I suppose I risk being just a little cliche when I start talking about how this is the first I’ve written a blog. And it is probably equally as cliche to claim that I feel a little bit uncomfortable with people reading what I write. Unfortunately though, this is exactly how I feel, and it doesn’t help much to hide that fact. So it is with a bold (ok maybe not that bold) foot forward that I attempt to keep up with this journal.
First and foremost (another cliche), I think it is important to relay my goals for this blog. Or in other words, to describe what is I plan on doing with this site, and why OH why should I even keep it up. As a student teacher struggling to keep up with the enormous load of work currently being dumped upon me, it seems quite crazy to expect that I will even have time to write anything. But, my goal for this current semester is to become a reflective person, one who observes, questions, and evaluates each decision I make while in this experience. Blogging will hopefully provide an avenue for me to discuss how certain events affect my outlook and philosophy on teaching, and to receive feedback (if anyone reads this) from other educators.
I’d like to emphasize that this site will not be a place for to complain about how bad students are, how they never do homework, can’t read, or just smell bad. I don’t want to focus on how kids can’t or won’t do something, or how badly behaved Johnny was today. Instead, the focus of this blog is to analyze the way I teach, and to try and gain some sort of perspective by considering how my students respond to my methodology. When students act a certain way, it won’t help to say, “Well that’s just how Sally is.” There has to be something a little deeper.
An example might help here. Today I asked my students about whether or not they liked the way we discussed a particular unit. I explained that as a student teacher, I am currently learning to refine certain methods, and to gain as much knowledge about how they learn so I can become a better teacher. Some classes (I have four) were more mature than others, and the conversation we conducted was quite fruitful. As a result, I learned from my students that they liked using the whiteboards I had them write answers on. However, they found it to be a bit cumbersome, and so we discussed ways that it may work better.
OK, this blog was a little disjointed – but it’s my first one so I get a break (just ‘cuz).
