| Fruits of Your Labor |
|
|
|
| Wednesday, 05 September 2007 | |||
|
For those of you who are here for the first time, or have not yet read MY GAME PLAN, please do so. This next article will have more meaning if you did. So on with one story I’m quite happy and proud to tell. It’s one of those stories that make your year worth it – failures, heartaches, and all in your teaching... I had my supervisor, the Assistant Principal at my school, watch me teach last year (in my grade 6 class). It was one of those unannounced but very official visits kind of thing. You know, the ones that determine whether you’re going to get a stamp of approval this year as a good teacher, or that you actually have to rethink about your future plans to stay the next 10 years. He came, and I was having a discussion among my students of their answers to the questions I gave them the previous day. I did not stop what I was doing (and that was a significant thing. This proves a useful move to earn you a point or two during an observation. I’ll tell you why later). The kids were just beautiful! They were participating, giving their own opinions, and really interacting with one another. I realized at that time, my kids were more often than not, doing exactly this in class everyday, but because somebody was there, I was looking at my kids from a different perspective. I was observing my kids from my supervisor’s eyes. Our next activity was a read-aloud on the carpet (I would always recommend for a teacher to have one no matter what age you teach). I started to read a paragraph or two of a novel we were working on, then the students took turns reading the other parts, until each had a turn. In that class, I had a student who is a “problem child” in all his other classes. According to the grapevine, teachers had trouble keeping him focused on tasks. Let’s just call him ‘Ben’ for the sake of confidentiality. In my class, Ben did have ‘spells’. There were times when he would indeed ‘space out’, so to speak. But it would take a bit of cajoling and a gentle reminder, then he would get back on task. So when my supervisor was observing the class, he was following on the readings (which requires a lot of patience especially since not everyone reads at the same pace), and he participated and interacted with the others in the previous activity. After the read-aloud, in which my students were in their best behavior, (I actually had the feeling at one point that it seemed like they thought they were the ones being observed, not me!) I divided them up into two groups. A small group stayed with me on the carpet. The others went back to their seats, and worked on their vocabulary study. The group that stayed with me on the carpet were the ones who needed special time. These students need instructions and directions scaffolded in order for them to understand. To make sure they know exactly what is expected of them for the vocabulary study, I modeled what they have to do once they are on their own. The other group that I allowed to go on their own at their desks, were the ones I’ve trained over the months to be self-directed. While I was giving directions to my small group on the carpet, I saw my supervisor going around the class, looking at what the kids were doing, asking them questions, observing their work. I was not worried, because this program my students were on, has already been part and parcel of their Language Arts class for months. They know it like the back of their hands, and since they have been on it for months, it’s pretty much on auto-pilot. THE FEEDBACK? I passed my supervisor’s observation with flying colors! He told me during the post-observation conference, “I was impressed!” He further added that if he could see something like that happening in all the classes, he would be very happy. He also made a comment about Ben, that “I have him exactly where I want him.” And that was significant since in his other classes, he has a problem focusing on tasks, which my supervisor confirmed during my post-observation conference. Remember I told you it was also important that I did not switch activities, but just continued on with what I was doing when my supervisor came? I forgot to mention earlier, the tasks I did with that class were all written on the board, and that’s how my supervisor knew I didn’t change anything. He said, “Most of the time, when I come into a classroom, there’s a flurry of activities...everything changes.” (He laughs). So folks, my best advice on this is, set up a program early in the year. It takes patience and a lot of prep work initially, but it’s all worth it. Allelujiah! WHAT WORKED AND WHY? Ok, so you might ask, what was the trick? The big secret? The magic formula? Yes, there is a Secret! It’s a video I talked about in THE GAME PLAN. It’s a must-see video for anybody who seriously consider themselves “educators”. Yes, there is a magic formula – it’s all in the GAME PLAN! But no tricks! Everything I have for you here are just simple, proven strategies, and if you follow them because you love your students and you just want them to have the best you have to give – you will always have success. And much more, you will make such a difference in your students’ lives, it will stay with them for years to come. Ben, now a big-boned, very tall, almost-a-man student, would never fail to greet me as we pass each other in the corridors of the school. I know I’ve made a mark on his school life – and only because I asked him his ‘WHY’.
|
|||
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
More about HeddaTag Story:
|
||
Related
Articles:
|
||
- Latest Articles
- Embassy Corner
- Newsletter
- Most Read Articles
Useful Links
| Teaching Jobs in Thailand |
| More Job Opportunities |
| Living in Thailand |
| Budget Hotels Thailand |
Random Photos
|
|
|||
Copyright © 2001 - 2008 Filipinos in Thailand.
The Filipino Expats Community of Thailand.
Site Enhancements/Modifications by Jose Maria S. Tan
Site Enhancements/Modifications by Jose Maria S. Tan