♡ Teacher Life Q & A- Part 1 | My Career, First Steps, Student Teaching, Lesson Plans, and Classroom Management

Hi everyone welcome back! Today I am going to do a Q&A that I've been wanting for a while. I was hoping when I requested questions from you guys that I would get like a dozen or so questions. I got a lot of questions! I've decided to break these up. This post will be part one and the next will be a part two. The reason why I decided this so I can really take the time to answer the questions that you guys asked me. I will be answering eight questions. With that let's go on ahead and get started!


What do you include in your lesson plans and when do I usually do my lesson planning?

As far as what you have to put in your written lesson plans. You have to have your objective or your learning target. Then your strategy of how are you going to achieve your learning target. You have to have your assessment. How are you going to assess what you just taught the students? The assessments can be an exit slip, observation, and anecdotal records. Basically any kind of assessment. It's good to even be an informal assessment. Which is you're just watching the class and seeing how they react to the lesson. The last thing we have to put in there is the Common Core standard.  

As for when do I write my lesson plans. Sometimes I can get my lesson plans written when I'm in the classroom either on a prep period or in the morning before school actually begins. I like to go to work about an hour early so this way I have this extra time in my room to do whatever it is I need to do. But I will say the bulk of my lesson plan writing does get done at home it's just easier for me. I do them in the evening when I'm watching TV.  Also, even if I wanted to do long-term planning or if I really want to develop like a thematic unit for a week or two. I will even spend a Saturday or a Sunday sitting down and really focusing on how I'm going to tie all the subjects together.


How do I grade papers?

I have a variety of ways of grading papers. One of the good old-fashioned ways is just doing percentages. There were these many questions and you got that many wrong which is this percent so this is your grade.  Some assignments that don't really work that way. For example, on an exit slip that you're using for your quick assessment, you want to give the students to make sure they were paying attention. If you only have five questions one wrong is a B, two wrong is a D, three or more is an F. That's really harsh percentages. So what I would do is say that one wrong is a B, two wrong is to C three wrong is a D and then the rest would be an F. Make sure you adjust to meet the needs of you and your class. When it comes to entering the grades into the computer system, we do have to enter percentages.


What organizational systems do I have in the classroom to keep up with paperwork?

When it comes to all the paperwork, I will say grade as fast as you can. When you give a test and students start turning them in grade them immediately. So you can enter the grade and probably finish them all on that day. That is my biggest form of organization is just to get it done quickly. Then as far as the other paperwork goes writing RTI's for intervention students writing out your IEP stuff, writing out forms for interventions used with kids, and parent contact logs. My big strategy there is my planner and if I know that by this Friday I have to do this I will write it in my planner. If you don't have time to do the paperwork

 put it in your planner.

What kind of paperwork besides planning and grading do you take work home with you?

There's a lot of paperwork that is involved in teaching. If you have children who are struggling you have to write out what is called a referral for an intervention team meeting. These packets require a ton of information from the teacher and you have to record all their testing data so you have to fill out all those forms if you're referring a child for further interventions. If you have a behavior plan on a student you have to keep track of and to collect and store it in file folders. You have your form of testing you're doing you've got to store those tests and I then take all of the finished grades and put them on one sheet of paper in my pensive so this way I know what level all of my students are reading on.

Any tips for student teachers to help us have a successful experience?

For student teachers, my advice to you is one be prepared to work hard because not only are you student teaching to learn your own teaching skills but you want to view your student teaching as a time to network. You are meeting principals, you are potential co-workers, you are feeling out the district just as the district is feeling out you. I know a lot of schools require you to have more than one student teaching, there's your pre-student teaching and then your formal student teaching. Do that in two different school districts just so that you get your name out there. 

Next, arrive early and stay late. You want them to see you that you're there or you're available. If they're having an after-school program be prepared to stay at the after-school 

program. If they're having a curriculum meeting go to it. This is your opportunity to learn about every aspect of being a teacher not just what you have to do in the classroom. 

