I don't know about you, but I find myself overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge I need to acquire in order to be just a decent teacher--forget about a great one! Take Direct Instruction. There is SO much to absorb in this one area and it is just one small piece of a huge knowledge base needed to operate effectively in the classroom. So now I have a new worry to add to all my others, which brings me to my...
WORRIES OF THE WEEK!
I am a chronic worrier. I admit it! If there were a Worriers Anonymous, I'd be right up at the front of the room announcing, "My name is Kerry and I am a worrier"! I have found that it sometimes helps to voice or write one's worries in an effort to bring them into a more manageable perspective. So, here are my weekly worries, not to be confused with last week's or next week's, or the week after...
I worry about what I'll remember and what I'll forget when I'm actually teaching...and I worry, even more, about compromising myself, and my students, in the face of time constraints, testing, and enforced methods of teaching-especially in areas like math and ELA. How much will I actually get to use what I've been taught, what I believe to be best? How do I attend to my students who are racing ahead as well as those who are lagging behind? How do I do this job well without doing it 24/7?
Okay, I'm done! Now, how to change the perspective, and make it more positive...I can comfort myself with the belief that even if I am compromised by forces beyond my control, I will find the time, whether 2, or 10, or 20 minutes a day, to do my thing to reach my students, on something! I can hope and assume that once I have a firm grasp on the curriculum, hopefully by my 2nd year of teaching, I will be able to integrate more creativity into my lessons. I figure I will learn, probably the hard way, that I cannot let this, or any job, overtake my life, and I will hold on to the fact that I survived Methods and Teaching with Technology and therefore, there is nothing I can't do!
For those of you that didn't get a chance to visit the workshops on the home page of the webct, I highly recommend the Colorado State Teaching Guide which you can find on the WebCt workshop screen under Lesson Plans Design Guide or by clinking on this link:
This is bookmark worthy! It's an informative, easy to read guide with lots of great ideas about lesson planning. As ELA is my favorite content area, I especially liked Write to Learn (WTL) which is a great learning and assessment tool that can be used across the curriculum in a variety of different way. Take a look!
To begin a lesson
To jumpstart a discussion
To complete a portfolio
To check for understanding
To generate ideas for papers
To re-focus a discussion
To jumpstart a discussion
To complete a portfolio
To check for understanding
To generate ideas for papers
To re-focus a discussion
The following was sent to me, via email, from a close friend who is also a first grade teacher. I loved it and think you will, also!
1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.
2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.
3. You walk into a store and hear the words "It's Ms/Mr. _________" and know you have been spotted.
4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you mom/dad at one time or another.
4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you mom/dad at one time or another.
5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes.
6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and special period.
7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.
8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.
7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.
8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.
9. You want to slap the next person who says "Must be nice to work 7:15 to 3:15 and have summers off".
10. You believe chocolate is a food group.
11. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.
12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."
13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public.
14. You believe in aerial spraying of Ritalin.
15. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.
16. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own children.
17. You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least one thing!
18. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a "good choice or a bad choice."
18. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a "good choice or a bad choice."
19. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils.
20. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer and finally...
21. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents!
21. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents!
Until next time...
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