Thanks to Facebook memories, I was reintroduced to my first literacy blog I created for a grad school assignment. I am going to be reposting my old posts here. They are a reminder of why I became a teacher. They are a reminder of how I developed my teaching style. They are a reminder of my pedagogical philosophy. Many of the posts I have reread, still ring true to me and are embedded in my daily practice as a teacher.
Originally Posted on "I'm Making Readers & Writers For Life," September 20, 2012.
And so begins the trials and tribulations of student teaching. I may be exhausted, but I will reflect here....
Minus the fact I felt guilty having to be in school during Rosh Hashanah and not dipping apples in honey, this week went rather well. My TPA lessons went almost according to plan. They were by no means perfect, but I am not perfect. There were valuable lessons this week, such as the value of a lesson that starts and ends during a continuous duration.
Due to the scattered broken schedule I have to deal with I often feel that my lessons stretch over days. I actually don’t feel that I know that. This week I had two lessons that should have taken 30-45 minutes, but it took days. It was either a combination of over planning or yet another assembly to interrupt my class. Its life, but I have to learn how to make a disjointed lesson seem seamless. It is even harder when you do not like the lesson you have planned. I understand I am not required to jump through hoops and pull out bunnies from hats, but when I write a good lesson I feel more prepared and confident when teaching it. When something is good, it’s GOOD. However, these said lessons felt like they sank faster than the Titanic. The kids were taught the information; I just feel like I was not on my best game which made it hard for students to make meaningful gains and really grasp the material. Some material built on prior knowledge, but it still required higher level thinking skills. This has been a struggle. I will say the bright side of having a lesson drag on for days (literal, not figurative) is that I was able to try and fix what I thought was a horrible lesson into something moderately meaningful. We can’t win them all. I am surely not throwing in the towel ;-) but I use this as a learning opportunity how to make my future teaching practice tighter and stronger.