The weeks keep going by faster and faster, I feel like there isn't enough time to do anything! After this week of being busy, and sick, I guess I am starting to feel a little worn out. The work all day, the nightly lesson planning, then meetings and/or class every night until 9 are really starting to wear on me. I even found myself beginning to get frustrated with the students constantly being in my face. I took a step back today and realized my "grumpiness" and realized that it wasn't their fault. The purpose of me being there is to be an advocate and an aide for their learning. Just because I have a bad day doesn't mean I get to bring that to school with me, I constantly have to be upbeat and ready to go, if not the children will suffer. My host teacher, as well as the other co-teacher in the classroom are feeling the same way. We bought a "community" bag of cough drops and have each other to depend on so that is a huge bonus. On a lighter note, I felt like this week was a real success. I learned some important things, such as how to use the DIBELS assessment for progress monitoring. The special educator actually let me administer the test, it was an awesome experience! I also learned some of the "politics" of teaching when it comes to parent teacher conferences, which I look forward to in the next few weeks. Finally, I am still learning about different teaching techniques and forming my own personal teaching style. I am also beginning my Action Research, so I am excited about starting to get results from all that hard work. Finally, I am implementing a strategic intervention with one of our students who can not read (yes, he is in the 4th grade). I hope that with my help 3 days a week, he can at least gain confidence and accuracy in consistently repeating some basic sight words. Again, we are doing some really cool things in my classroom since we have so many teachers. We are able to reach all the groups, on a smaller teacher-student ratio which has been amazing! So basically for this week my question is: how do you balance a personal life (including sickness, meetings, etc.)and a professional life that includes your complete and total dedication and focus? I am slowly figuring it out, and I suppose it goes along with my educational philosphy which is "students first". We will see how the next few weeks play out!
Yes...the balance between work and home...a constant challenge. I have been in the classroom for 4 years now and some days feel as if I still have no idea where to find the balance. Being sick certainly does not help!
We are thrilled about having you in the classroom. This is such a unique and ever changing experience. Next week the dynamic will change again when we get another child. This will be our first that does not speak English. We have recieved a lof of positive feedback so far so I guess all we can do is smile and keep going!!
After 22 years, the balance is still hard. You learn to segment what you can only do at school with what you can "shove" in the bag and do at home. You also look at tasks you assign, and prioritize those that take you more time to plan and prepare than it actually does for students to complete what you've planned!
The balancing act of personal and professional is always a tough one for beginning teachers. Teaching is certainly not he "easy" job everyone who doesn't work in schools thinks it bis. My suggestion is to find time for yourself everyday and block that time out even if it's only 30 minutes of reading or walking or a TV show for diversion purposes.
Good luck with the non-reader, let me know if I can offer any suggestions. There are tons of interventions available online that will help target his critical area of need. DH
The weeks keep going by faster and faster, I feel like there isn't enough time to do anything! After this week of being busy, and sick, I guess I am starting to feel a little worn out. The work all day, the nightly lesson planning, then meetings and/or class every night until 9 are really starting to wear on me. I even found myself beginning to get frustrated with the students constantly being in my face. I took a step back today and realized my "grumpiness" and realized that it wasn't their fault. The purpose of me being there is to be an advocate and an aide for their learning. Just because I have a bad day doesn't mean I get to bring that to school with me, I constantly have to be upbeat and ready to go, if not the children will suffer. My host teacher, as well as the other co-teacher in the classroom are feeling the same way. We bought a "community" bag of cough drops and have each other to depend on so that is a huge bonus. On a lighter note, I felt like this week was a real success. I learned some important things, such as how to use the DIBELS assessment for progress monitoring. The special educator actually let me administer the test, it was an awesome experience! I also learned some of the "politics" of teaching when it comes to parent teacher conferences, which I look forward to in the next few weeks. Finally, I am still learning about different teaching techniques and forming my own personal teaching style. I am also beginning my Action Research, so I am excited about starting to get results from all that hard work. Finally, I am implementing a strategic intervention with one of our students who can not read (yes, he is in the 4th grade). I hope that with my help 3 days a week, he can at least gain confidence and accuracy in consistently repeating some basic sight words. Again, we are doing some really cool things in my classroom since we have so many teachers. We are able to reach all the groups, on a smaller teacher-student ratio which has been amazing! So basically for this week my question is: how do you balance a personal life (including sickness, meetings, etc.)and a professional life that includes your complete and total dedication and focus? I am slowly figuring it out, and I suppose it goes along with my educational philosphy which is "students first". We will see how the next few weeks play out!
ReplyDeleteYes...the balance between work and home...a constant challenge. I have been in the classroom for 4 years now and some days feel as if I still have no idea where to find the balance. Being sick certainly does not help!
ReplyDeleteWe are thrilled about having you in the classroom. This is such a unique and ever changing experience. Next week the dynamic will change again when we get another child. This will be our first that does not speak English. We have recieved a lof of positive feedback so far so I guess all we can do is smile and keep going!!
After 22 years, the balance is still hard. You learn to segment what you can only do at school with what you can "shove" in the bag and do at home. You also look at tasks you assign, and prioritize those that take you more time to plan and prepare than it actually does for students to complete what you've planned!
ReplyDeleteThe balancing act of personal and professional is always a tough one for beginning teachers. Teaching is certainly not he "easy" job everyone who doesn't work in schools thinks it bis. My suggestion is to find time for yourself everyday and block that time out even if it's only 30 minutes of reading or walking or a TV show for diversion purposes.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the non-reader, let me know if I can offer any suggestions. There are tons of interventions available online that will help target his critical area of need.
DH