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Comment by Bonnie Kaplan on September 21, 2007 at 6:20pm

So a full week is under your belt and you are exhausted. What have you learned this week about yourself as a teacher and what are you doing well?
Why not pick two kids and focus on them, how they grow as students with you. Pick a great one and a wroty one. What do you think? Now enjoy the weekend and I'm off on a jet plane tomorrow night at midnight.
BK

Comment by Jacqueline Marien on September 25, 2007 at 2:55pm

Bonnie,

I think that picking a wroty kid and a great will help me grow as a teacher and see how they grow as teachers with me. I find that I am prepared for class which helps so much because it's nice having a plan under way so if you get stuck you can refer to the lesson plan. Yesterday was a continuim of the film version of the movie and the students wrote in their journals again. I am trying to keep up with the journals as best I can without getting off topic for the lesson of the day. I still find that my largest challenge is with the inclusion. I do my best in keeping classroom management without getting pushed to the extreme. However, I was just tired of asking the students to be quiet and yelled at them, literally raised my voice to the entire. I was trying to teach a lesson and they were being very disruptive. There is an in house suspension room but I don't necessarily believe in it because the students need to be in the classroom to learn the material not have someone else teach it too them. I am just lost on how to deal with certain individuals who are pushing and pushing me to the edge. I know I might have had a problem today because Ms. Bolden was out and there was a substitute as well as me in the classroom. The activity for the day was to take the vocabulary exam, complete the journal and read the first paragraph of the next short story and create the setting by drawing it. This seemed like such a difficult task for them even though I explained it to them repeatedly. I however think that may be next time I could complete the activity and show them what it is I want to see. That might help them understand better. At any rate many of the students completed the lesson for the day and some students suprised me with their art work. I only find that when Ms. Bolden is not there I suffer more behavorial problems and sometimes they are too much for me to handle and I want to handle them correctly so what should I do? I have asked to talk to students in the hall and asked them to behave themselves, they shake their heads and say yes but go right back in and do the same thing over again. I just don't understand it and days like this I come home exhausted. There were some students that understood the project and took matters into their own hands and explained it to their classmates. In that I was happy because someone knnew what I was doing. The sub I had today was very nice and did help where he could I appreciated that. Over all the day could have turned out worse but it didn't and some students completed the lesson while others used the time as "free time" Tomorrow I have a lesson plan set for talking about the setting and characters of a story. There graphic planners that go with the lesson as well. I am hoping that the students will appreciate and at least learn something about the setting.

Comment by Jacqueline Marien on September 25, 2007 at 2:55pm

P.s. How is Isreal? It's been in the 80's here!

Comment by Bonnie Kaplan on September 27, 2007 at 2:17am

Hi Jackie,
Israel is great. Probably too hot today, but it will cool down. There's always that ocean breeze.
I think that you need to get the discipline issue under control before you can focus on the lessons. If you have a few kids who continually disrupt the class you need some help from Natalie and they have to be dealt with. I would suggest some conversations with guidance counselors, parents(if that's an opportunity, a call home), and even with the new assistant principal and other teachers on the team.
School should not be an isolated world. Get help! Don't be proud. You are brand new to this community and to the profession. No matter where you are in your career you will always be up against tough kids. Problems don't just exist in your room, they are everywhere. Open the door!
Journals don't have to be read every day. Stagger the collection. Read a few at a time and leave some positive notes. I would never grade journals, are you? For me, journals are places for kids to get to write and explore themselves as writers. They should be able to feel free with them. It's a great place to share that experience with them.
I agree with your judgement about lessons. You need to make it very clear what it is you want. It's your responsibility to give them something they can be successful with but you really need to stop yelling. It doesn't work. When you yell, you show them your weakness, that you don't have control. But again, you have to deal with the disruptive ones, immediately.
Have you taken over one class, two yet? More?
Are you writing daily lesson plans? Can you start semding them to me in advance?
Keep moving that boulder up the hill. It's tough, that's for sure. But you commitment is clear!
Keep writing....
Bonnie

Comment by Jacqueline Marien on September 28, 2007 at 9:10am

Hi Bonnie, glad Israel is good. The weather here has finally cooled down which is so nice. On Wednesday I worked on a lesson with the students using graphic organizers and they seemed to really get into because I was helping them fill it out as well as guide them with questions to answer questions. I even asked the students after the period was over how they felt about me helping them with their work. They said it helped them understand things better which made me feel like I was doing my job. When it comes to the students who constantly disrupt the class I do get help from Natalie and other teachers. I just feel that these students have been spoken to with guidance counselors and parents and they still won't listen. I understand that yelling is not the answer and while it looks like I am weak I feel as if it is the only way to get through to them. They wont listen when I am calm so I have to yell. I didn't have a problem with that specific class for the rest of the period. Not to say that it will work next time but it did for that day. When it comes to the journals I read them every two weeks, well collect them and read them. I was putting a grade on them because for the school curriculum that is part of their grade. I have left positive comments on the journals. I do get what your saying about journals being a place to write and being expressive. Maybe if I tell them that they will write more and be more creative. I have pretty much taken over all six classes for Ms. Bolden. I am enjoying it very much and I get continuous positive feedback from Ms. Bolden. We have been working well together discussing lesson plans and such. I have been writing daily lesson plans and have them. I will gladly send them to you in advance. I usually do them however the night before because I reflect on what we have done for the day and what needs to get accomplished. I wanted to let you know that I took a day off because I had tonsilitis and could not even speak to teach the class. I spoke with Natalie and gave her my lesson plans and she was going to follow them as she thought fit. I will be returning on Monday with a new lesson plan on poetry for that week. I just though you should know because you are my supervisior and wan to know whats going on in my career as a student teacher. So I will send you the lesson plans I have done so far and will continue to send them. I will keep writing..... Jacqueline

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