Day 29 - Reflective Teacher Blogging Challenge
How have you changed as an educator since you first started?
Here's another one of these prompts that you think you'll be able to answer easily but then you're forced to really evaluate your career.
I have been teaching for 15 years now and I'd like to think that I have become "seasoned" and "evolved." When I think back to my first years, I think I had a difficult time because I walked into the job with the expectation that : 1. I was the supreme know-it-all in the classroom. 2. my students would be performing at a certain level 3. My students would automatically respect me and want to learn. In the first few weeks, my bubble was burst and I was left feeling dejected, a bit of a failure and less than perfect. It was in part due to my unrealistic expectations and in part due to the fact that students knowing you are a brand new teacher will go to the ends of the universe to push your buttons and test you, driving you nuts (or out of the profession!)
I held on because I am not a quitter and I realized (after some reflection) that I had a lot to learn if I wanted to become the educator that I am today but that it was not unattainable. I realized that the first thing I needed to do was to set my expectations for both my students as well as myself within reach. I learned that I could even admit to myself and my students that I did not know everything. I found better ways to present lessons by talking with colleagues and asking for help. I explored, studied and researched. I learned that I needed to be true to who I am and find my "teacher voice." I learned that I needed to have more patience and how to draw a line between friend and teacher- being loved is great but being a great educator is even better.
29 September 2014
28 September 2014
Technology and curriculum
Day 28 - Reflective Teacher Blogging Challenge
Should technology drive curriculum, or vice versa?
For me, this is a no-brainer. I've said many times how I feel a bit behind technology-wise, but I do recognize its utility in a classroom. That said, what I have been doing is to develop my lessons and curriculum and adding to their effectiveness by incorporating technology. The Internet is a wonderful, rich tool that can make any illustrating a point as easy as plugging a phrase into Google. Google docs are a great way to share documents and collect information. YouTube is one of my fave go-to's for Italian music or other authentic language. However, all of these resources are almost useless if there is no substance (curriculum) behind them. I have had the opportunity to observe other teachers who were among the most tech-savvy you could find. One thing stood out- those who used technology as a means of support rather than THE lesson had hands down the most effective lessons.
Should technology drive curriculum, or vice versa?
For me, this is a no-brainer. I've said many times how I feel a bit behind technology-wise, but I do recognize its utility in a classroom. That said, what I have been doing is to develop my lessons and curriculum and adding to their effectiveness by incorporating technology. The Internet is a wonderful, rich tool that can make any illustrating a point as easy as plugging a phrase into Google. Google docs are a great way to share documents and collect information. YouTube is one of my fave go-to's for Italian music or other authentic language. However, all of these resources are almost useless if there is no substance (curriculum) behind them. I have had the opportunity to observe other teachers who were among the most tech-savvy you could find. One thing stood out- those who used technology as a means of support rather than THE lesson had hands down the most effective lessons.
27 September 2014
R&R?
DAY 27 Reflective Teacher Blogging Challenge
What role do weekends and holidays play in your teaching?
I wish I could say that on weekends and holidays I just relaxed and rested up for my work week. Ok, I don't know if I actually mean that. I'm not even sure that I would even know how to relax. My weekends are usually just as busy, if not more, than my work week. 28 Sundays a year I teach Italian to kids ages 4 and up. In between, you'll probably find me at the soccer fields (watching my sons), doing the food shopping, cleaning or a myriad of other errands. And in between all of this, I am constantly thinking of my teaching. I'll hear a song and think, "Oh, this is perfect for reviewing the imperfect tense." I'll scroll through the tweets and find a great article and have to print it out to share in class. I just can't seem to turn off my teacher brain. Everywhere I look, I find something I can bring into the classroom. For now, I guess it'll be ok, right? I'll save the rest and relaxation for retirement. Maybe.
What role do weekends and holidays play in your teaching?
I wish I could say that on weekends and holidays I just relaxed and rested up for my work week. Ok, I don't know if I actually mean that. I'm not even sure that I would even know how to relax. My weekends are usually just as busy, if not more, than my work week. 28 Sundays a year I teach Italian to kids ages 4 and up. In between, you'll probably find me at the soccer fields (watching my sons), doing the food shopping, cleaning or a myriad of other errands. And in between all of this, I am constantly thinking of my teaching. I'll hear a song and think, "Oh, this is perfect for reviewing the imperfect tense." I'll scroll through the tweets and find a great article and have to print it out to share in class. I just can't seem to turn off my teacher brain. Everywhere I look, I find something I can bring into the classroom. For now, I guess it'll be ok, right? I'll save the rest and relaxation for retirement. Maybe.
