Is it a Sweatshirt? Is it a Purse? No it's a Connection!

Note: All names are pseudonyms.

            I looked down at my Steeler purse, disappointed in it. Past experience had taught me it was a conversation piece. Either people thought I had made it, or they commented on my status as a Steeler fan. In other words, my Steeler purse has always been a wonderful icebreaker among kids and adults.

            Ever since the comments about it began, I have made it a point to bring it to school with me every day, hoping to make a connection with some student who loves football like myself.

            But two weeks into school and still there were no reactions. It seemed everyone was immune to its powers this semester.

            “Huh, you a Steeler fan?” Alex asked from his seat, as he waited rather impatiently for the bell to ring.

            I smiled, looking up from my purse. “Yes, my dad’s from Pittsburgh so we are all diehard fans.”

            Alex smiled, the first time he had ever smiled at me. “I like the Eagles.”

            I laughed. “The same Eagles the Steelers stomped on last night?” I asked.

            Alex brushed the comment away quickly. “Pre-season games don’t count for anything.”

            “That’s what losers say.” I reply.

            Alex laughs at that. “They’re still better than the Steelers.”

            “We’ll see who wins the Super Bowl.”

            “Michael Vick will take them there.”

            I nod my head, acknowledging his good point. “Maybe, he has something to prove.”

           The bell rings, dismissing the students from class. Alex gives me a parting smile before slipping past me into the jungle of a hallway. I pat my purse gently, happy to know it still works. It may have waited a while to shine, but in the end my conversation piece came through. But this is only a start. I still have to put in the effort to make my connection stick with Alex. I vow to at least catch the highlights of the Eagles game, if I cannot watch at least some of it come Sunday.

            Sunday comes and goes with the heart wrenching loss of the Steelers against our arch rivals, the Ravens. Still, I let my purse hang proudly at my side. A true fan never stops supporting their team, no matter how badly they might play. Walking into class my cheeks redden as Alex comes up to me. Surely some smart remark is on the very tip of his tongue. But his eyes lack the usual mischievous look of someone about to taunt my team.

            “The Eagles looked good Sunday.” I comment, before he can get a dig in. “Michael Vick made some great plays.” It’s true, I know because I watched the majority of the game.

            “Yeah, Michael Vick’s my boy.” Alex says with a grin. “Maybe the Steelers will do better next week.”

            I smile at that. “Hopefully, or else it will be a painful season.”

            I go to my usual spot in the classroom as the bell rings and everything continues as it usually does; first bellwork, followed by some reading, and then an activity. Today’s activity involves writing and drawing based on the reading. As usual I walk around the room helping students as they need it, reading their work over their shoulders, and keeping some students on task.

            After a few passes around the room, Alex comes up to me, assignment in hand. “Can you tell me what you think?” He asks.

            I smile on the inside and out. Alex has never asked the CT or me for comments on his paper. He simply does the work, turns it in, and waits for final judgment in the form of a grade.

            “I love how I can hear your voice in your writing. It feels like I’m having a conversation with you Alex.” I tell him, handing back his paper, along with a genuine smile.

            Alex takes the paper from my hand, granting me a tiny smile in return. “Thanks.”

            Who would have thought something as small as football would make a student open up so much?

Positive Remarks for Five Hundred, Please.

Note: All names are pseudonyms.

Ms. Iron decided that I should teach a lesson the day after Labor Day. I have to admit I was very excited to teach "Young Arthur", a short story about King Arthur as a boy. Ms. Iron told me to create a worksheet or activity of some kind that would ask the students to compare and contrast the two main characters. It just so happens that worksheets/activities are my forte. I love trying to come up with something I know my students will enjoy! Especially when I get to watch them enjoy it!

Of course nothing ever goes completely as planned. Ms. Iron had originally scheduled Tuesday’s class so we would have time to read “Young Arthur” at the end of class. After she was done with her lessons, I had eight minutes left. Not the most ideal of situations. Luckily for me, I had planned a pre-reading activity which asked for the students to predict the events that would occur in the story they were about to read. Now, being the clever person I am, I knew that some students would be familiar with the general idea of the story already (it was the story of Arthur pulling the sword from the stone). So I asked them to order the four events I had given them, all of them about Merlin, in the order they thought they would occur in the story; this way no one would have too much of an advantage (unless Merlin was their favorite character).

Wednesday we read the story, the students reordered the events, and they completed the worksheet I gave them. The worksheet included a double bubble map, short response (5-7 sentences), and creative decorating of the two main character’s shields, so that they represented what each character represented.

