorting out marking, writing and other things and it would be Sunday night and I wouldn't know what to do. I'd often throw things together and the lessons would not be the best. I've also got some issues with using supplies and getting materials. These are things I need to work on (Art has been pretty much non-existent) but at the moment, the priority has been making sure Reading, Writing and Math have been up to standard. I need to remember that these things cannot be ignored. I will be looking to discuss how to improve these curricular areas with my new tutor teacher.
Time and Behaviour Management
One of these (time) has always been an issue for me and the other (behaviour) was once a source of pride for me. Neither has been as good as I would like them to be at the moment. And the relationship between the two has never been more apparent. My problem is that I've not managed time effectively. I often feel like I need to be doing something or getting my class somewhere. It's when this stress sneaks in that I start to forget what to do. I lose the patience that I used to have in abundance and the little things start to get to me. The children at this school are hard to deal with and I've got three in particular that set the other children off. The key to my class is managing these three and I don't feel that I've done a particularly good job with any of them - though I have had success with each at times.
A lot of how I manage the children relates back to how I am doing in my life and if I'm not calm and relaxed, I certainly won't be on the top of my game for the children.
There's no point in listing the things that haven't worked, so I'll discuss the things that have:
Positive Reinforcement. This is a no-brainer, though it is very easy to fall into the trap of forgetting this. I find myself too often noticing the bad behaviour and not the good. I'm making huge efforts to get back into my routine of only discussing the good things. This is not always easy and I need to work at this quite a bit more if I am to be successful with teaching and learning.
Patience and Calm. One thing that will go a long way towards this is to just step back every now and then and think calmly about the situation. With the way teaching happens in NZ (small groups while the rest of the class is doing other things) it can be very easy for children to get away with misbehaving. Clear guidelines must be established with what is allowed and what is not. Certainly I need to make certain areas off limits and monitor where children are working before I start with my small group.
Clear Punishments. I've been trying my best to follow the behaviour guidelines, though it probably has not been as consistent as it should be. I'm constantly trying to get to that ideal. A possible strategy to ensure this is to keep the steps posted on the wall, for all (including me) to see. I've also got to work out what is acceptable when it comes to lining up properly (this is a huge issue with my class and has been all term). I find my students don't really have the self control and cannot do things properly unless I tell them to - and it has to be at the moment! If I say make sure you line up after morning tea, at the beginning of morning tea, less than half will remember to do it. Something has to change in this regard as everything I've tried up until now has been unsuccessful.
Rewards/House Points: I'm still a bit unclear as to what I can award house points for. I was doing it for sitting nicely and then stopped because we were told not to. However, the children don't really respond without them. I'm torn because I don't like bribing children to do the right thing, but I've found none of them really do the right thing because it's the right thing (so level D on our behaviour). I'd rather be giving them something for being good than taking it away if they're bad.
Buddy Class. Though it isn't to my official buddy class, I've been sending one of my troublesome students to a new entrants class every now and then so that he can help them out. It really has been a win-win situation for all involved. It gives the student a huge boost in self esteem and gives him some responsibility. It gives me and my class a bit of a break from some troubles. And it gives the other class and her students help which is super valuable. So everyone wins. I feel this is a strategy that could be utilized more with some of my students and with other students in this school. It's not often that some of these children are given the opportunity to feel wanted, needed and important to others. I wish it could be in my class, but I'm happy to allow him that opportunity somewhere else.
Classroom Environment and Displays
I have actually become quite proud of what I've accomplished here, though I know I need to get on top of a few more things to make the classroom really my own and my students'. I feel that what I first came to my room, I didn't have much to work with and actually that I had to get rid of or to change. It took a lot of time and effort to get things close to the way they are now. I did get a bit tired of spending so much time on them, but it's about balance (see below). I've found success by getting students to do a lot, which also lets them take some ownership in the room. It's just a challenge to get them helping me a bit more and getting things ready for them so that things can be made and put up in a timely fashion.
I'll also mention about my class blog here. I've been doing some good things with that as well. I know some of the students have been checking it at home and others have definitely been looking at it in class. Further areas of development will be to add more instructional videos on to the math groups as well as getting more pictures of events up.
