As I’m closing in on my last two weeks of internship I look back with tremendous gratitude as I realize how much I’ve learned and how much more confident as a teacher I have become. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I walked in to that unfamiliar kindergarten class on that late August day at Cheney Elementary. I had 21 not-so-talkative little humans staring at me somewhat dumbfounded by my introduction activity. While I expected to gain valuable experience in implementing the things I learned from my education courses, what I didn’t expect was the more truly learning experience I gathered from the daily intricacies inherent in teaching in a classroom with a child with behavioral/social issues.
I will refer to him as J.C. – an intelligent five year old boy with a dazzling smile and wide blue eyes that sparkle. He was switched to my class two weeks in to my internship and came to us with almost daily infractions including hitting the teacher and other students. It wasn’t too long after he entered our class that I was able to see firsthand how to handle a volatile child like JC. JC began to kick and shout and throw things off his desk when he didn’t get his way. My supervising teacher quickly rushed over and knelt to his level and with a stern tone of voice said, “It is o.k. to be mad, it is not o.k. to kick.” This quickly defused his anger down to a whine, and before I knew it, he had regained his composure. I realized that my teacher used a technique in which she acknowledged the validity of the emotion behind the behavior, but condemned the behavior – an element pertinent to proper emotional and social development.
Throughout my internship I tried my best to emulate my supervising teacher and help JC replace negative behaviors with positive behaviors. This was no easy task. My teacher once told me with regards to dealing with his behavior, “you have to have nerves of steel,” and often looked at me after reprimanding JC and said, “consistency, consistency, consistency”. At times he left me feeling frazzled – having to correct and redirect his behavior countless times throughout the day and dealing with his volatile temperament could be exhausting.
During this internship I have been reading The First Days of School, How to be an Effective Teacher by Harry K. and Rosemary T. Wong. In this book is a concept by Madeline Hunter which states, “Repetition is the Key” that says, “For a child to learn something new, you need to repeat it an average of eight times. For a child to unlearn an old behavior and replace it with a new behavior, you need to repeat the new behavior an average of 28 times. Twenty of those times are used to eliminate the old behavior, and eight of the times are used to learn the new behavior.” I believe JC is a shining example of this. Although there were times when I thought I was going to “lose it”, it is all worth it in the end to see the vast improvement he has made. He has done a complete 180. These days he’s hugging classmates and asking nicely for things and his angry outbursts are minimal. It is truly a gratifying feeling to know that I contributed to this change, and so I leave this internship with a sense of accomplishment and success.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
BackBLOGging
Unfortunately I was not able to keep up with my blog during my internship, but here are a few entries from my journal.
9/27/10
Today I did feely boxes and maracas. I wanted the kids to do a celebration dance to honor the rain like the Zuni Pueblo Indians. I forgot to demonstrate with my own maraca the beat I wanted them to do. I also wanted them to go in a circle, kind of like a conga line, but the kids didn’t move. I guess I needed to lead the line because when I said now let’s move in a circle, some of the kids were about to spin in place while the others just didn’t move at all. Some of the kids just wanted to watch the video. I always have my idea of how my lessons will go and all the things I’ll do and say, but I end up leaving a lot of it out because between managing the kids and handling all the interruptions, it gets lost in translation. I can’t wait until I’m able to juggle it all and let it flow naturally.
10/13/10
Today I did a lesson on adding more details or changing something on a drawing to make it better. I started by drawing on the board a tree with a horizontal line for a landscape and told the kids it was a drawing of a park. I asked for volunteers to come add something to make my drawing better, I had a student draw a snake, then the next student drew a lion eating the snake. The other additions were an egg, a slide, birds, a person, a cat, a puppy, another person (flying), a train, and a snake on the lion. Finally, I had a girl draw a cat near the lion and she finished by putting a little line on the lion. I asked her what the line was, (almost afraid to because the child who drew the lion has behavior/emotional issues and he already had said for no one to change his lion), and she said it was a scratch – in other words, the cat scratched the lion. This made my little friend very angry. He threw a fit and even tried to kick the student who drew the scratch. He’s a very volatile child. I had to have him sit at his desk away from the kids until he calmed down.
9/27/10
Today I did feely boxes and maracas. I wanted the kids to do a celebration dance to honor the rain like the Zuni Pueblo Indians. I forgot to demonstrate with my own maraca the beat I wanted them to do. I also wanted them to go in a circle, kind of like a conga line, but the kids didn’t move. I guess I needed to lead the line because when I said now let’s move in a circle, some of the kids were about to spin in place while the others just didn’t move at all. Some of the kids just wanted to watch the video. I always have my idea of how my lessons will go and all the things I’ll do and say, but I end up leaving a lot of it out because between managing the kids and handling all the interruptions, it gets lost in translation. I can’t wait until I’m able to juggle it all and let it flow naturally.
