Teaching Vignettes

Teaching Vignette #1

During the first semester of student teaching, I was able to connect with each of the students in the classroom straight away. They were so welcoming and loved the idea of having another teacher. When students would see me arrive at school, they would always be thrilled. This made me feel good and it was nice listening to things that have been going on in their lives. It was going great, but the problem was that they saw me more as their friend and not so much as their teacher. I became aware of this when my CT would walk out of the classroom. Each time this happened, students would immediately start yelling and running across the room like there was no tomorrow. I would try to settle them down, but they refused to listen. It got so bad that the teaching assistants had to come in and keep them quiet. These were not good experiences as I was held responsible for controlling the noise volume and failed every single time.

Reflection

This was an eye-opening experience for me as I learned that there needs to be a line between the relationships I have with my students. When they step back into that classroom, it’s time to learn. My initial thought process approaching the first semester was to be close with students and everything would be okay moving forward. It’s good to have positive relationships but it needs to be monitored and balanced; otherwise they will take advantage of you. I knew that classroom management was going to be the number one thing to work on heading into the second semester of student teaching.

Teaching Vignette #2

I was on a mission to improve my classroom management skills to begin the second semester of student teaching. My goal was to continue developing strong relationships with students but also having more of a voice whenever they would be off task. This was something that got established as I started teaching them more lessons. Last semester, I never had the opportunity to teach, and this could have been one of the reasons why they never viewed me as their teacher. When my CT gave me more responsibilities, I noticed that students were more willing to listen and learn. Students also never got out of control when I was left in charge which was a great feeling. I got lots of practice being in front of the classroom this semester and it was a rewarding experience when students would raise their hands and ask me questions.

Reflection

It can be concluded that I simply just needed to be more involved in the lessons for students to see me as their teacher. After seeing these results, it reinforced my drive to become great. It's my responsibility to take care of students on a daily basis and make sure when they are done with our lessons, they are better furthered in their academic careers. One of the hardest parts is keeping your classroom under control. If you can successfully do this, then the school year will go much more smoothly. I feel confident in my abilities transitioning into the final semester of student teaching. Of course, I have much more to learn but I look forward to the challenge and to continue building on these relationships with everybody.