This summer I set goals of what I'd like to accomplish, both personally and professionally. One of these includes developing Essential Learning Outcomes (ELO's) and curriculum maps for my junior high classes.
You might be asking, why didn't the department have these development for a first year? I teach in a small school. Our department is made up of three teachers; when one retired, the school board and administration decided to create a junior high wing to the school. Three different teachers taught the three courses that I now teach. Yikes.
All these teachers are great at what they do with very different styles. They also had four or more courses to prep for themselves, so they weren't able to leave the paper trails of their year long courses that they may have liked.
I felt...ecstatic. I loved this challenge! As a first year it was overwhelming, but the department gave me the freedom to develop my own curriculum for ALL of my courses. I wasn't completely thrown to the wolves. We held weekly PLC meetings where I could share what my plans were and align them with their courses.
After this first year, I have a greater understanding of my students, their background, and the curriculum expectations of the district, and now I am prepared to formally write out ELO's and curriculum maps for my second year. (And they'll probably need to be rewritten next summer.)
I have only one year under my belt, but I would still like to share my advice on lesson planning and how to survive if you have multiple preps.
1. Go with Your Gut:
In a few weeks, you will come to know your students and their background knowledge of your content area better than anyone else. If you have a feeling that they aren't sure when to use commas, add a mini lesson! I have overspent (not wasted, because it was still useful) many minutes, if not hours, pouring over papers and counting how many missed commas students have to decide if it needed to be taught. A mini lesson doesn't take long and never hurts!
If you realize they're interested in video games with strong antagonists, use these as examples and references in class. Once you realize this, don't spend too much time analyzing whether or not if the topic is academic enough. Going with your gut, you will hopefully find topics that engage them, and engagement leads to critical thinking.
2. Beg, Borrow, and Steal:
This advice was given to me by my own high school English teacher when talking about going into the field. Planning lessons for multiple preps in the day takes a lot of time, and even more when you create original materials for all of your lessons. It's more than okay to ask your coworkers and teachers from other districts for lesson materials. I learned this year that there are teachers EVERYWHERE who are willing to share and help you. Don't be afraid to ask.
3. Be Over Prepared:
Some lessons will take less time than you expect and others will take longer than you expect. Be prepared for this. When lessons are short, have academic games ready to be pulled out. I have played Character Twenty Questions to review characters from our novel. For this year, I am preparing large Daily Oral Language sheets with packets of noodles to act as punctuation.
If lessons go longer than expected, remind yourself that you are teaching depth, not breadth. Then reflect on the lesson as to why it took too long. Was the material too complex or too many steps? Were students distracted by an extensive project that didn't demonstrate true understanding?
4. Repetition is Good:
Some may think students get bored with repetition, but many students need repetition to keep them organized and to reinforce knowledge, skills, and habits. If possible, keep your lessons organized in a similar manner, such as: Whole Group Instruction, Guided Practice, and Independent Practice. The time spent on each of these may vary from lesson to lesson, but it helps organize both you and your students. You should also present the same material in several ways. Perhaps you had students watch a video, then take notes, and have a discussion on the same topic. It's good for them to visit this topic three times! Don't worry about them being bored. Another example of repetition: Every Wednesday was vocabulary day. Students knew they needed to find a word with a specific prefix and define it at the beginning of the hour.
5. Ask Your Students:
I don't recommend asking them what you should teach them (many would say, "Nothing."), but ask them about their interests. Can you use those topics for engagement? Does it relate to the content in anyway?
Also ask them if the material is confusing or clear. Ask them to give you a thumbs up or down based on understanding throughout the lesson. DO NOT MOVE ON IF THERE ARE SEVERAL DOWN. If there's some down thumbs, either continue with guided instruction or work with students one-on-one.
Use Exit Slips as formative assessments to student understanding. Their responses will guide you in whether repetition is needed or not.
Lastly, ask your students what type of instruction or activities helped them understand the material the best. This helps you to know what strategies to continue using and increases student reflection of personal learning and learning styles.
I have learned that ELO's and curriculum continuously develope based on our students and their needs. These will never be finished. These will continue to adapt and grow. I am currently reading Mike Schmoker's Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning to help me develop my work this summer. Perhaps a review of "Simplicity," "What We Teach," and "How We Teach" will be in my future.
I hope this advice is helpful to many new teachers out there. Don't be overwhelmed. Keep your excitement and passion on your sleeve.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Thursday, July 9, 2015
First Year Sacrifices
Once upon a time, a first year teacher had grand ideas that she would be able to keep a daily journal of all things teaching, and then she would reflect and share her learnings through a personal blog. Oh, how she was wrong!