Planning and Other Duties
This has been definitely an up and down ride over the term. I guess I can say I'm way better with paperwork than I was when I first started. I'm getting better and doing my planning more efficiently, though at other times I feel quite a bit overwhelmed with all the extra bits that need doing (I've got a bit of a to-do list at the moment). I guess this is an ongoing battle and I need to be sneaking in work everywhere I can so that I don't feel overwhelmed with things. Getting things done quickly and on time is always better than leaving it. That's also easier said than done. But I'll discuss that below. I'm definitely getting into routines and habits around certain aspects of this so there has been some positive improvement. I think that once there are less new things for me to think about I'll be able to relax a bit more and do things automatically.
My Life
This is something I definitely neglected last term. I would often bring work home and work all evening, and most of the weekend. I occasionally went out to do something, but more often than not it was alone. In fact, I've been pretty lonely since I came to New Zealand. About week 7 or 8, this really started to wear me down, and I tried to make some more time for myself. This worked but apparently not enough because I found myself super lonely during the last holidays. I got quite down on myself (though there are other issues related to that that I'll hint at) and really lost a lot of my motivation to do anything. The flip side is, something really great happened to me in the two weeks leading up to the holidays and during the holidays (which was also a source of sadness until the last few days). Life has taken an unexpected turn for the better, though at the same time what has made things good has also made them hard. So as not to be so cryptic, I met a wonderful person who made me extremely happy, but that person moved away. So now I am in a bit of a holding pattern with my life, waiting to see when I can visit this person and see whether or not our lives will be compatible. In the meantime, I've decided to make something of a plan so that I don't end up spending days and days alone and sad. Without going into details of this plan, it involves focusing on my body, my mind and my personal connections. I'm making a concerted effort to make sure I have a balance between those three areas and my working life. Full stop. I cannot let school get in the way of my happiness - or otherwise, what's the point of having a job? I've decided to make sure I eat healthy and stay fit, that I exercise my mind (which involves trying extremely hard to learn another language - which is also related to the person I met), and making sure I have a good social circle so that I'm not alone when I need to be around people. For the most part I have seen some progress in that area, but I am not going to stop trying to make some major strides in this term. I know we're busy, but if I don't take care of myself, I wonder if I'll be motivated to return in 2013.
Summary and Goals for Further Development
So I've spent some time thinking about how I can move forward and become the outstanding teacher that I want to be. I know I'm not quite there, but the last 11 weeks of teaching have been a great learning experience and have revealed what I need to work on. The number one goal is to actually take care of myself. I worked myself pretty hard to start and I realize now that I'm pretty much useless in the class if I don't have the rest of my life in order. So that is my major focus at the moment; finding the balance between work and everything else.
When it comes to work though, I do have some goals and things I want to work on. I'm hoping that by finding that balance I'll be able to manage myself a bit better during classes, but that is also something I want to focus on a bit more. Becoming efficient is also a priority. Again, I think this will come with balance, but I think becoming a bit more organized and getting down to work when I need to get it done will go a long way to improving my in-class practice.
As for in-class things that I want to work on: continue to develop a dynamic classroom environment. I've had some success here, but I don't think I change things enough and I definitely don't do enough art. I need to take that weakness and turn it into a strength. Especially in a school such as this where art/music/drama might be a way to help children deal with their emotions in a healthy manner.
I want to continue to improve my math teaching. I feel like I've been doing really well here, but developing a better program and improving the activities when children aren't with me is something I want to continually be developing.
Writing has been good, but I want to find ways to pull back the work load without taking away from the learning. The same goes for all the other activities around reading. I feel that once certain things are prepared (resources for reading followup activities) it will be very simple to sort things out on a weekly basis.
Overall I'm pleased with the journey so far. I've learned a lot about myself, my strengths and weaknesses, and - most importantly - how much I need to find that every elusive balance. But I've been making plans (written down somewhere) to help me with that and so far I have been somewhat successful.
So here's looking forward to building on my term 3 successes and continuing to improve through term 4 and beyond.
