♡ 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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How to Deal With Diffcult Parents

There are times when you will need to talk to parents about your academic concerns regarding their child. It's important to understand how to approach and work with parents so that you can ensure a successful outcome for all involved. 

When speaking to parents, teachers must realize that they are talking about a parent's pride and joy. Do not attack their child. Instead, communicate politely about the areas of concern. At the same time, focus on the child's positive attributes so that it does not seem like you are talking down on the child, but instead addressing concerns while giving positive feedback. Teachers need to work with parents as a team. It should not be one-sided. By working together, both sides can do their part in helping the child, and come up with ideas, strategies, and plans to implement in hopes of narrowing the concerns and enabling an environment where the child can reach their full potential.

If you are a teacher, then you must have noticed how parents can be at times. They get really frustrating, and there's no doubt that you may end up losing your temper. However, every teacher must know the ethics of working with parents. Most parents develop a certain level of animosity towards a teacher because of the way she acts with them. You wouldn't want that because you both should be working for the sake of your students. Therefore it is important that a teacher knows the 'how-tos' of working with parents to avoid complications.

Here are some tips for teachers to help them work with parents:

Be polite and patient

Some parents can't tolerate criticism of their kids. Thus you may see them defending their kid in front of you. Though it is a wrongful practice on a parent's side, you can't really stop it. What should you do then? You need to develop expressing your concerns without ruffling parents' feathers. It is true that some children are extremely problematic, and with such parents, the problem gets worse. Yet you need to remain patient and polite while working with parents.

Focus on the positive attributes of their child

Even the mildest of parents won't appreciate you complaining constantly about their kids. Some tips for teachers indicate that it is best to refer to some of their child's good qualities and appreciate those. However, make sure to inform parents in an encouraging tone about the areas the child needs to work on.

Never talk in front of the childIt is not good to talk about the kid in front of them. Whether it's about his virtues or vice, you shouldn't do it! Appreciating the kid in front of his parents would make him pompous. On the other hand, complaining about him can discourage him.

Make sure parents know you have the situation under control. At times, parents will visit you every day to ask you about their kid. This type of parents will also keep on interfering and trying to guide you to do your work 'better'. Don't let this happen! Try to convince them that you can handle the kid but need your space to do that. Also, avoid discussing your lesson plans with parents as they might have their suggestions or recommendations. You are the authority in your classroom, thus your lesson plans are based on what you think would benefit students.

Maintain secrecy to the child of your meetings with parents

Sometimes parents ask their kids about the teachers while the latter is right there. This gives some children the chance to come up with a number of complaints. Don't let this embarrassing predicament happen as it will demotivate you to work with the child. You are only human, so your emotions may rule your judgment at times. Ask parents gently yet firmly to meet you without their children present.

Keep performance or teacher worksheets close by

Performance or teacher worksheets are all the proof you would need to show a child's performance. Keep them close so that you can discuss your students' problem when meeting their parents. Without teacher worksheets, you might be thinking of what to discuss without creating complications.

Guide parents

At times, a child faces trouble in concentrating on studies due to certain family problems. Parents would not appreciate you trying to guide them, but you should point out that your student is being affected by his parents' personal issues.

Keep weekly meetings

Even if parents are coming to school everyday, avoid discussing things with them. Do that on a weekly basis or call them up whenever necessary.

Listen first, talk later

A very important tip that is very useful in this case. Never burst in front of parents. Instead, find out what complaints they have and counter them. Once you're done, you can point out what had not been discussed before.

Be motivating

Always keep a motivating attitude. Parents like a teacher who can offer them a glimmer of hope when it comes to their child's weaknesses instead of demoralizing them.

Don’t patronize

And when you reach out, be authentic. Don’t pretend to be their best friend, nor should have that “nipping problems in the bud” tone. Don’t worry about “holding your ground” either. Just reach out as an educator to a member of your own community. You’re not selling them anything, and they’re not selling you anything. You’re both dutifully and beautifully involved on either side of a child.

See yourself

No matter how important the education of a child is, realize you’re simply a single cog in the life of that family, no more or less important than keeping the lights on, their job security, food, and shelter, or any other reality of daily life.

Involve them

Keep your friends close and your…difficult parents…closer. Ask them to take on an authentic role in the classroom. Ask their opinion. Allow them to have a voice or show leadership. Give them a role in what their child learns. The fact that a parent has approaching zero authentic roles in the learning process of their children is part of our challenge as educators. Help them find one.

Put them in a position to succeed

Just like a student, put the parent in a position to succeed. They may not have had a good experience in school, either as students, with siblings of your student, etc. Give them a reason to believe that you have the best interest of the family at heart–and that includes them.

