Due to “Blizzard 2011” we had two snow days last week. I had taught on Tuesday and expected to spend the remainder of last week planning for my lesson this week Tuesday (tomorrow) because I am being observed for the first time. However, due to the snow days I lost motivation; I do have a very clean house though and caught up on sleep. Then on Friday my CT went to a tennis conference so we had a sub. Well, actually only 5th hour had a sub, hours one through four had me. I was rather nervous before first hour but didn’t have time to think about it. Before I knew it the sub was there and kids were entering the building and trickling into the room. There are three very important things I learned that day:
- By law, it is not required for substitutes to be informed of IEPs and what type of impairments special education students might have.
- Kids really can’t smell fear as long as you hide it behind a smile and good classroom management.
- Time is not fixed. Just because it takes your students all class to get half way through an assignment one class doesn’t mean they won’t go through three the next day.
I am thankful that I started building a relationship with my EI students early in the semester because if not I probably would have had a substitute with a stab wound or bruises (physically or emotionally). During this incident I also learned that teachers have their own 6th sense. Before anything really happened I knew something was wrong and was able to get to the student, shoo away the sub and talk the student through his anger. What upset me most about this situation wasn’t the substitutes initial behavior, but when she came to me during lunch (right after the incident) she asks in a snotty voice, “what’s his problem?” I simply explained his situation and continued eating. But even now I can’t understand how she could ever ask that! How can she assume it’s all “his problem” and in no part her fault?
Moving on, I found that the question “Can I have your attention please?” while making eye contact with a few students followed by watching the clock is quite effective. In just one class period, the students went from taking 20 seconds to give me their attention to almost 10 seconds. I was so excited! I found that it’s easier to get their attention when other students are asking people to be quiet instead of me doing all of the work. This is one technique I plan on using the rest of this semester and see how consistent the results are.
We have finally arrived at time. After having 90 minute periods in high school I never thought 59 minute periods would be enough. However, Friday I learned that its quite easy to have 15-20 minutes extra! I felt very disorganized and like I failed the students in some way because of this. With the extra time many students played with the puzzles my CT has in the room while others worked on homework from other classes or doodled and talked to friends. I even went around to check that they had completed the assignment fully and correctly. They had. I didn’t come up with any additional material or activities because they had a very hard time with this lesson on Tuesday (the last class before our snow days). Maybe something finally clicked during those two days. Who knows; but now I know how important it is to plan my time better so the students get the most out of the lesson. This is one of the many things I will be focusing on this semester.
This brings us to today. A Monday right after a short week. I fully expected everyone to be either lethargic or bouncing off the walls. I had neither! Surprisingly 90% of the class was engaged and actively taking notes during the lesson. I was so excited. Maybe it was because we were working with the coordinate plane and they had the chance to use graph paper. After Friday today was a breeze. I think this is because the students and myself were relieved to have my CT back. My goal for tomorrow is to remember the classroom management I learned on Friday because I know the content is there. My second goal is to management my time wisely. Thankfully, my CT will finish this lesson on Wednesday. I can’t wait to see how the rest of this week goes.
I wonder if they smell fear but appreciate and respect courage even more.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a rough week.
ReplyDeleteIt is always good to reflect upon what went well and what didn't.
Good for you for identifying that student behavior is often a reflection of adult behavior. We are always sending non-verbal messages to our students, which are often more influential than the verbal ones. In addition, students do bring outside issues and influences with them, we all do. One of the most important things you can do is to create a classroom that students feel safe in, both physically and emotionally. When your students know that you care about them they will behave better and they will forgive you when you lose your patience.
So, how do you let your students know that you care about them? You greet them at the door, you talk to them, you remember things that may be important to them, etc..
As for having extra time -- always over plan.