Advice to new graduates that will be entering the teaching profession - Guest Post
I believe this advice to be very useful. Most of the advice, the blogger gives is advice we've heard before (making connections in the building with other faculty and personnel, looking for opportunities to get things for free rather than paying for them) unless they are things that are pretty obvious anyhow.
The article tells us to make connections with people in the building, but also, less obviously to make and use whatever connections we can outside the building as well. I thought this a very good bit of advice. In the beginning of my student-teaching experience, I was invited the first week to the "international/multicultural language night" hosted by the Foreign Language Department. Because of my connections, I was able to ask my friend (who owns an Italian restaurant) to donate food for the event. When I showed up to the event with four trays of pasta and sauces and garlic bread, the department was impressed that I was able to get such a donation (needless to mention the "brownie points" the gesture earned me). The food cost me nothing, and was donated simply as a favor by a friend.
Another tidbit in the article that I found to be something useful that I have put into practice is networking within a professional society. As a member of NYSABE (New York State Association of Bilingual Educators) as well as having friends in the field as well is a great resource for creative lesson ideas, pedagogical suggestions, even a sounding board for concerns.
The article also tells us to have back-up plans for all lessons; especially lo-tech back-up plans in case of technological failures. During my student-teaching experience, there was an electrical black-out one day, and when the computers and lights cut off, I panicked...until I realized that everything on my USB drive was backed up onto an extra SD card I keep in my bag. I was able to access my lesson plans (which I have saved on my USB drive) on the SD card using my smartphone, and was able to continue the lessons on the whiteboard. As a person who is not overly impressed with SmartBoard technology, none of my lessons rely on it. Additionally, when writing my lessons, I always keep in mind that day of the blackout, to remind me that my lesson must allow for a contingency plan.
I would add that as a new teacher, we should always remain flexible in terms of our timetable for lessons, as well as the actual lessons themselves. I taught a lesson once this semester on the past tenses in Spanish. One of my lessons was centered around a song that uses both the imperfect (past progressive) and preterite (proximal past) tenses. I was excited to teach the lesson because the song was one of my personal favorites, but when I began the lesson, I saw immediately that not only did no one like the song, but hardly anyone understood the lyrics, and few students had not understood the use of the two tenses. Instead of go ahead and teach the lesson anyway, I had to abandon that lesson; though, in my mind while writing up the lesson, I thought it would've been my best lesson. The lesson I took from the experience is that what we want, and our goals, expectations, sometimes a few of our plans will have to go out the window if they do not best serve the students.
I intern at Merrick Avenue Middle School and they recently held a fundraising event for the Lustgarten foundation. The guidance counselor asked Merrick Avenue staff to volunteer to shave their heads in order to raise money for this charitable cause. I was approached by the guidance counselor and was asked to participate. I obviously said yes because it was for a great cause. Not only that, I felt a sense of community in taking part in this event. The other volunteers and I had our heads shaved on the auditorium stage and News 12 even showed up for a portion of the event.
ReplyDeleteTeaching is more than just a classroom. The school is an entire community in itself. Obviously, we are all looking for a job as a teacher. However, we cannot forget that when we do land that job, that there are so many other opportunities that the school has to offer. We can be the leaders of extracurricular clubs and organizations, we can be excellent coaches, we can attend school concerts and talent shows to show support for our school. There are a multitude of different activities that make up a school and this is what makes a job in education so great. There aren’t many professions where you can take part in so many different things. Also, there aren’t many professions where we can truly impact a child’s life in a positive, significant way as we can in education. We have the power to impact our students in the classroom, in the hallway, on the ball field, and elsewhere.
I totally agree with you guys. That's why I think twice about the way in which I not only talk to my students but I also try to make it a point to explain to them the "why" behind my requests. I recently had a two girls in my class get into a verbal altercation that didn't turn into a physical one because I was able to get security and the dean involved just in time. The following day I made it point to explain to the class how there behavior even though they weren't directly involved in the situation was important. I also made it a point to explain to them that even though my job is to teach them Spanish, it's equally important to me keep each and everyone of them safe. I think that many times teachers forget to the time to explain to students why we need them to behave a certain way.For example when we are reprimanding them we demand for them to look at us when we are talking to them, however, we are making them feel bad for misbehaving and they may actually feel ashamed and they don't want to look you in the eye, they just want to move on from the situation because it's uncomfortable. We need to keep in mind that our students are humans just like we are and they may not know or even remember the proper behavior that we expect. Maybe if we take the time to show it's meaning they will actually do what we want them too.
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