One of the first lessons in teaching is to know your priorities. As a first year with four different classes to prep for, I quickly learned that I didn't have time for daily reflection, through writing anyway.
As a newbie, my first priority was my students. Now, I know there are veteran teachers out there who may be throwing their hands up and screaming, "No!" quickly followed by things such as family or personal health. I'd heard that before. My principal actually said to put family first at new teacher training. My cooperating teacher during my final semester told me that I can't teach if I'm not healthy: physically, emotionally, and mentally. At the time, I nodded my head in agreement with these amazing people who were only trying to help me, but I wasn't truly listening.
You see, I've always been a stubborn person. Being obstinate often means that I require to learn several of life's lessons the hard way. The order of my priorities and sacrifices during the first year of teaching was something many, many great people (who I respected) tried to warn me about, but it didn't sink in. I was determined that everything that affected my students was my #1 priority. It's not as simple as it sounds.
Looking back on my blog, I made two posts during the school year. One in September and one in October. Not bad, if I'd been able to consistently post once a month. But I didn't. You might ask, "Why? Surely writing a blog once a month doesn't take too much time." You're right, the blog post doesn't take a lot of time, but I sacrificed a lot of my life that first year. Sometimes it was an okay activity to give up, some I gave up and realized that I needed, and some I fully regret.
I did keep a reflection journal on teaching, and eventually it also grew to be a source of how teaching affects my personal life, both the good and the bad. Unfortunately, it was not a daily journal. Or even weekly. I wrote when I felt like I had the time. Occasionally I wrote late at night, I wrote on the basketball and track buses, I wrote from my couch on the weekend. Not once did I write while in my classroom.
For me, my classroom quickly became the place for organizing and preparation. I rarely sit. I had difficulty even focusing on writing my lesson plans on the computer when I had several activities to prepare or clean up. This is where my first and most significant sacrifice came in to play. I sacrificed my personal time. Hundreds of hours of personal time.
Since I couldn't focus sitting at my computer in my busy classroom, I took my lesson planning books home with me and wrote them from my couch on Sunday evenings. What about all that grading? Well, I couldn't sit still long enough in my classroom to accomplish a significant amount of grading either. That's what I did Saturday mornings.
After giving up most of my weekends, I learned that I couldn't keep going like this. Spending a daily ten hours at school and then adding another ten hours on the weekend was damaging other parts of my life. I needed to take back my personal time.
Thankfully, I was already keeping up with working out for 45 minutes when I came home, but this isn't enough. I needed to start cooking healthy meals again. My diet was another sacrifice. In college I prided myself on my homecooked meals and eating healthy. My worst year of food decisions was this year, my first year teaching. I was too exhausted to cook and ate so fast that I didn't care what it tasted like. I didn't take this part of my life back until nearly the end of the year, and I've continued it into the summer by attempting to create a meal planning system that works for me that continues into the school year.
One of my sacrifices that I haven't given back yet is playing guitar. My mother started hauling me to lessons in first grade until I eventually became a guitar teacher myself prior to high school graduation. (It's one of the ways I knew I wanted to become a teacher.) This meant I spent a lot of time playing. During this first school year, I played my guitar three times. That's once every three months. This is a sacrifice that I have yet to claim back, and I hate that I haven't yet.
In my October post, I briefly touched on some of the sacrifices I made regarding relationships. After a week in school, I'm too exhausted to go out. I wanted to curl up on the couch and watch Netflix. I was too tired to even read a book. (This is terrible coming from an English Teacher!) This meant my personal relationships suffered. I have two beautiful goddaughters who I only saw three times during the school year. I spent even less time with their mother, one of my dearest friends.
My relationship with my boyfriend became strained. He became frustrated that I was always tired. He wanted my attention just as much as my students, but instead I would briefly nod my head as I wrote lesson plans from the other room. Thankfully, he and my friends have been patient with me. I've learned that balancing all relationships, not just those in school, are necessary for my health. I need to spend time with them, and be there physically, emotionally, and mentally to benefit all of us.
If you're a new teacher or coming upon your student teaching, please don't be as obstinate as I was. Really listen to those who care about you. Ask yourself if the sacrifices you make to be a teacher are healthy. If they're not, talk to those around you and find a way that supports you. Some of my teacher friends went through this too; we all do. Some no longer bring any work home. I set timers for how long I'm allowed to work on grading and lessons away from my desk. Find a way for you that's balanced.
