The first couple weeks of student teaching have been inspiring, challenging and rewarding. It has been eye-opening to be "behind the scenes" seeing what teacher life is like on a daily basis. I have experienced alongside them the challenges of teaching remotely and adapting into this new way of delivering content. Something that has presented itself as a problem is virtual classroom management. We have one class in particular with 30 students, the number of students in the class stops us from being able to see all of our students faces on screen. This is resulted in friend groups within the class acting out and losing focus. They're texting one another, laughing on camera and using the chat feature to joke around and socialize. It was extremely distracting as well as frustrating. Based off of past experiences, I know this behavior needed to be addressed immediately. It was decided that my mentor teacher and I would email them as oppose to saying something on the online platform with other students present. Ideally we would be in a situation where we could pull them aside and speak one-on-one but we are doing our best with what we have. I am hoping to see a change next week. Relationship building is essential in assisting with these issues so next week will once again be dedicated to this.
Something I have observed that has worked well is infusing storytelling into nearly every class, lesson and activity. I want to spend more time dedicated to storytelling and make it a part of my lesson planning process. When we share memories about ourselves it makes us vulnerable and this vulnerability shows our students we are human and helps us build connections. It also paints a picture in students minds and can help lessons resonate with students and transfer into future learning.
Both of these events have reminded me to slow down and be patient. Create time for storytelling, relationship building and getting students out of their shells. In the future I won't rush these first couple weeks, they're essential for all of us in being comfortable with one another and my understanding of how to better facilitate lessons. Letting silence take up space has worked well in pushing students to share their thoughts and take part in leading class discussions. When students take a role in their own learning it is more pertinent to them and their individual lives. With time and patience we will all start to open up and blossom.
Something I have observed that has worked well is infusing storytelling into nearly every class, lesson and activity. I want to spend more time dedicated to storytelling and make it a part of my lesson planning process. When we share memories about ourselves it makes us vulnerable and this vulnerability shows our students we are human and helps us build connections. It also paints a picture in students minds and can help lessons resonate with students and transfer into future learning.
Both of these events have reminded me to slow down and be patient. Create time for storytelling, relationship building and getting students out of their shells. In the future I won't rush these first couple weeks, they're essential for all of us in being comfortable with one another and my understanding of how to better facilitate lessons. Letting silence take up space has worked well in pushing students to share their thoughts and take part in leading class discussions. When students take a role in their own learning it is more pertinent to them and their individual lives. With time and patience we will all start to open up and blossom.