Self-Direction

I believe some of the motivators that drive students to remain engaged in self-directed activities are curiosity about the content, a need to be successful, perfectionism (for a few), and the desire to please. One of the elements I consider to be most motivating is interest. If a student cannot relate to the content it will be a tough sell. One of the things I try to do is find a way to tie the material to my students' lives so that it peaks their interest. I also feel that when I have a good relationship with a student, many times they will stay driven to try to please me. I don't know that this is the best form of motivation but it sure helps!

I often feel overwhelmed by all of the options out there to improve my teaching. There is SO much information out there to research as well as a plethora of techniques, plans, and materials to implement. Thinking about how to motivate students is no different. I could spend days just finding and then deciding which methods to employ. But, I shall not let myself be completely overwhelmed! Instead, I'll remind myself that Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will be my teaching career:)

New Technology

Today I learned how to navigate in a Wiki and how to begin managing one. I feel pretty confident repeating the steps we learned today so I would consider it a successful training. I can’t wait to create a class Wiki. I can imagine many applications to engage my students and to make it easier for all of us to manage assignments and learning.

The Value of Students' Reflections

Okay, so it took me a little while to consistently make reflection a part of each lesson- but now I have and I'm sold! I thoroughly enjoy reading my students' notes about what they have learned that day. I can see the wheels spinning in their heads as they mentally review the lesson to decide what to write for their reflection. I know there is proven benefit for their learning retention and what a great evaluation tool for me. I implemented a system whereby I hand out pieces of scratch paper at the end of a lesson for students to write at least one thing they have learned or a question they still have. Then, I have a "reflection" can to collect their tickets out the door. At the end of the week we have a raffle and the person whose ticket is picked gets to dig through the goodie box. It's so fun as a teacher when you try something new and it's a success for all. Yea!

Clickers!

The clicker training was very informative and I am sold on this ActiveInspire software. I used them in my classroom for two days. One day the students answered multiple choice questions and text messaged answers for a test review. The entire class was able to view the results immediately. This allowed me to repeat and spend more time reviewing the more difficult questions. The second day they took a test using the clickers. It was very easy to save the results to my desktop and the program did the grading for me! I'm looking forward to incorporating them regularly into my lesson plans. Because this technology allows for faster and easier assessments, it will help me adapt my plans in a more timely manner.

Reflection

One change I will make to my lesson plans immediately is to use visual examples to illustrate performance outcomes for students. Especially since I only teach English language learners, this enhancement to my plans is extremely important. The lesson plan we watched in action at the induction session made this very clear. Students were shown examples of the end product during the instruction/direction segment of the plan so they knew from the beginning what they would be required to produce.

The other reminder I needed to see was to have written instructions available to the students at all times in addition to the verbal explanation of directions. I have since tried to do this regularly in my classes and it saves me a lot of time otherwise spent repeating myself.

A Month in...

Here we are and it's already October! I've been a teacher for over a month now. How's it going, you ask? Depends on the day for sure. If you'd asked me yesterday I would have answered "Great!" Today, not so great. Funny how things can change from one day to the next. The hardest part for me is that there is so much yet to learn! I want to be an excellent and experienced teacher NOW. I am very fortunate to have a wonderful, supportive administration and great teachers to work with. I'm proud to be a part of the team at my school. Our kids are very lucky too.

First Week Reflection

Well, I can't say the week went as well as I'd hoped but it definitely ended on a good note. First of all, I was sick all week with some kind of a stomach flu so I was not feeling as excited or motivated as I would have had I been healthy. Then, on Monday, I had the same group of 12 students for 5 hours! I misunderstood thinking I would have my homeroom class just for first period but as it turns out I had them for periods 1-3. Then, also for periods 4 and 5 which is the normal time I have this group. Therefore, I was not prepared with 5 hours of planned activities. My lack of preparation and the extended time together did not set us up for a good first week.

I also had a couple of classes with a much higher number of student than anticipated. My first and second periods had 31 students. By the end of the week they were down to 27 so that is more manageable. For me, the hardest part of my first week as a new teacher was knowing what to let go (behavior wise). Having never started with my own class I had never seen how an effective teacher would set the tone the first few days. By Friday I had to start over with a few of my classes and firmly re-visit the class expectations. The results were encouraging. I am now looking forward to my second week. It's amazing how invested I feel in my students already after just a few days together. I can't wait to develop a stronger teacher/student relationship with all of them.