This career is challenging, but our students make it worth the tears, laughter, frustration, and epiphanies. Be healthy and happy for it!
One of the first lessons in teaching is to know your priorities. As a first year with four different classes to prep for, I quickly learned that I didn't have time for daily reflection, through writing anyway.
As a newbie, my first priority was my students. Now, I know there are veteran teachers out there who may be throwing their hands up and screaming, "No!" quickly followed by things such as family or personal health. I'd heard that before. My principal actually said to put family first at new teacher training. My cooperating teacher during my final semester told me that I can't teach if I'm not healthy: physically, emotionally, and mentally. At the time, I nodded my head in agreement with these amazing people who were only trying to help me, but I wasn't truly listening.
 |
| Make time for important people! My goddaughters loved this play area! |
You see, I've always been a stubborn person. Being obstinate often means that I require to learn several of life's lessons the hard way. The order of my priorities and sacrifices during the first year of teaching was something many, many great people (who I respected) tried to warn me about, but it didn't sink in. I was determined that everything that affected my students was my #1 priority. It's not as simple as it sounds.
Looking back on my blog, I made two posts during the school year. One in September and one in October. Not bad, if I'd been able to consistently post once a month. But I didn't. You might ask, "Why? Surely writing a blog once a month doesn't take too much time." You're right, the blog post doesn't take a lot of time, but I sacrificed a lot of my life that first year. Sometimes it was an okay activity to give up, some I gave up and realized that I needed, and some I fully regret.
I did keep a reflection journal on teaching, and eventually it also grew to be a source of how teaching affects my personal life, both the good and the bad. Unfortunately, it was not a daily journal. Or even weekly. I wrote when I felt like I had the time. Occasionally I wrote late at night, I wrote on the basketball and track buses, I wrote from my couch on the weekend. Not once did I write while in my classroom.
For me, my classroom quickly became the place for organizing and preparation. I rarely sit. I had difficulty even focusing on writing my lesson plans on the computer when I had several activities to prepare or clean up. This is where my first and most significant sacrifice came in to play. I sacrificed my personal time. Hundreds of hours of personal time.
Since I couldn't focus sitting at my computer in my busy classroom, I took my lesson planning books home with me and wrote them from my couch on Sunday evenings. What about all that grading? Well, I couldn't sit still long enough in my classroom to accomplish a significant amount of grading either. That's what I did Saturday mornings.
After giving up most of my weekends, I learned that I couldn't keep going like this. Spending a daily ten hours at school and then adding another ten hours on the weekend was damaging other parts of my life. I needed to take back my personal time.
 |
| Pizza counts as healthy meal planning, right? |
One of my sacrifices that I haven't given back yet is playing guitar. My mother started hauling me to lessons in first grade until I eventually became a guitar teacher myself prior to high school graduation. (It's one of the ways I knew I wanted to become a teacher.) This meant I spent a lot of time playing. During this first school year, I played my guitar three times. That's once every three months. This is a sacrifice that I have yet to claim back, and I hate that I haven't yet.
In my October post, I briefly touched on some of the sacrifices I made regarding relationships. After a week in school, I'm too exhausted to go out. I wanted to curl up on the couch and watch Netflix. I was too tired to even read a book. (This is terrible coming from an English Teacher!) This meant my personal relationships suffered. I have two beautiful goddaughters who I only saw three times during the school year. I spent even less time with their mother, one of my dearest friends.
My relationship with my boyfriend became strained. He became frustrated that I was always tired. He wanted my attention just as much as my students, but instead I would briefly nod my head as I wrote lesson plans from the other room. Thankfully, he and my friends have been patient with me. I've learned that balancing all relationships, not just those in school, are necessary for my health. I need to spend time with them, and be there physically, emotionally, and mentally to benefit all of us.
 |
| An encouraging note from a grateful student. |
This career is challenging, but our students make it worth the tears, laughter, frustration, and epiphanies. Be healthy and happy for it!
Saturday, October 4, 2014
It's All About Time and Dedication
I think a blog post is overdue, but time has seemed to be so precious lately. Between having grades and lesson plans due every week (yes, my wonderful principal requires lesson plans by 7:45 Monday mornings and grades due at 3:30 in the afternoon) I feel like my time is limited. And no, my parenthetical comment is not sarcastic. I really do believe my principal is wonderful and can approach him for anything. Seriously, in the first month of school I have been in his office trying to figure out student behavior, asking about changing curriculum, ordering dictionaries, increasing yearbook prices, and coaching positions. He has never turned me away or set my questions aside as unimportant. However, the deadline on grades and lessons kicks my butt, even on weekends.
