The thought process of TFA is as follows: Teach very basic info,
throw teachers into the classroom, then help them learn from mistakes, and then
give more tools! It's definitely a lesson learned and I truly appreciate the
way they do it as well. We learned literally how to lesson plan and create a
goal prior to our first day of teaching. Materials we learned through out
sessions in Institute seemed to build up on each other. With every
new thing everything started to connect; think of it as if you were handing me
puzzle pieces and I was getting enough to finally start to see the big
picture.
My CMA (supervisor) Alex is truly an incredible person if you ever
have the chance to meet him... He teaches in New Orleans and I believe he is
transformational! Alex provided us with a notebook on the first week to write
stories, take notes, have students write in it, or journal about good things my
students did. I used it for all the above and even did reflections on journals
that people wrote. I am going to type up a few of the day's reflections on here
for you to see my thoughts...
DAY 1 Reflection
The hands system works awesome (finger system if a student needs
to use restroom, sharpen pencil, ask question, etc)! I never would have thought
but it is true, kids love cheesy things! I feel like the BMS (Behavioral
Management System) is stupid - well maybe just unnatural.. I need to try
narrating maybe it will help. My students are fantastic though! Very smart and
Polite! Overall today went well. I need to figure out why my boys take so long
to test take...
That was it. At this point I was teaching 7th grade life science;
I was overwhelmed, and I was excited. I was all ready problem solving how to
make these more effective students. It was definitely an overemotional day and
was even better when we arrived back to GA Tech to a group of TFA members
congratulating us on our first day of teaching! The energy from them really fed
into the fire and excitement for the next day.
Day 2 was definitely more student focused on their futures and
their goals.
DAY 2 Reflection
Today was amazing! All
the kids were involved in our diffusion and gummy lab! I had 2 female students
reach their orange rank today J One wants to be a teacher and I
think she will definitely get there! DC (names initialed/changed) is so smart
and she understands all the concepts really well! She wants to be a nurse, and
I hope I can guide her to that path. I’m struggling to reach out to KS and AC.
Tomorrow I’ll make sure to find a way to give them smileys. I also want to help
DM become more refined. She is a great student, very smart, but can be too
dramatic. If she channeled differently, she would do even more amazing! I’m
going to do my best to get ahead in my lesson plans AND study for the GACE. I
asked the students what college they want to go to, and I will use this as
motivation too. I want to print the logos and tape them to the desks so it
serves as a daily reminder to them.
KD asked me after
class if I was going home – I responded no, that I was going to work on the
lesson plan for the next day. He responded cool. It was a super simple
conversation but completely amazing considering KD was one student I was
worried about in regards to being invested in class. I was super excited...
Things
began to make sense as the week went on with more growth, learning from
mistakes, and trying new things. The following week was a drastic change, one I
would never have imagined. Due to lack of students and too many teachers,
classes were combined. Monday I started with a brand new group of students teaching
6th grade science. My class size grew from 8 to 16! It was a huge
difference in the level of understanding and maturity too. I decided, earth
science being my specialty that I would start the first day with a bang. I
planned a sedimentary lab using playdoh.
DAY 6 Reflection
Today is definitely a
new beginning! Started 6th grade Earth Science with 13 new kids and
I taught them sedimentary rock. We did a lab where they had the opportunity to
create the “rocks” with playdoh, rock bits, and sand. Overall it was awesome! I
was worried I had the bad kids, the bullies, the rebels (gossip travels around
teachers)…. I talked to some students at lunch and they just don’t like
science, but of course math is easy for them! Well, they were awesome for me. I
believe I got them invested and did not have a problem because of it. Alex
overheard “science is going to be awesome” and I overheard “she is a cool
science teacher” J
I am so pumped! I am going to work on my key point connection, giving
instructions, and keeping engagement with fun materials.
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