Establish a common ground

An old sales technique. A favorite athletic team–or dislike for a rival team. A personal philosophy. Your own struggle as a person. Something to humanize yourself, and establish the overlap between yourself and the parent.

Focus on the work

This is the opposite of teaching and learning, where you focus on the human being (the student). In conferences and communication with parents, you can both see the child and what’s “best for them” very differently, but academic work has a chance to be more objective. Focus on the work and academic performance, and what you and the parent and siblings and other teachers, etc., can do to support the student in their growth.

Even in the midst of difficult conversations, always do your best to steer the focus back on the work, and the child themselves. The former is data/evidence, the latter the reason for the data/evidence.

Give them a reason to see beyond the grade book

This is partly the problem with letter grades. So reductionist.

It’s easy to look at a grade book and both start and finish the conversation there. If that’s all they see, have a look at your curriculum and instruction, and see if you’ve given them ample opportunity to do otherwise. Talk less about missing work, and more about the promise and possibility of their child. Help them see that the school year is a marathon, not a series of sprints.

If all else fails…

If you have to, call for reinforcements, and document everything. Never feel bad about having another teacher in the room with you if you feel like a parent will be aggressive and you’re simply not comfortable with it. Better to depend on solidarity and hope than your own personal strength.

And document everything. Stay on top of grading, feedback, behavior management, missing assignments, your tone, sarcasm, etc. Document every call and email. Save exemplary work. Document differentiation, personalization, and other individual efforts in pursuit of the best interest of the student.

Whatever you do, no matter your analysis of the proximity between apples and trees, don’t hold the difficult parent “against” the child, even subconsciously.

Take it personally, then don’t

Last but not least, If you have a “difficult parent,” and in spite of your best efforts it all falls apart, I’d say don’t take it personally but it’s hard not to. So fine–internalize it. Own it. Talk to colleagues (better than a spouse, whose emotional reserves you may want to save for more pressing issues in education). Cry if you need to.

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My Thoughts on The Homework Debate

Yesterday I write a post on Should Homework be Banned, in which I list the Pros & Cons of Homework in Schools thoughts on the "homework debate". Being a teacher I began thinking about where I fall in this often controversial discussion and what my thoughts are about having my students complete homework. I follow many education blogs from around the world and have seen teachers discuss all different types of homework ideologies, from those who are completely against it to those who have assigned homework every single night.

    In elementary and middle school, I had loads of homework that was causing so much stress to me as a student. In high school I had to do projects, essays, a few worksheets and others THAT HAD TO BE DONE AT HOME. Either way, I think it definitely influences my teaching style because I grew up thinking that homework was a mandatory and/or necessary piece of the learning process. With that being said, here are some of my thoughts on homework:

- Students should never be receiving a mark for completing homework (or simply for
  completing anything). Students are assessed on their understanding of curriculum
  standards and I have yet to see any curriculum that states, "The student will be able
  to complete assigned work outside of school hours."

- Homework completion is greatly affected by a student's home life, not just their
  ability to understand the material...

- Nightly assigned homework should NOT be mandatory at any grade level...

- Teachers that feel like they need to assign homework in order to cover curriculum
  need to reevaluate how they are using their time in the classroom...

- Students who are struggling with a concept are not going to benefit from simply
  completing worksheet after worksheet at home ("remediation homework").
  Teachers should work on differentiating their instruction and meeting the student's
  learning needs in the classroom rather than isolating them by making them complete
  more work at home...

     With that being said, here is a brief look at what "homework" would look like in my classroom:

- Students will be given adequate time to complete all assignments in class. Those
  who do not use their time wisely, however, may need to take assignments home with them in order to complete them on time. Taking the assignment home is not
  mandatory but the assignment due date does not change simply because of a student
  did not use the time they were provided with...

- Many of our projects will be real-life scenario projects with direct ties to my
  student's lives. At times, I may ask students to look at home for certain supplies and bring them back to class (ex. a paystub, cell phone bill, empty beverage container, etc). Again, this is not mandatory, it simply allows the lesson to be more personal as they have a direct link to how this is applicable in their lives...

- Students will be provided with a review class before formal assessments-of-learning.
  It will be suggested that they also review/study on their own time so that they may
  be as successful as possible, but it is by no means mandatory that they study for
  x-amount of minutes at home.

     Being a teacher, I'm sure that I will end up adding different things to this list or modifying them as I see necessary. As I stand right now, however, these are my thoughts on homework... what are yours?

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