Don't get me wrong, I see the benefits of them being due. It forces me to stay on top of my work and having final grades posted on time won't be a problem, but when I take a break from my Saturday grading--yes, I grade Saturday and plan Sunday--and look at my "friends" on Facebook, I can't help but be jealous.
I see girls dolled up and going out with their significant other. Last weekend my boyfriend and I went for dinner and were home and asleep by 10. I was exhausted. Last night I stayed at school until six trying to complete "busy" tasks that I can't seem to finish on the regular school day, like organizing my classroom library. Yes, if I let it go the students probably wouldn't care, but I do. I believe in demonstrating organization so that they see the importance of being organized and prepared. After leaving school, I drove over an hour to get to my boyfriend's place only to find that the weekend had started for them and wanted to go out after supper.
I was exhausted. Sitting around the house wasn't fun because I wanted to be in bed sleeping. But I also wanted to be up and spend quality time with my boyfriend and his friends. Sadly, this stressed me out. I was on the verge of tears from exhaustion and desire to not be tired. Thankfully, caffeine (which I NEVER drank before my-big-girl job) kicks in and I was able to have a good night.
But today I find myself sitting at his kitchen table grading 7th and 8th grade paragraphs, essay outlines, bellwork, and creative writing. He was doing engineering homework so we were at least together. Now he's gone to scout for ducks and I continue to grade (and write this blog).
Maybe it's the school district, maybe it's administration expectations. Maybe it's teaching personality and personal expectations. Perhaps the next four weeks I'll learn the secret.
For now, I did receive good news that my hard work is paying off. Even though my students complain that I make them write too much ("This class should be called writing." Uh hmm...English is writing.), my principal tells me that they report positively on my class. My first formal observation and evaluation meeting have taken place and I'm on the right track. Yay! (I was jumping up and down in my head when my principal shared his evaluation.) It'll all come together one day at a time.
I took a break to find my friends on Facebook. I see my other teaching friends are at Octoberfest festivities, apple orchards, and pumpkin patches. They look put together (as I sit here in my sweat pants and baggy sweatshirt) and wonder, "What am I doing wrong?" Or is the question, "What am I doing differently?" Perhaps, "What's the secret?"
Don't get me wrong, I see the benefits of them being due. It forces me to stay on top of my work and having final grades posted on time won't be a problem, but when I take a break from my Saturday grading--yes, I grade Saturday and plan Sunday--and look at my "friends" on Facebook, I can't help but be jealous.I see girls dolled up and going out with their significant other. Last weekend my boyfriend and I went for dinner and were home and asleep by 10. I was exhausted. Last night I stayed at school until six trying to complete "busy" tasks that I can't seem to finish on the regular school day, like organizing my classroom library. Yes, if I let it go the students probably wouldn't care, but I do. I believe in demonstrating organization so that they see the importance of being organized and prepared. After leaving school, I drove over an hour to get to my boyfriend's place only to find that the weekend had started for them and wanted to go out after supper.
I was exhausted. Sitting around the house wasn't fun because I wanted to be in bed sleeping. But I also wanted to be up and spend quality time with my boyfriend and his friends. Sadly, this stressed me out. I was on the verge of tears from exhaustion and desire to not be tired. Thankfully, caffeine (which I NEVER drank before my-big-girl job) kicks in and I was able to have a good night.
But today I find myself sitting at his kitchen table grading 7th and 8th grade paragraphs, essay outlines, bellwork, and creative writing. He was doing engineering homework so we were at least together. Now he's gone to scout for ducks and I continue to grade (and write this blog).
Maybe it's the school district, maybe it's administration expectations. Maybe it's teaching personality and personal expectations. Perhaps the next four weeks I'll learn the secret. For now, I did receive good news that my hard work is paying off. Even though my students complain that I make them write too much ("This class should be called writing." Uh hmm...English is writing.), my principal tells me that they report positively on my class. My first formal observation and evaluation meeting have taken place and I'm on the right track. Yay! (I was jumping up and down in my head when my principal shared his evaluation.) It'll all come together one day at a time.
I took a break to find my friends on Facebook. I see my other teaching friends are at Octoberfest festivities, apple orchards, and pumpkin patches. They look put together (as I sit here in my sweat pants and baggy sweatshirt) and wonder, "What am I doing wrong?" Or is the question, "What am I doing differently?" Perhaps, "What's the secret?"
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