10/13/10
Today I did a lesson on adding more details or changing something on a drawing to make it better. I started by drawing on the board a tree with a horizontal line for a landscape and told the kids it was a drawing of a park. I asked for volunteers to come add something to make my drawing better, I had a student draw a snake, then the next student drew a lion eating the snake. The other additions were an egg, a slide, birds, a person, a cat, a puppy, another person (flying), a train, and a snake on the lion. Finally, I had a girl draw a cat near the lion and she finished by putting a little line on the lion. I asked her what the line was, (almost afraid to because the child who drew the lion has behavior/emotional issues and he already had said for no one to change his lion), and she said it was a scratch – in other words, the cat scratched the lion. This made my little friend very angry. He threw a fit and even tried to kick the student who drew the scratch. He’s a very volatile child. I had to have him sit at his desk away from the kids until he calmed down.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Classroom Management Techniques!
I mentioned in my first post that I’ve learned lots of great classroom management techniques, so I’d like to list some of the ones specific to behavior, because these, in my opinion, are the most important. So here I go:
- When students are sitting on the floor, have them sit “Criss Cross Applesauce” aka Indian style. Then say “Check your hands, check your eyes, check your feet, check your voice” after teaching them that their hands should be on their laps/to themselves, eyes on the teacher, feet in Indian style, and no talking.
- To get their attention when standing in line to leave a room and they are noisy and just plain ol’ not ready, sing “If you’re ready and you know it, clap your hands…stand up straight…put a bubble in your mouth…”
- To get their attention if the whole class is noisy, train them to quiet down to a sound you make. My teacher uses, (I’m going to attempt to phonetically spell this out): pum, puhruh ruhm pum, PUM, PUM! It works like this, she says the “pum, puhruh ruhm pum” part, and the kids respond with “PUM, PUM!” and then they get quiet and ready to listen to what the teacher has to say.
- Tell student what you want them to do, if they don’t obey, give them until the count of three to obey, repeat task between each number until you get to three. If they still don’t obey, give them a punishment(sit at the desk, lose 5 mins of recess time, etc) if they don’t obey that, require them to change their status on the behavior chart.
- This is another attention-getter to get the kids ready to quiet down in line when getting ready to leave the classroom. “Play” Simon Says – say a few, finish w/”Simon says put a quiet finger on your mouth, put a bubble in your mouth, stand straight and tall, etc.”
- “Teach To” – give explicit instructions on what you expect them to do with examples and non-examples ( i.e. How to walk in the hallway).
I’m going to go ahead and leave it at that, although I have a bunch more, but these are the one that are money!
- When students are sitting on the floor, have them sit “Criss Cross Applesauce” aka Indian style. Then say “Check your hands, check your eyes, check your feet, check your voice” after teaching them that their hands should be on their laps/to themselves, eyes on the teacher, feet in Indian style, and no talking.
- To get their attention when standing in line to leave a room and they are noisy and just plain ol’ not ready, sing “If you’re ready and you know it, clap your hands…stand up straight…put a bubble in your mouth…”
- To get their attention if the whole class is noisy, train them to quiet down to a sound you make. My teacher uses, (I’m going to attempt to phonetically spell this out): pum, puhruh ruhm pum, PUM, PUM! It works like this, she says the “pum, puhruh ruhm pum” part, and the kids respond with “PUM, PUM!” and then they get quiet and ready to listen to what the teacher has to say.
- Tell student what you want them to do, if they don’t obey, give them until the count of three to obey, repeat task between each number until you get to three. If they still don’t obey, give them a punishment(sit at the desk, lose 5 mins of recess time, etc) if they don’t obey that, require them to change their status on the behavior chart.
- This is another attention-getter to get the kids ready to quiet down in line when getting ready to leave the classroom. “Play” Simon Says – say a few, finish w/”Simon says put a quiet finger on your mouth, put a bubble in your mouth, stand straight and tall, etc.”
- “Teach To” – give explicit instructions on what you expect them to do with examples and non-examples ( i.e. How to walk in the hallway).
I’m going to go ahead and leave it at that, although I have a bunch more, but these are the one that are money!
