Student teaching is SO soon. I decided one of my best courses of action was to talk to a student teacher, who will finish his last 5 days of student teaching this coming week. After speaking with him, I learned several valuable lessons. I asked what his biggest lesson learned was and he told me that you will not know what to expect from students until you are actually in the classroom... And then you still won't know. He appreciated the experience that the field gave him and he felt that classes were great steps for preparation, although you can never be fully prepared for the real classroom until you are in it.
I have to say, I agree with him. It proves this even in the ncpts 5: Teachers reflect on their teaching. He found, through practice, what worked and what didn't work. He reflected on this every hour to every day of his teaching.
These past few weeks I have learned to roll with the punches and grow as time allows. For some reason, every college student is bombarded the last month of school. Whether this is their own fault because they've put off everything, or because professors need a few more grades, it happens. And it is felt all across the campus. Even though this widespread panic and stress attacks all of us, this does not mean it is okay to get sloppy with your work because it's drawing near the end of the semester.
It means finish strong because you're nearing the end. This is a good thing.
As my friend, Troy Bolton, famous Wildcat basketball player, once told me, "we're all in this together."
Always,
Brittany Kertesz
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Teach well.
Did you know that there is a responsibility to teach math? Not only is there a responsibility to teach how to get answers, but there is a conceptual push behind every math problem to see the bigger picture. No longer is math just drill and practice; math is something that can teach and can grow students in their critical thinking skills and in their practices of all other subjects of learning too.
These standards are as follows:
Many of these are self explanatory, and if not, the little bald guy helps act it out in many of these scenarios, so model after him. Through these, students are responsible to demonstrate their thinking and persevere in working hard.
This seems like a weird topic to talk about, but as a teacher leader, we strive to be the best teachers we can be so that our students succeed. And let's be honest, we wouldn't be in this field if it weren't for our students. These students that get on your last nerve when they ask a question that you literally just finished answering or the student that you watch mark the wrong answer on the EOG test when they had just "mastered it" a day ago.
But these students are also the ones that draw pictures of you and them holding hands underneath that same sun and tree that every person has drawn before. They are the ones that you catch looking at you and when you redirect their eyes to their paper, you still see them smiling at their paper because that bond between the two of you is still there, even when being reprimanded. These students that want to tell you all about their day, because they trust you enough to share these minor details in their lives that right now, mean the world to them.
These are our students. We have the responsibility to teach them and teach them well. So, get out there and exhaust those resources, because we often see these children more than their parents do. We are some of the biggest influences in their lives right now, and although we may get frustrated, they are the reason we are still here.
Seriously, I'm exhausted too...
And I'm not even a teacher yet.
You're doing great!
Sincerely,
Brittany Kertesz
These standards are as follows:
Many of these are self explanatory, and if not, the little bald guy helps act it out in many of these scenarios, so model after him. Through these, students are responsible to demonstrate their thinking and persevere in working hard.
This seems like a weird topic to talk about, but as a teacher leader, we strive to be the best teachers we can be so that our students succeed. And let's be honest, we wouldn't be in this field if it weren't for our students. These students that get on your last nerve when they ask a question that you literally just finished answering or the student that you watch mark the wrong answer on the EOG test when they had just "mastered it" a day ago.
But these students are also the ones that draw pictures of you and them holding hands underneath that same sun and tree that every person has drawn before. They are the ones that you catch looking at you and when you redirect their eyes to their paper, you still see them smiling at their paper because that bond between the two of you is still there, even when being reprimanded. These students that want to tell you all about their day, because they trust you enough to share these minor details in their lives that right now, mean the world to them.
These are our students. We have the responsibility to teach them and teach them well. So, get out there and exhaust those resources, because we often see these children more than their parents do. We are some of the biggest influences in their lives right now, and although we may get frustrated, they are the reason we are still here.
Seriously, I'm exhausted too...
And I'm not even a teacher yet.
You're doing great!
Sincerely,
Brittany Kertesz
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Post observation blues?
On Monday, I had the chance to teach a math lesson to my class. I was observed by not one, but two professors and my CE. Let me just say, I was given enough feedback to last me a good bit of reflection practice. I was pleasantly surprised when a lot of my feedback was positive. I don't really know why I was expecting something negative, but knowing that all 3 of these marvelous educators want me to be my very best, I knew I would have an improvement list to last a lifetime.
My lesson was on multiplying by the multiples of 10, 100, and 1,000. Unfortunately, the technology was a little wonky, but I jumped into my lesson as soon as I realized we were losing precious learning time. The students picked up this learning SO quickly. I was very impressed, especially when our tier 3 and EC students got the hang of it! WOW! I knew my students were capable, it was just exciting to watch the learning happen in their brains. At one point in the lesson, one of the girls in my class answered the problem correct and did a little dance of joy in her seat and my heart was so full!
Lately, I have been told horror story, after horror story of the education world... It is discouraging and makes me look into the future with questions and doubt. But when I see dances of joy because LEARNING happened, I know this is good.
Now on the title of my post... Luckily, I don't have the blues from this observation. I have approached my feedback with curious appreciation and a lot of it I can work on and fix easily. For instance, I have trained myself to not say the words "like" and "um" while presenting for fear of someone keeping tally. Unfortunately, I have another filler word that distracts from learning. This terrible word is "okay." Weird, right? One of my observers counted.. And let me just say, it was a big number. I was disappointed because I feel myself getting comfortable with something and then I realize that I too have this strange tick of filling the silence with my noisy mouth.
Upon reflection, I have practiced taking more time to speak, just in daily talking. I practice allowing a little bit of silence to fill my conversations and I am pleased to say I am noticing a change in how I approach speaking. This sounds so silly, but allotting more time to speak and allowing silence makes me more comfortable with the silence of the classroom. I can't wait to try it again in the classroom for a lesson!
My lesson was on multiplying by the multiples of 10, 100, and 1,000. Unfortunately, the technology was a little wonky, but I jumped into my lesson as soon as I realized we were losing precious learning time. The students picked up this learning SO quickly. I was very impressed, especially when our tier 3 and EC students got the hang of it! WOW! I knew my students were capable, it was just exciting to watch the learning happen in their brains. At one point in the lesson, one of the girls in my class answered the problem correct and did a little dance of joy in her seat and my heart was so full!
Lately, I have been told horror story, after horror story of the education world... It is discouraging and makes me look into the future with questions and doubt. But when I see dances of joy because LEARNING happened, I know this is good.
Now on the title of my post... Luckily, I don't have the blues from this observation. I have approached my feedback with curious appreciation and a lot of it I can work on and fix easily. For instance, I have trained myself to not say the words "like" and "um" while presenting for fear of someone keeping tally. Unfortunately, I have another filler word that distracts from learning. This terrible word is "okay." Weird, right? One of my observers counted.. And let me just say, it was a big number. I was disappointed because I feel myself getting comfortable with something and then I realize that I too have this strange tick of filling the silence with my noisy mouth.
Upon reflection, I have practiced taking more time to speak, just in daily talking. I practice allowing a little bit of silence to fill my conversations and I am pleased to say I am noticing a change in how I approach speaking. This sounds so silly, but allotting more time to speak and allowing silence makes me more comfortable with the silence of the classroom. I can't wait to try it again in the classroom for a lesson!
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