Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Teacher or Performer?
After a week now, I haven't quite decided if me, my partner and our CT are actually teaching our kindergarten class or if we are just entertaining them till its time to go home at 3. Dont get me wrong, I am having a blast going in every day. These kids can say some of the most random things I have ever heard, some of it is good material for me to even use. But I still dont know that we have really taught them anything. At the end of the day our CT says we should really try to come in for the morning and see how different it is. He says they actually sit there and listen to you and you feel like you have taught them something. So I think I am going to try and get in one morning, just to see the difference. But as of right now, I simply perform for thirty different 6 year olds hoping I can keep their attention enough to ignore the fly on the wall or the leaves falling from the tree.
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I have had these same thoughts especially after the crazy day I just had. By the time the CT gets the students attention, someone will misbehave and the whole class gets distracted. I also feel like the CT and myself have to talk over the students and you never really have their full attention. One way I have dealt with this is just picking and choosing my battles. I tend to focus more on the students that are behaving well in the hopes that others will follow. My CT has also told me to come in the morning when the students are more focused and get more done. I will have to post more on that at a later date.
ReplyDeleteIt must not just be my classroom then!
ReplyDeleteThe students are just wild after lunch. I don't know what happens during that time, but when they get back- they seem like different kids. I really want to go in one morning and see how that goes.
After our class comes back from lunch/recess we have "read/write/rest". I feel that this time helps the children get ready for the afternoon and creates a better learning environment. In the afternoon in my classroom we do not have any of these issues. The children come in and do read/write rest for 15 minutes then sit for a math lesson that usually takes 15-20 minutes. During this time we do not usually have any problems, other than children speaking without raising their hands. I think that this 15 minutes may have something to do with it? --Instead of just being "thrown" back into doing classroom work after being independent for recess.
ReplyDeleteI often wonder myself if the kids in my class are better behaved in the morning vs when I am there in the afternoon. I think the kids get itching to be done with the day because they know after lunch the day is almost over. My CT does another "morning meeting" in the afternoon right after lunch for about 15 minutes. I think this helps the kids transition well into the next lesson plan.
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