Domain 4: Rights and Responsibilities
9:30 a.m.
There is one particular child in my class that frequently has behavior problems. Although he is very bright, he often throws fits, talks out of turn, and acts much younger than the other students in his class. His behavior is very unusual and the other children in his class often notice it. When talking to my cooperating teacher, she mentioned to me that they had had several case conferences for this child, but were unable to have any sort of conclusions because she had not had enough documentation. Also, because she takes care of behavior issues herself rather than sending children to the principal. When he was observed by another school personnel, it was only for half an hour and the child was aware of being observed. Because I have seen this behavior and I am spending a majority of my time observing this week, I offered to keep an anecdotal record of him over the next week. I have been documenting when he pays attention and when he doesn't, his outbursts, talking out of turn, being on task and off task, and really any other behavior.
I think this is an important aspect of teaching, while obviously I cannot keep detailed records of each of my students, I must learn to document unusual behavior or really any behavior that can be useful in better teaching my students. While I understand why schools cannot just place students under certain classifications without proof or testing, there is a lot required of teachers to help students who may desperately need it. I also think this will be helpful in my future planning for N, because I will hopefully be more aware of his behavior patterns and know how he responds best.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Student Teaching: A New Adventure Begins
Domain VII: Communication
7:25 a.m.- 3:35 p.m.
I am beginning a new adventure in my teaching journey, student teaching. Today was my first day in Mrs. Brown’s 3rd Grade class at Lafayette Park Elementary. We communicated throughout the school day about the coming semester. After school we met for about a half hour to talk about expectations for the semester. In speaking, Mrs. Brown made it clear that she thinks that I will do a great job and she doesn’t think the things she wanted to discuss will be a problem. She told me that she expects me to keep up with grading, always have lesson plans prepared, and to keep the kids as involved and active as possible. These are all things that I already plan to do, but it was good to discuss these matters with her. Also, I was able to tell her what I felt like some of my weaknesses are and she reminded me that I am a student teacher and it is ok for me to still be learning those things. She reassured me that she would be there if I needed any help with anything. Also, she teaches a class on classroom management, and considers that to be one of her strengths, which I think will be helpful to me.
I think this was significant because I am going to need to learn to communicate a lot with my teacher throughout the semester. She knows her students, and she is an experienced teacher. I have to remember that she is one of the best resources I have. I think it was good that she was able to clearly set up what she expects of me, even on the very first day. I hope that this will keep things out in the open and that we will be able to continue to communicate clearly. I am looking forward to learning from her and from my own experiences. I am excited to see what the semester holds after the experiences I had today.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
7th Tutoring Session
This was my final tutoring session with E. I wish that I could have more. I am finally beginning to have the relationship I need with her to truly start getting somewhere in my tutoring. Today she again seemed happy to see me and practically dragged me to "our" place.
One of the things I had decided to work on today was following and giving directions. E. hears directions all the time, and although this may seem simple, I realized it may not always be easy. This is one area I always attempt to work with by being clear in tutoring sessions, so I came up with an exercise to try with E. I brought a blow up penguin toy (random, I know) with me to tutoring. We blew it up. Then I told her we are going to play a game. In this game, I will tell you an instruction like, "Put the penguin on top of your head." Then you will do it. We'll see how many you can get right. I gave E. a series of different activities including putting the penguin in the corner, throwing the penguin, kicking the penguin, punching the penguin, hugging the penguin, dancing with penguin, jumping over the penguin, and many others. Some of these included actions and some of them basic directional words like above or on top of. She found this game to be rather hilarious and once we got going enjoyed it. Then, I told her that it was my turn and she would give me the directions. This was a little harder for her, but she still got many of them right. She found it rather hilarious to watch me follow her crazy instructions. I fell on penguins and jumped with penguins and danced with them, all of them equally funny to a five year old.