Also, the teacher in the classroom is your one-on-one resource. If you have questions ask that classroom teacher what to do or what would they do in your place. Also your lesson planning you're probably going to have a much more detailed lesson plan as a student 

teacher then you will as you know a permanent teacher. So for a student teacher an Erin Condren teacher planner probably would not work for you will need enough room in the boxes to write in all those extra details. I would actually recommend making like a template on a computer and using like font eight or nine where you can get in what manipulatives are going to be used what specific homework is going into this lesson plan. Make sure to be nice, be professional, dress appropriately, and work hard.

Could you give an overview of your classroom management system and do use a particular program?

We have in the district PBS which was called positive behavior support I loved that program. There were three general rules be safe, be responsible, and be respectful. Those three rules encompass a lot of behavior. For example, keeping your hands and feet to yourself as part of these safe. Completing and turning your homework on time as part of being responsible. Raising your hand and using a polite voice in class as part of being respectful. As long as you have those rules on your rule list you're covered for a lot of behaviors. That you're going to deal with in the course of the day. so that's my rules right there those for perfect. PBS is about bribery. If the kids are good for a week they get a treat. If the kids are good for a month they got a celebration party. I like being able to acknowledge that you were good this whole month. It's a very good and beneficial program and it works.

Is it expected that I will spend so much money on supplies and 

does my school provide anything?

 

My district does provide materials, furniture, and everything else. But during summer vacation, I like to monitor all the school supplies sales and I like to buy notebooks, folders with prongs, composition books, crayons, some markers, lots of pencil cap erasers, and pencils.  So when a student is out of something well I have a stash that I could now use. Also, if I want the whole class to have a blue folder for math so this way math papers go in this folder and not in another folder. I do spend a ton of money on my classroom but I want to provide my students with the best possible quality materials.

What inspired you to become a teacher?

I have to say when I was in 12th grade I had all my credits done already and I had two periods of like free time but I couldn't leave the building. So I really didn't want to take a study hall I talked to my counselor and said: "What can I do instead of study hall because I don't need it." So they had me go to a connected elementary and for one period I was volunteering in the kindergarten class and for the second period I was volunteering in the second grade classroom and I loved it!  The teachers would have me help them put up their bulletin boards and grade papers and putting stickers and stamps all over them which was fun! They would have me work one-on-one with the kids practicing their sight and spelling words and read to the children. By the end of 12th grade, I knew exactly what I was going to college for and what I was going to be with the rest of my life. I was going to be a teacher!

 My Advice:

If you're someone right now that you're in high school and you don't really know what to do or you don't know if you want to be a teacher volunteer.  Volunteer in a preschool or for assorted grade levels during summer vacation and see if working and being with children is something you really love and enjoy. It's very easy to figure out if you want to do this for a living.

Okay and with that, if you have any other questions you can ask them in the comments and I'll get to those in the next Q&A.

Thanks for reading,

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Distance Learning or Remote Teaching: Useful Tips for Making it Work

I want to provide tips for distance learning or eLearning especially as we find that at the present moment a majority of schools in the United States and other places around the world are closed. This is definitely something that we as teachers have not been prepared for and there's a big learning curve here. I think it's also important to say that no one person has all the answers. There's so much variation between different school districts and States and the number of digital resources that your school or district has access to. I think that's also why it took me a little longer to make this content even though some schools have already been doing e-learning or distance learning for over a month. At this point, it's just because I wanted to make sure I was adding meaning and helpful content. There's also no shortage of free resources at this point but we have to be intentional about it. Hopefully, you'll be intentional about today's tips. 

Maintaining motivation 

Now it can be difficult working at home alone. So it really important for you to reach out with other teachers and form a community so you can talk, solve problems, and share successes. With you doing this you won't have to be lonely. 

Free of distractions

Find a dedicated workspace that's free from distractions. Also, make sure during class contact hours that nothing behind you is making such noise. This is going to interfere with contacting your students. The number one most distraction for most people is their phones. Make sure the sound is turned off and it's out of sight so it's not interrupting you.  

