Friday, August 27, 2010
Week 2
I noticed that I am feeling more comfortable in front of the classroom. I have noticed that I have been taking charge more and really just having fun. Even though, I was introduced as Ms. Rosnick on the first day of school, students still refer to me as "Mrs. Starkey's helper." I am not sure why this is so. I feel like there was never any type of indication that I am not of the same status as Mrs. Starkey. I hope that when I start teaching more the students will realize that I do have the same authority as my mentor teacher. So far this week, I have been teaching a lot of Reading. I am extremely excited to take over Reading on Monday! I will be starting the book The Summer of the Swans and I hope to do some really cool things with it. I have been working hard on my lesson plans and hope to finish the book in about 4 weeks! I have gotten to know the students pretty well and am learning more and more about them each day. I really enjoy having different students in and out throughout the day because it allows me to get to know many different groups of students. This week we have been working on separating WESTEST scores; it has been a painful experience, to say the least! Going through all 180 students in 6th grades and picking out each individual student, writing down their scores, and then putting them in the right teacher's pile has been a challenge. As much as I detested doing this, it really helped me understand the WESTEST scores and how they score. The experiences that I have had these past two weeks are things that I could have never learned by sitting in a classroom. I am so thrilled to be able to experience everything that I have.
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It is interesting that the students perceive you as "Mrs. Starkey's helper." It will be even more interesting to see if their perceptions change and what might cause their perceptions to change.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering....what have you been doing to get to know your students? What kinds of "data" have you been collecting....and of course, as you already know, that could include conversations that you've had with your students. I'm glad that you enjoy having the different groups of students. In some ways, I found this challenging when I was teaching middle school because I felt as if it was hard for me to get to know all of my students as well as I wanted to know them.
I can empathize with your story about organizing the Westest scores. You would think with all of the technology that there would have to be an easier way. What do students' Westest scores tell you about them as leaners? And I'm wondering, what other information would you want, need to gather so that you could better understand what your students know and are able to do?
I love The Summer of the Swans (and as you can see, I don't know how to italicize the title). I'm looking forward to hearing how your lessons go when you are teaching this novel.
All in all, it sounds as if you are settling in and embracing your role as a middle school teacher.