The next part of the session I had decided that we were going to do an activity with making letters out of pipe cleaners. At first, E said no. She was digging through my bag and found that I had brought candy for her since it was the last day. She said to me, "I won't play until you give me the candy." I told her that she had to play first, then if she was good she could have some. She waited for a few minutes glaring at me in hopes that I would give in to her demands. I did not. After a minute or two I got the pipe cleaners out and began sculpting letters out of them to spell E.'s name. Soon she was joining me and helped make most of the letters herself. Then she said she wanted to make her brother's name. So I asked her, "hmm, which letters can we keep and use toe spell his name too?" She then picked out the appropriate letters. Then we used some of those letters and I showed her how my first name had the same sound as her brother's first name in one part. She seemed to get it and followed how I moved the letters. We practiced moving our pipe cleaner letters around.
Although it was only a brief moment of our time, one of the areas I learned from today was the small outburst with E. when she told me she wouldn't play until I gave her what she wanted. Although at first she denied my requests, by simply telling her no and then moving on, she eventually obeyed. I think this may be related to her view of authority. As Lisa Delpit points out in her book, Other People's Children, many cultures view parents and adults with an authoritarian view. When students come to a classroom where teachers are indirect and passive, they don't feel as comfortable. Children need structure. Even though I sometimes let E. choose things, even activities, I know that there are times that call for direct words that help her know exactly what to do. She expects direction and authority to come from her teachers. Even with students that aren't from a different culture it is important that I as a future educator, have clear expectations and allow students to see me with respect. Students will generally like teachers they respect, and that respect must be earned. Teacher often are caught in a tug of war between being an authority figure or a friend. However, respect is not earned in either of those ways singularly. It is earned through authority AND relationship, in a beautiful balance.
One of the things I had decided to work on today was following and giving directions. E. hears directions all the time, and although this may seem simple, I realized it may not always be easy. This is one area I always attempt to work with by being clear in tutoring sessions, so I came up with an exercise to try with E. I brought a blow up penguin toy (random, I know) with me to tutoring. We blew it up. Then I told her we are going to play a game. In this game, I will tell you an instruction like, "Put the penguin on top of your head." Then you will do it. We'll see how many you can get right. I gave E. a series of different activities including putting the penguin in the corner, throwing the penguin, kicking the penguin, punching the penguin, hugging the penguin, dancing with penguin, jumping over the penguin, and many others. Some of these included actions and some of them basic directional words like above or on top of. She found this game to be rather hilarious and once we got going enjoyed it. Then, I told her that it was my turn and she would give me the directions. This was a little harder for her, but she still got many of them right. She found it rather hilarious to watch me follow her crazy instructions. I fell on penguins and jumped with penguins and danced with them, all of them equally funny to a five year old.
The next part of the session I had decided that we were going to do an activity with making letters out of pipe cleaners. At first, E said no. She was digging through my bag and found that I had brought candy for her since it was the last day. She said to me, "I won't play until you give me the candy." I told her that she had to play first, then if she was good she could have some. She waited for a few minutes glaring at me in hopes that I would give in to her demands. I did not. After a minute or two I got the pipe cleaners out and began sculpting letters out of them to spell E.'s name. Soon she was joining me and helped make most of the letters herself. Then she said she wanted to make her brother's name. So I asked her, "hmm, which letters can we keep and use toe spell his name too?" She then picked out the appropriate letters. Then we used some of those letters and I showed her how my first name had the same sound as her brother's first name in one part. She seemed to get it and followed how I moved the letters. We practiced moving our pipe cleaner letters around.
Although it was only a brief moment of our time, one of the areas I learned from today was the small outburst with E. when she told me she wouldn't play until I gave her what she wanted. Although at first she denied my requests, by simply telling her no and then moving on, she eventually obeyed. I think this may be related to her view of authority. As Lisa Delpit points out in her book, Other People's Children, many cultures view parents and adults with an authoritarian view. When students come to a classroom where teachers are indirect and passive, they don't feel as comfortable. Children need structure. Even though I sometimes let E. choose things, even activities, I know that there are times that call for direct words that help her know exactly what to do. She expects direction and authority to come from her teachers. Even with students that aren't from a different culture it is important that I as a future educator, have clear expectations and allow students to see me with respect. Students will generally like teachers they respect, and that respect must be earned. Teacher often are caught in a tug of war between being an authority figure or a friend. However, respect is not earned in either of those ways singularly. It is earned through authority AND relationship, in a beautiful balance.
