Monday, October 18

Today was fairly uneventful.
I've been fully in charge of the classroom for a while now, and I'm beginning to feel more comfortable with my position.
The kids don't respect me as an authority figure.
Reading is always the worst part of the day. It's a harder subject for many of our students and the Language Arts components aren't always the most interesting. I have plans to improve things by adding a literature circle component, but as of now, I haven't made it that far.
A certain child with previous behavior issues challenged me today during reading; he was defiant and refused to obey any direct instructions that were issued to him. He was great during the entire rest of the day, and only began to misbehave while in math. If I am the primary instructor, he feels as though he shouldn't be expected to respond to my requests. Instead, he pushes the limits or outright defies me. Today isn't the first time it's happened; I doubt that it will be the last.
I wish I knew more about how to handle a situation like this. I could send him out to the hallway or another teacher's classroom, but if I do that, my mentor feels that he has won. Next year when I am alone in a classroom, I don't know how I will garner support or require my students to behave appropriately. I've read about classrooms where the community component is so strong that the children appreciate the instructor and simply behave because they are expected to. That's the classroom I want to strive for; I don't know if I'm prepared to get there as of yet.

Blog Beginnings

I'm starting this to chronicle the remainder of my time in my 4th grade internship.
My hopes for this blog are that it will provide me a healthy way to reflect upon lessons I teach, as well as consider changes that should be made before the lessons are used again in the future.
I want to use this forum as another way to post and make visible my somewhat less than standard methods of teaching.
In my philosophy, if I'm bored, my kids have been bored for a while. If they're bored, they aren't learning. It is my goal to teach in increasingly interesting ways that allow for my children to make their own discoveries. I see my job as one of a facilitator. I take them to the knowledge, and allow them to drink from its stream what they will.
I don't believe in standardized tests. I don't believe in altering my teaching to meet their purposes. If I have done my job properly, without specific 'test preparation' I feel that my pupils will pass with flying colors.
I take a great deal of my inspiration from the research and experiences of Rafe Esquith, Jaime Escalante, and E. R. Braithwaite.
I am a passionate reader of educational psychology research; I detest school psychology.
I focus my instruction on mathematics and science at this time. I'm working to branch out and make reading and writing into more enjoyable subjects for my pupils as well.
I look forward to having my own classroom, but I am ever thankful for the opportunities this internship has afforded me.
I called my blog NeverBoringTeacher, because that is my ultimate goal. If I maintain a high energy level and create lessons that are both fun and advantageous, I feel that my students will appreciate and enjoy my classroom a great deal more.
I don't encourage blind obedience. I enjoy well thought out and phrased challenges.
"It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it. " ~Jacob Bronowski