I think this song is about as perfect as they come for this week.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Wake up and Pay Attention
Alright. I have given myself time to cool off so that this post would radiate possibility as opposed to negatively spiraling. This week, especially the first half of the week was less than stellar but it has been a learning experience. On Tuesday, I was told that my lesson was very "slow paced" which I felt as well and translates indefinitely into boring. I was not terribly concerned because I believed that it was only inexperience that had caused this. That is until Wednesday. On Wednesday morning my supervisor came to watch my lesson. I thought it went about the same as the day before but I never expected to change over night. My supervisor and I had a talk and he was even less impressed. He did not see all that much preparation or potential in my lesson and told me that it was time for a wake up call. We also talked with my CT and the assistant in the department. Although they were less critical, they did believe that I still needed a lot of work. I spent Wednesday contemplating whether I should even become a teacher. I really questioned if I was right for the profession or if I should leave student teaching and focus on performing instead. I then decided that I needed to focus my efforts and attempt to salvage my teaching career. I realized that I was preparing the way I did for conducting for teaching parts on a piece. That was ineffective so I altered my strategy and found that I made great improvements by the end of the week. My pacing was faster and my lessons more effective. The students really learned something and I rediscovered a better way to prepare. I am still not ready to teach on my own but I believe I am much closer to where I should be at this point in student teaching. It was an eye opening and terrifying experience but I feel better about not letting it crushing my spirit. I hope that I will never have to experience a conversation like that one again and I will do my best to make sure it is not for lack of effort if I do.
I think this song is about as perfect as they come for this week.
I think this song is about as perfect as they come for this week.
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I appreciate your transparency in writing this post. Know that we ALL have been there. I am so happy to hear that you are pushing yourself to improve and as part of your development, you are listening to the feedback your CT and supervisor are offering. Love your theme song for the week!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're hearing these things and the you are able to take some time and spin them in a positive direction. We talked about this in person the other day, but I just want to say it again. I think once you have your own classroom and your own time to teach the kids, you will be able to show them the side of you that you really want to.
ReplyDeleteMany times when I ask my CT for feedback he always says that I am doing well, but he can see that I am a little bit uncomfortable because I am teaching a lesson that I may have only seen given once and that I did not have a part in designing. He always says that he knows I will do better when I am full time teaching. I will believe in the strategies I have come up with and I will be able to take my own direction when I feel something is going a new way and that I'd like to take the lesson that way.
I think this will be the same for you. Once you are in the room as Mr. Wilson and you are the full time teacher, the students will respond better because you will be more invested in the lesson as well.