6th Tutoring Session
Today with E. was even better than last time. I went to E's family's restaurant this weekend and saw her there. She didn't talk to me very much while there, but when I came to school today she ran up to me and hugged me. She then proudly told her teacher that I had come to the restaurant. I smiled and she said she wanted to go with me. We went back to the same location as before since that room seemed to work much better than the small room I had originally been taking her too. This room has nothing but the floor some windows and a small bench. For the first few minutes I asked E. about what she had done that day and asked her questions about things. After a while, she wanted to do something else. We looked at the pictures in a book for a little together, but she quickly loses interest in books. I had also brought along a large deck of cards. these cards are probably about 5 by 3 playing cards. I told E. that I would teacher her a game. I taught her how to play war. Each time we laid a card, we both said the number that we laid. Then, E. would decide which one was bigger, if she wasn't sure she was able to count the number of items on the card. I encouraged her to use words like less, more, and same. As we played she became more confident and more talkative. Although generally I have focused more on speaking and language skills, this was an opportunity to also incorporate some math skills with using a math language. Overall, she really seemed to enjoy the game and the time passed quickly.
I believe that this tutoring sessions simply continues to reiterate what Lisa Delpit has been saying in her book. Teaching children from other cultures is all about building relationships and attempting to understand them. E. loves games so this is a great approach to use with her. Also, in teaching her what words you use to describe the concepts of less and more in numbers provides specific skills as well as language. One thing I've realized this semester is that sometimes the things we plan don't always work. So, I always take along a whole "bag of tricks". I had planned on reading because I had picked out some books that would interest her in relation to monkeys her favorite animal. However, when this didn't work I knew I had to try something else. My original plan was not war, but I wanted to do something simple, so I started with it. Frequently, I think of educational games and using those to teach things. However, sometimes we don't realize the simple skills that can be acquired from games like war. For someone who is so young, learning a new language in a new culture, this practices many skills. Even for other young students this still requires the background knowledge of understanding which number is bigger. I can't remember the last time I played war. Never underestimate the power of simple childhood games.
I believe that this tutoring sessions simply continues to reiterate what Lisa Delpit has been saying in her book. Teaching children from other cultures is all about building relationships and attempting to understand them. E. loves games so this is a great approach to use with her. Also, in teaching her what words you use to describe the concepts of less and more in numbers provides specific skills as well as language. One thing I've realized this semester is that sometimes the things we plan don't always work. So, I always take along a whole "bag of tricks". I had planned on reading because I had picked out some books that would interest her in relation to monkeys her favorite animal. However, when this didn't work I knew I had to try something else. My original plan was not war, but I wanted to do something simple, so I started with it. Frequently, I think of educational games and using those to teach things. However, sometimes we don't realize the simple skills that can be acquired from games like war. For someone who is so young, learning a new language in a new culture, this practices many skills. Even for other young students this still requires the background knowledge of understanding which number is bigger. I can't remember the last time I played war. Never underestimate the power of simple childhood games.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
5th Tutoring Session
My fifth tutoring session today with E. was much better than last week. As I went to the school, I was feeling apprehensive and just hoping that she would be in a better mood and would want to work with me. At first she did not make eye contact with me when I entered the classroom. However, I simply asked her if I could sit beside her while she ate her snack, and she agreed. Soon, she leaned over to me and said, "I want to go with you." So we left and sat in a foyer. Here, we began by coloring pictures and as we colored the pictures we each took turns telling a story about the character in the picture. As we colored, we also discussed what colors we were using and what colors we liked best. Next, we drew pictures of flower bouquets and used stickers. We made one for each of E.'s family members. As we worked we talked about her family, and E. talked about their restaurant. E. talked a lot and seemed much more comfortable with me.