  

Office Hours

Unlike a regular school, in which you might have office hours. Students are sometimes uncertain of when they should contact you. Of course, they can always leave an email and encourage them to do so. By the same token also check in on your students regularly reaching out to them just to make sure everything is okay and that their studies are progressing. If your students are struggling Zoom with your students, so they can ask questions about their work and then go finish it.

Give meaningful feedback

In an online class, it's extremely important to give meaningful feedback. In this feedback, you should always try to say something very positive to help encourage students. Of course, you can also go through and correct all the errors and problems that students have, but giving them a hopeful tone is important. In my own classes, I always pick one good thing that each student has done, and then I shared with all the rest of the students. This helps to create a sense of community among the learners and it shows even the least able student that they can do something right.

Online etiquette

In their online classes, students should be practicing good online etiquette. Which is treating others and the teacher with respect. It's important for students to understand these rules and one way to create them is to ask the students themselves. Ask students to write a list of what is and is not acceptable online. This also fits in with a general idea that runs throughout the idea of online teaching and that is to shift responsibility to the students. Make them more involved in the everyday decisions about their online education.

Set Expectations

In general, students can work on their homework at home. However, this does not mean that you simply say yes do your assignments for this work. You have to set up your expectations. What are they supposed to be doing, how should they be doing it, what should they be looking for, what skills should they be applying, so you have to start off by giving them a briefing on what is expected of them and then follow up. Once they've done the work to see again what questions and problems they've had but also for them to demonstrate what they've learned.

Goals and Paths

Building on those expectations that we mentioned earlier our goals and paths to get them there. Use your textbook to explain the tasks that students have to complete and the deadlines by which they need to complete them. To give students a sense of achievements set short medium and long term goals. Short term goals can be things like learning new vocabulary every day. Medium-term goals should be something like completing a project over the course of a week. A longer-term goal could be reading a new book.

Personalize assignments

You can improve students' motivation by personalizing your assignments and personalizing their goals. Make it a more student-centered online classroom in which you encourage students to conduct their own research on personal projects rather than having every single student do the same assignment so this helps avoid plagiarism.

Scheduling

The quick answer is that your schedule should mirror the hours that you normally have with the students in class as well as any homework expectations that you have of them. But you may divide up this a little bit, for example, it's probably unusual for you to talk for an hour in a class rather you're more likely to talk for maybe 5-10 minutes and you could videotape that and share that with the students. Then have them go off and do their work before they watch the next video about the next step of what you expect them. 

Deliver instruction in different ways

A big advantage of dividing your lectures or your talks into smaller segments is they're easier to share, but also it's easier for students to watch them and watch them again and again so they get a lot more exposure to the idea.


Grading: avoid being overwhelmed!

Grading can be a challenge don't be overwhelmed. There are a few things that 

you can do. First of all, here's a simple grading solution! If a student completes an assignment give them 2 points. If a student partially completes an assignment give them 1 point. If a student doesn't do the assignment give them 0 points. Another strategy is to only mark the first ten errors in any essay. Now for some students, this may all come in their first paragraph in others you make it through the entire essay. In this way, you're rationing your time and because students often make the same errors over and over again just correcting a few of them will probably give them guidance as to what else they should fix on their own.

Give regular open-ended questions

Another way to engage students is to give them regular open-ended questions. Maybe a question of the day or a question of the week that they're expected to discuss with other students. For example, you might say what job would you love to have and what job would you not like to have and why, so students have to think of individual jobs and compare them and then discuss them with each other. Get them into a process of putting together their ideas discussing them reflecting on what they hear.

Get your students reading!

Finally, get your students reading. It's the most important lifelong learning skill for continuing to improve their English. They'll improve their vocabulary, grammar, and critical thinking skills all at the same time. Also, look for resources that are available in your community perhaps from libraries or digitally online.

Thanks for reading,

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