Post for the week of 1/18 to 1/24

[THIS IS LATE]

I learned many interesting ideas this week in my classes, but there was one thing in particular that I learned that stood out. In literacy class, I learned that if you give students different sections of a reading and have them go in turns, they will not learn very much, and that there is some good research to support this thought as being true. This is because they will be rehearsing their own bit in their minds and focusing on performance rather than on comprehension. Instead, read to them or have them read silently to themselves. This is a very useful piece of knowledge, mainly since that is something that I have been doing and now I know to stop. It is sometimes difficult to stop something that seems like common sense at first, but it now seems that I should not do that anymore, so I won't. It is good to have people who have earned a high level of expertise in their field to tell me what is good to do and what is not good to do.

What I have learned today in the field

This week, my CT was sick for three days, and in the course of those three days we had four substitute teachers of varying quality. It was interesting hearing what the substitutes had to say about my class as it provided a different perspective on them. I think the best substitute was the one we had on Thursday, her name was Mrs. Nelson, and she was a very kind lady whom I could tell had been in the business of education for many a fine year. She tried some new and different things with the students that I think Ms.Winkler and I may need to try some more. The main thing is that she gave positive reinforcement for good behavior in addition to the normal gentle reminders to not talk while someone else is talking. For example, if a child was behaving well, followed directions promptly, or especially if they did anything extra kind for one of their peers, they would get a green ticket. There was no material rewards attached to the ticket, only good feelings. I didn't think it would work, but it really did. She also would tell the students that if they did not squander their time in transitions she would play hangman with them and that worked well. The most special thing about her, is that the good behavior she provoked extended beyond the classroom, that day they were really capital while in line, they walked quietly, but they seemed to beam with purpose. They got a compliment from their music teacher, which is a little out of the ordinary for them, and were visibly animated by that delight. At the end of the day I asked Mrs. Nelson for advice on management and she had some wise words. First she said that you must go down to their level and try to understand their own motivations as they are instead of trying to reason  with them using the values you would like them to already have. Secondly, she said the best thing I could do is to be kind, and to be firm, these can be difficult virtues to live by always, but it gets easier with practice. I learned quite a bit from her, as well as the other substitutes, so that was nice.