In my reading of Other People's Children, I have continued to explore the idea of what the relationship between teacher and student should look like. Lisa Delpit says that the relationship should be primarily between the teacher and student, and secondly the relationship between the teacher and the content. This is illustrated in my relationship and experience with E. When dealing with students of a different culture, it is vitally important that the relationship be built before the teacher tries to teach the child.
I also had the opportunity to visit E.'s family's restaurant this weekend. When at the restaurant E. acted somewhat shy and would not look at me. However, as I sat there for a longer period of time, she and her brother came out and were cautiously looking at my friends and I. I then went over and talked to her and her brother and she smiled shyly at me. This is a small thing, but the little things are what builds that relationship. As time goes on, I hope to continue to build our relationship so that she feels more comfortable just talking with me. I believe that as E. learns to talk and share of herself freely, then she will truly be able to learn the things she needs to know.
In my reading of Other People's Children, I have continued to explore the idea of what the relationship between teacher and student should look like. Lisa Delpit says that the relationship should be primarily between the teacher and student, and secondly the relationship between the teacher and the content. This is illustrated in my relationship and experience with E. When dealing with students of a different culture, it is vitally important that the relationship be built before the teacher tries to teach the child.
I also had the opportunity to visit E.'s family's restaurant this weekend. When at the restaurant E. acted somewhat shy and would not look at me. However, as I sat there for a longer period of time, she and her brother came out and were cautiously looking at my friends and I. I then went over and talked to her and her brother and she smiled shyly at me. This is a small thing, but the little things are what builds that relationship. As time goes on, I hope to continue to build our relationship so that she feels more comfortable just talking with me. I believe that as E. learns to talk and share of herself freely, then she will truly be able to learn the things she needs to know.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
4th tutoring session-- Maybe next time
Maybe next time. This is the hope that I am currently hanging on to. My experience with E. on this day was not very profitable. On this particular Friday, I entered the room and smiled at E, just as I usually do. As I went to go and talk to her, she continually scooted her chair away from me and became very angry. She growled, shook her head and just said "No." To be honest, my heart sank a little bit. I know that for her it is nothing personal against me, but I have never had a child react in this way towards me. I made sure I didn't get too close to her and tried talking to her but she refused to communicate. Eventually, because of her temper and anger being to high, the teacher asked her if she wanted to sit by herself for a little bit. I tried hard not to force it, and simply went on as if nothing was wrong. I helped the teacher walk around the class and talked to all the students including E, however, she would hardly look at me. The teacher explained to me that it had been a somewhat rough week for E. and sometimes she just gets like this. I spent the rest of my hour trying to interact with all the children and E, so she wouldn't feel singled out. I even went outside and played at recess with all of them.
All in all, I don't know what to think about this experience. I'm unsure if next week will be any better. What do I do if she will not come with me? What will I do in the future if students simply are so angry that they will not communicate? I feel somewhat surprised by this because despite some minor things, I felt we had a good connection. I felt no hostility from her. There were times when she didn't want to listen, but nothing like this. This is not something that can be quickly fixed. One thing I must remember, is that when I am a future teacher trying to help children in my classroom, I will be able to establish a firm community and have a deeper relationship with the children before I would begin to help them with something like this. This has made me realize that at such a young age, an experience like tutoring can be traumatic for some children, especially if they don't like being singled out. So although there is not much I can do, my only resolve is to keep trying and to show E. that she can trust me. Perhaps there is some way we could incorporate a classmate or do some tutoring in the classroom? There must be a way to reach this girl beyond her anger, because I have seen the sweet child inside.
