I am limiting myself to two main goals to really focus in on at the moment. I find that when I set too many I get bogged down in the sheer number and lose my motivation too quickly; hopefully this is a more effective, manageable but life-changing load. This semester I want to improve by learning to jump right in and by finding the balance between being a teacher and being a student.
Jump Right In
I'm just going to go right ahead and acknowledge two irrefutable facts right now: I am a little scared about this semester and I am a terrible procrastinator. This is the semester that I have to actively work on both issues. They are connected in a way: I believe I tend to put certain jobs off because I believe I will be better equipped to handle them at a later time. I'm nervous in the moment so I wait, hoping I will be less nervous or simply forced to act later. I'm down to the wire now though; change has to occur.
With each day I return to my placement, I am building confidence and trying to take on new tasks. Last year I waited until I was comfortable to take on more responsibility; this year I am going to jump right in and scare myself on purpose in order to better develop my skill set. I am going to do as much as I can so I can gain the most experience possible. I am not going to wait around because I am worried about failure; I will accept that not everything can and will be perfect and I will not put off tasks I could handle in the moment. I am going to just keep swimming.
This goal ties in with the most striking advice I remember from the kick-off meeting: one of the cooperating teachers said that you should respect your mentor this year without bending your style to duplicate anyone else's. I have been accused of having a wild independent streak but I have, in truth, always felt that I tend to pattern my own plans based on the examples of others more than might be wise. My mentor teacher this semester is excellent: he's in the Kansas Teacher Hall of Fame and has earned his respected position while retaining his robust sense of humor and a fairly relaxed and marvelously engaging classroom environment. A joke or two he makes each class will fall flat but most are greatly appreciated by the young adults in the room and I was certainly encouraged to see that comedy does have a place in the modern and effective classroom. I want to have a similar classroom, if I am honest: however, essentially what I need is to be able to have similar results with different, unique and personal methods.
I have already found myself pondering how I could use some of his very specific assignments in my future classroom a time or two this week and while I would not say that it has reached the point of being completely negative yet it is an aspect of my practicum experience that I plan on reflecting on often. I do not want to try to emulate anyone to the point of restricting my own personality and ideas!
Thus I am making it a priority to make a Google document: I want to make note of interesting ideas and work on discovering and creating unique teaching methods. Essentially, I plan on having three major sections; one for ideas that I formulate entirely on my own, one from lessons I've seen that I would like to take foundations from and tweak, and one for ideas and classroom procedures that I would basically use as they were imagined by another person. The original ideas section will be the largest and I will try to build into my schedule weekly time during which I can add to it. I plan on being quite strict with myself when it comes to the ideas I take from another source. I am not going to let myself be a poor imitation of a great educator; I am working to be a great educator in my own right. It will likely take many years to get there; I am ready to tackles the obstacles though! Bring on the year!
Brook,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I really appreciate the aesthetics of your page; the colors and background are nice, and I love that you included organizational headings. Most importantly, however, your content is well written, accurate, and reflective. I had a similar goal to your "jumping right in" aspiration. Hesitation tends to breed more hesitation. We would do well to be bold and to keep on swimming, as you say. I for one am trying to convince myself that I hope to make mistakes. I would much rather make them now than when the scaffold that is my mentoring teacher is kicked out from underneath me. Let's get messy!
I really love your google docs idea. I am totally stealing it from you. So often I see and hear great ideas and think, "I'm going to do that!" but I don't record the idea anywhere. Do I think that I am magically going to be able to store and produce all of these ideas in my head? Writing them down is definitely the way to go.
-Mary
Brooke,
ReplyDeleteI think limiting your goals is great. This semester will be overwhelming and choosing to not overwhelm yourself by putting tons of expectations on yourself is an awesome way to approach pre-student teaching. I think you will start with your two goals(which are wonderful) and you will slowly see yourself become confident that you are accomplishing them so you will further challenge yourself and grow in more ways than you ever imagined!
Doing what scares you will be so rewarding and prepare you for the really scary stuff...like actual student teaching! I am also glad you mentioned what we heard at the kickoff meeting about being true to ourselves and our teaching styles. We all need to keep that in mind.
I think you have a great starting point and I know you will do an amazing job! Learn from your MT, develop your own style, jump right on in and remember you are beyond capable. And don't forget you have a pre-student teaching support group that is cheering for you all the way!
Ms. Pritchett, I love the fact that you're planning to push yourself out of your comfort zone this year in terms of assuming more responsibility in your field placement. Bravo! I also appreciate your plans to truly reflect on your teacher identity and ensure that you are not blindly following another's model but instead determining who you want to be as a teacher and practicing that now. Your Google Doc idea is fantastic, and I hope you'll share some of your best ideas/finds with us this year. Thanks for this lively and inspiring post!
ReplyDelete