I certainly intended to chronicle my adventures in TFA's Summer Institute better, but they really leave very little time for such pursuits. I've basically been eating, drinking, breathing teacher trainings -- and for the last three days -- teacher being. It's been overwhelming but exciting, draining but energizing. I hardly know where to start.
So I'll start with the kids. For the last three days I have been Mr. McKee, teaching one lesson per day (45 minutes) to a smallish (16 kids) class of 3rd graders. These students are in summer school due to failing to pass the ISAT (Illinois State Assessment Test -- or something like that) and potentially due to failure to show up to school. The students range wildly and in unpredictable ways in personality, knowledge and skills, from McNulty*, entirely illiterate but with a heart of gold, to Rhonda, who looks like she's 14 and HATES me.
I won't say that the first few days with the kids went exactly as I'd hoped or expected they might go. Apparently my charm and brilliance aren't quite enough to woo them into docility.
After the Monday (Day 1) I was seriously worried about my ability to do much of anything to maintain control of the room. After just 10 or 15 minutes of instruction kids were talking, yelling and moving around in a flurry of uncontrolled chaos. I didn't entirely lose my head, but I came dangerously close and quasi-barked at a table of students that (I thought) was particularly flagrant in their disregard for my authority. Looking back, I probably could have chosen any of them, though. That table was probably just the closest one.
Tuesday was marginally better. I felt like I at least got some of my points across, though behavior was still decidedly terrible. My Faculty Advisor, Ms. W, who sits patiently in the back of the class while our pathetic crew of entitled wannabe teachers has our keesters handed to us, offered some words of consolation and advice. Despite what was probably actually a worse class, however, I somehow felt better than the night before ... probably because my standards and expectations had been drastically reigned in.
Today felt better than yesterday, too. Not good, of course. Not by a long shot. But I could feel certain things really working -- things that I had, in my hubris, felt were lame and unnecessary. Of course, after two days of third graders taking bats to my ego, I was ready to try anything. So I went in with the plan to use behavior narration and to be exceedingly firm with regards to the rules and consequences. Behavior narration, for those not privileged enough to use or hear it regularly, is a pretty obnoxious teacher tool in which the instructor actually narrates what they see students doing, pointing out positive and negative behavior (ideally in a 4:1 ratio). It goes something like this:
I see Bubbles working silently at his desk. I appreciate that Lt. Daniels is doing the assignment and keeping his hands to himself like I asked. Kima and Bunk Moreland are doing a wonderful job of following me with their eyes to let me know that they are ready to learn.
Gag me, right? But this steaming load of hooha actually seems to work -- particularly with the young ones, I'm told. May have lots of behavior narration in my future. So my friends and family will just have to forgive me in the event that, in the middle of dinner out, I start saying things like, "I see that Nathan is ready to order because he has put his menu down like I asked. Kevin is doing a very good job of not eating dairy products. Thank you, Kevin. I like the way Laura and Jessie and Simon are chewing with their mouths closed."
Anyway, it's late and I'm tired, but tonight was the first night in quite some time that I've been able to finish with work before 12:30, so I thought I'd better seize the moment and update while the thoughts and frustrations are fresh. Tomorrow is a new day, and the children WILL learn expanded notation come hell or high water.
*To protect the innocent (though after three days with them, I'm prepared to say that "innocent" may be the wrong word), names have been changed in any mentionings of specific children.
No comments:
Post a Comment