Thursday the worksheets were due. I took them home and graded all of them that night. I made sure to put a positive comment on every short response and shield set. Of course I made corrections and gave ideas on how to make their next short response even better, but I made an effort to focus on what was great! To my surprise many of the students really let their voice shine through, made great metaphors, or used beautiful language. If that was the case, then I was sure to comment on it. By the end of the night I was sick of grading papers and had a slight cramp in my hand, but I told myself that it would be so worth the effort!

Friday after Ms. Iron had plugged in the grades, I passed the papers out in class. I was so excited to watch their eyes scan over my comments! I was passing back a third or fourth paper, when Shay came up to me. I could tell from the smile on her face that she had been pleased by my comment.

“Ms. H, you think I’m smart.” Shay said, the disbelief in her voice clear.

“Yes Shay, I think you are smart.” I answer with a smile.

Shay knows I think she is smart, because I wrote something positive on her worksheet! I think to myself.

Shay is the only one who comments on my commentary, but the room is filled with looks of disbelief and smiles as the students read my remarks, the positives and the critiques! Who knew all of that grading would pay off?

This experience leaves me with a few questions. Have these students never had positive messages before? Is it not always important to find something positive among the critiques you may find? Think about it. Who wants a paper with nothing positive to say? I know I don’t, so I make sure my students don’t get one. Another question floating through my brain is this. Is it possible to seem insincere, in the students’ eyes, by giving too many positive remarks throughout the semester? If so, how do you write a positive comment without seeming insincere? Are exclamation marks (guilty) and smiley faces (not guilty) too much icing on the cake for some students, especially middle or high school students?

I suppose I will have to do my research and find out. So far with this first assignment, I think pairing suggestions or critiques with positive remarks is the way to keep positive remarks from seeming insincere (I choose to use a 1 to 1 ratio).

Classroom Management

Note: All names are pseudonyms.

In this reflection I would like to start by talking about how I am doing in regards to the goals I set in my first reflective post.

I feel that I have a great start on my goals! I have all 33 names down in my English classroom (and all 11 in my math classroom).  While I do not know what all of my students are reading, I do have a good start. Seven students are reading a book in the Hunger Games series, two of whom are reading the book based on my recommendation.  Two students are reading Lost Boy which they are actively discussing with one another. One boy is reading Twilight, because he is interested to see what all of the buzz is about.  Three other books being read are Uglies, Fallen, and Where the Sidewalk Ends. For all of you wondering, this means I know what 40% of my class is reading.

Now that I have updated everyone on my goals, I wish to move onto the main topic of my blog; classroom management. This topic is of particular interest to me, because I have two cooperating teachers (CTs). My English CT is a wonderful woman named Ms. Iron. My Math CT is another wonderful woman by the name of Ms. Stone. Now while I love talking and e-mailing with both of my CTs, their classrooms are completely different environments, and I don’t mean because they teach different subjects.

It is not an exaggeration to say that at least ten minutes of class time is wasted every day. I use the word wasted, because this time is spent by students refusing to follow directions, and Ms. Iron scolding her students for their disrespect. Now I know many of you are asking the same question. Why do the students not follow directions, if Ms. Iron is constantly telling her students how they are misbehaving and how to correct their behavior? The answer is that she is not doing this constantly. There are many times where students are obviously off task and misbehaving and Ms. Iron intentionally ignores those behaviors.  This has led to two consequences for me as a pre-student teacher in Ms. Iron’s classroom. First, the students have a total lack of respect for me as an adult in the room. Second, I now need to get procedures in place to improve instructional effectiveness while I am teaching. While I am up for the challenge, it has become a battle with some students who are completely convinced that they run the classroom.  Before I move on, I have one more example of a complete lack of classroom management in Ms. Iron’s room. No matter what is happening in class (i.e. lecture, group work…) Ms. Iron always allows students to leave her classroom to go to the water fountain or bathroom, rather than making them wait for a more appropriate time.

Ms. Stone’s room does not waste more than two minutes every day. Kids will be kids and are bound to get off topic if given a chance. Luckily, Ms. Stone is always there to make sure students are right back on task. There is an air of respect in the room the moment you walk in. Ms. Stone always comments on how she appreciates the class’s appropriate behavior, which seems to fuel their fire for always being on task. In addition to this, when students are off topic a simple correction from Ms. Stone or myself changes the behavior almost immediately. Of course some students have bad days and are a little harder to work with, but the majority of the time they are excited to be in the math classroom. Ms. Stone’s classroom management is consistent and effective. This has led to two consequences for me as a pre-student teacher as well.  First, every student in the classroom in the room respects me as an adult. Second, I do not have to worry about setting any groundwork before teaching my students.

In essence, these first few weeks have proven to me the importance of effective classroom management and what that looks like from the outside looking in.