Monday, September 6, 2010
My First Week: August 30th - September 3rd
I had a fantastic first week with my awesome “Super Nanny” teacher. I learned so much in just one week; it’s amazing! I got a plethora of classroom management techniques and cutsie little quips to use, like “you get whatcha get and ya don’t throw a fit.” If you’ve ever dealt with the distribution of any kind of materials to children, then you can relate to the annoying demands for a different color, flavor, size, etc. It was absolutely amazing to witness a child’s instant acceptance when the teacher whimsically expressed this clever little phrase. I also got to see how real punishment and follow-through works. It turns out the counting technique my mother used on my brother and sister and I growing up also works in the classroom, except instead of spanking as the consequence for not listening, the consequences are having certain privileges taken away – for example, playground time. It worked like a charm! Finally, I got to partake in a staff meeting and an IEP meeting (featuring an irate parent and all).
As for my students, the class is very diverse with an intermingling of White, Hispanic, Egyptian, Indian and Asian students; needless to say, some are also ESOL. There are also two developmentally delayed children, one of whom has major speech delays and has trouble focusing. I try to get him to focus by covering up the portion of the page he’s not working on, so he doesn’t have any detractors; but even then, he’s still distracted with something within the small space I have him “focused” on. Having him put down his pencil or crayon while the teacher is speaking helps too. Did I mention one of my students has a severe allergy to peanuts? So much so, that my teacher was trained to use an EPI Pen and was supplied with one for her classroom in case she ever needs to administer it. I know the teacher has to “wear many hats,” but Emergency Medical Personnel is one I was not aware of yet.
Since it was my first week, there wasn’t much I was to do except observe and absorb, but I did get to do story time after lunch. Seems simple right? Well the first book I picked featured some crazy tongue twister repeated phrase that got my tongue twisted up. It was excruciating to get through it. Note to self: read the book before attempting to read it aloud, it’s a whole new ballgame when you’re LIVE. Also, I asked too many questions throughout the reading – story time is for enjoyment, shut up and read! I also got the kids working on the computers this week, on Success Maker, a program that assesses reading and math skills. Some of them have never used a computer, so this meant teaching them how to handle the mouse. “No Johnny, you can’t lift the mouse in the air.” I found that some of the ESOL students might have trouble determining “Which picture begins with a C like in candy?” when they think a cow is called a “moo.”
Overall, I already love all my students. They’re all so unique and special. My highlights of the week: one of the kids banged his head really hard on the playground equipment (read on, I’m not a sadist, I promise) and he came screaming to the teacher to check his head, then exclaimed “Is it cracked open?!” It was not even remotely close to being “cracked open” hehehe Also, as I randomly sat observing the classroom, a cute little wide-eyed girl came up to me and said, “Ms. A, I love you.” Awwwweeee, I’m so happy to have chosen this profession! I can’t wait to see how my internship unfolds. Well, that was my first week in a nutshell. We’ll see what this week holds for me!
As for my students, the class is very diverse with an intermingling of White, Hispanic, Egyptian, Indian and Asian students; needless to say, some are also ESOL. There are also two developmentally delayed children, one of whom has major speech delays and has trouble focusing. I try to get him to focus by covering up the portion of the page he’s not working on, so he doesn’t have any detractors; but even then, he’s still distracted with something within the small space I have him “focused” on. Having him put down his pencil or crayon while the teacher is speaking helps too. Did I mention one of my students has a severe allergy to peanuts? So much so, that my teacher was trained to use an EPI Pen and was supplied with one for her classroom in case she ever needs to administer it. I know the teacher has to “wear many hats,” but Emergency Medical Personnel is one I was not aware of yet.
Since it was my first week, there wasn’t much I was to do except observe and absorb, but I did get to do story time after lunch. Seems simple right? Well the first book I picked featured some crazy tongue twister repeated phrase that got my tongue twisted up. It was excruciating to get through it. Note to self: read the book before attempting to read it aloud, it’s a whole new ballgame when you’re LIVE. Also, I asked too many questions throughout the reading – story time is for enjoyment, shut up and read! I also got the kids working on the computers this week, on Success Maker, a program that assesses reading and math skills. Some of them have never used a computer, so this meant teaching them how to handle the mouse. “No Johnny, you can’t lift the mouse in the air.” I found that some of the ESOL students might have trouble determining “Which picture begins with a C like in candy?” when they think a cow is called a “moo.”
Overall, I already love all my students. They’re all so unique and special. My highlights of the week: one of the kids banged his head really hard on the playground equipment (read on, I’m not a sadist, I promise) and he came screaming to the teacher to check his head, then exclaimed “Is it cracked open?!” It was not even remotely close to being “cracked open” hehehe Also, as I randomly sat observing the classroom, a cute little wide-eyed girl came up to me and said, “Ms. A, I love you.” Awwwweeee, I’m so happy to have chosen this profession! I can’t wait to see how my internship unfolds. Well, that was my first week in a nutshell. We’ll see what this week holds for me!
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