All in all, I don't know what to think about this experience. I'm unsure if next week will be any better. What do I do if she will not come with me? What will I do in the future if students simply are so angry that they will not communicate? I feel somewhat surprised by this because despite some minor things, I felt we had a good connection. I felt no hostility from her. There were times when she didn't want to listen, but nothing like this. This is not something that can be quickly fixed. One thing I must remember, is that when I am a future teacher trying to help children in my classroom, I will be able to establish a firm community and have a deeper relationship with the children before I would begin to help them with something like this. This has made me realize that at such a young age, an experience like tutoring can be traumatic for some children, especially if they don't like being singled out. So although there is not much I can do, my only resolve is to keep trying and to show E. that she can trust me. Perhaps there is some way we could incorporate a classmate or do some tutoring in the classroom? There must be a way to reach this girl beyond her anger, because I have seen the sweet child inside.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
3rd Tutoring Session
These past few weeks I have realized that there are far deeper differences between cultures than what I expected. I've always been intrigued by other cultures and known that there were differences, through reading Other People's Children I have begun to look at the cultural differences that lay beneath the surface. We see that adults deal with children differently, however, how often do we begin to see it is because our culture decontextualizes instead of viewing things as a whole. We simply see the surface level and say that the issue is simply in how they act with children. We must begin to ask, "why?" What is the reasoning behind the actions? We must do the same thing with our students, we must view them as a whole person. This includes trying to understand their culture. I have been doing some research on Chinese culture, especially that of children in school. I have found that in the Chinese schools learning is very structured and also a collective process. For E. to be singled out is somewhat of a challenge for her. This week I asked her a little bit how she felt about leaving class, because when I first arrived at school she hid from me under the table. She was giggling and said she was just being silly, but I think perhaps she maybe trying to avoid leaving.
However, this tutoring session did go slightly smoother than the last. I tried to work on having fun with E., and at the same time establishing the fact that I am an authority. This week I tried to use a powerpoint I found with pictures that you can talk about. E. enjoyed this for a little while, but then she got sick of it and wanted to do something different. It continued like this for most of the session. It seems that she gets tired of things really quickly and wants to switch. I noticed that this usually happened whenever she got frustrated. If I asked her questions about something she generally would just say "No, No." Perhaps next time, I should try something that she could better succeed with. It is difficult to know what things are at her ability level.
I also tried having E. be the teacher. I asked her to tell me about some thing in English and try to tell me about it in Chinese. This seemed to work well for a few minutes, but once again, when it got hard she got frustrated. However, she did enjoy feeling as if she had some control.
She really likes animals and playing games. I must find a way to allow her to be the expert in what we are doing. Even when we are just talking, she often doesn't want to talk much. It is hard to figure out how to capture her attention. I would like to try reading a book to her, but I must find one that will engage her for the time being. E. also moves around a lot, so perhaps a kinesthetic activity would be helpful. I must find a way for these things to be important to her and not just a game that we play. My question is how can I help E construct her own meaning from the things we do?
However, this tutoring session did go slightly smoother than the last. I tried to work on having fun with E., and at the same time establishing the fact that I am an authority. This week I tried to use a powerpoint I found with pictures that you can talk about. E. enjoyed this for a little while, but then she got sick of it and wanted to do something different. It continued like this for most of the session. It seems that she gets tired of things really quickly and wants to switch. I noticed that this usually happened whenever she got frustrated. If I asked her questions about something she generally would just say "No, No." Perhaps next time, I should try something that she could better succeed with. It is difficult to know what things are at her ability level.
I also tried having E. be the teacher. I asked her to tell me about some thing in English and try to tell me about it in Chinese. This seemed to work well for a few minutes, but once again, when it got hard she got frustrated. However, she did enjoy feeling as if she had some control.
She really likes animals and playing games. I must find a way to allow her to be the expert in what we are doing. Even when we are just talking, she often doesn't want to talk much. It is hard to figure out how to capture her attention. I would like to try reading a book to her, but I must find one that will engage her for the time being. E. also moves around a lot, so perhaps a kinesthetic activity would be helpful. I must find a way for these things to be important to her and not just a game that we play. My question is how can I help E construct her own meaning from the things we do?
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