Week 3 Reflections of a Student Teacher

It’s been two months since I started the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP). After 4 classes and student teaching in the summer, I must say I’m pretty proud of myself from enjoying working with middle schoolers to getting a 3.8 from Stanford. I realize that grades don’t matter as much anymore, I actually don’t care about it anymore. I learned that the grade will come if you work hard, practice, reflect, practice, reflect (does the spiral model sound familiar?)

I’m now student teaching at what they call an “urban school.” The students are amazing and wonderful. I can’t wait to tap into their potential and be a teacher/mentor to them. Anyways, my school is one of the “lowest performing” schools in the Bay Area, whatever that means. I can’t disclose the schoo’s name because these are supposed to remain confidential.  We are supposed to keep a journal and I’ve been doing so. It’s just that I haven’t published my musings yet. Here’s the actual site: www.perflective.tumblr.com. Just ask me for the password. :)

Anyways, here’s my reflection from the third week of school.

  • Classroom management is not behavior management. It encompasses so much more: from what activities you design to the students, to the materials (supplies and content of the subject you provide), to how each task is given. For example, how would a teacher collect work without wasting time? How would you train the students to do so? How are you providing materials to the students working in groups and individually? One thing I learned from Taica: if working in groups, just provide folders for students to put their work in and the same folder is where they are going to draw their materials from (e.g.: pencils, work sheets, etc).
  • According to Kohn, classroom management and behavior is related with content. The more meaningful activities you teach the students, the less misbehavior you will encounter. According to him, students feel the need to be competent (to learn content/skills and apply these skills), students will respond to a structured and meaningful activity.
  • According to Kohn, we must look at the task rather than blame the students for being off task. We must reflect on our “practices” and what drives these practices (theory). If we have a tight control on our classroom, we need to ask ourselves why we have such a controlling management system.
  • We must “check” our assumptions on our students because our assumptions will drive how we interact with them. If we mistrust our students, we are more likely to act more strict and enforce punitive measures. On the other hand, if we trust and expect highly of students, teachers would see students do such. 
  • Students will recognize meaningless work and will less likely accomplish the meaningless task given! They will make it known too!
  • Students can sense bs. As a student teacher, I can borrow ideas but I can never copy and be that “certain great teacher”.  I must find my own identity (style, how I interact with students) and should be comfortable with it. Being shy doesn’t mean anything less than a very loud teacher; what matters most is establishing your relationship with the students where you feel most comfortable since this is what defines you. 
  • Students love structure!
  • Make your decisions as a teacher as explicit as possible. Students find more meaning and will learn more if they know what’s the purpose of the activity and why it was designed that way.
  • Students are very forgiving. Be honest with them, if you screwed up with the lesson, make it known to them. Some people might say you are being vulnerable and in turn, will give the students more power. I think more positive of my students, therefore, I feel more comfortable being honest with them. However, I still need to work on this…
  • Names are very important. A student will connect with you deeper if you know their name! A mere “buddy,” “young lady/man” doesn’t just give you that deeper connection.