26 September 2014
My top sites
DAY 26 - Reflective Teacher Blogging Challenge
What are your three favorite go-to sites for help/tips/resources in your teaching?
Google - I'm almost sure that there are some very amazing sites out there that might be perfect for me but for some reason, I am really bad at saving sites and so I usually end up doing a Google search for what I need. Google is probably the search engine and tool that I use the most. I don't even think there has been a day when I haven't used Google. The funny thing is that I often will do a search and see that many links are highlighted, indicating that I have already been to the site. Why don't I just bookmark these sites? I have no clue but I think I probably should start to make my life easier- at least in this way.
YouTube - Being a language teacher, YouTube is an invaluable tool which lets me share authentic language with my students. I use it to show them music videos, clips from movies or news. Sometimes, it is not as easy to find materials in Italian as it is in Spanish or French and YouTube can help fill that void.
Twitter - Although Twitter appears last on my list, it is probably the number one internet resource that I have been using since last year. Following other teachers (expanding my PLN), cultural figures, and news sources have helped me immensely. There have been many occasions when I have read something in an Italian newspaper that I have then brought into my classroom because it was perfectly adapt for what we were talking about.
Honorable mentions:
ILR.fm - This is one of my favorite Italian radio stations. I play it all the time in my classroom. It's perfect for variety and for exposing my students to music.
NYSED.gov - http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/lote/pub/lotecassess.pdf This site is one that I have visited quite a few times. I am usually not a big fan of the state government telling me how to do things but this particular page has helped me with assessments. It has sample rubrics for all types of language tasks - speaking, storytelling, written, etc. I have used some as they appear on the site and others have just served to help me develop my own idea of what I should be looking for and how to grade.
What are your three favorite go-to sites for help/tips/resources in your teaching?
Google - I'm almost sure that there are some very amazing sites out there that might be perfect for me but for some reason, I am really bad at saving sites and so I usually end up doing a Google search for what I need. Google is probably the search engine and tool that I use the most. I don't even think there has been a day when I haven't used Google. The funny thing is that I often will do a search and see that many links are highlighted, indicating that I have already been to the site. Why don't I just bookmark these sites? I have no clue but I think I probably should start to make my life easier- at least in this way.
YouTube - Being a language teacher, YouTube is an invaluable tool which lets me share authentic language with my students. I use it to show them music videos, clips from movies or news. Sometimes, it is not as easy to find materials in Italian as it is in Spanish or French and YouTube can help fill that void.
Twitter - Although Twitter appears last on my list, it is probably the number one internet resource that I have been using since last year. Following other teachers (expanding my PLN), cultural figures, and news sources have helped me immensely. There have been many occasions when I have read something in an Italian newspaper that I have then brought into my classroom because it was perfectly adapt for what we were talking about.
Honorable mentions:
ILR.fm - This is one of my favorite Italian radio stations. I play it all the time in my classroom. It's perfect for variety and for exposing my students to music.
NYSED.gov - http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/lote/pub/lotecassess.pdf This site is one that I have visited quite a few times. I am usually not a big fan of the state government telling me how to do things but this particular page has helped me with assessments. It has sample rubrics for all types of language tasks - speaking, storytelling, written, etc. I have used some as they appear on the site and others have just served to help me develop my own idea of what I should be looking for and how to grade.
25 September 2014
Can a 40 day challenge be the answer?
DAY 25- Reflective teacher Blogging Challenge
The ideal collaboration between students-what would it look like?
Wow. As a language teacher, this is something I always wish would happen. Many times, the interaction is student to teacher and vice versa. In a perfect world, my students would interact in the target language ONLY. I don't just mean when I ask them to create a dialogue and then present to the class but also when they were chit-chatting. Although I encourage as much as I can the use of the target language only, fear overtakes many a student. The fear of having a poor accent. The fear of mispronouncing a word. The fear of not knowing a word. The fear of others thinking you try to hard or not enough. Basically, the fear of being judged. I do try to build my students self confidence by reiterating time and time again that they are awesome just for trying and that the more they use the language, the more comfortable they'll feel using it.
Last year, I tried something different. I chose to give up English for lent. I wanted to model for them. Although I do use Italian in the classroom for the majority of the lesson, I didn't always outside the classroom and I would resort to English for time constraints or just based on my perception of how difficult a grammatical point would be to understand in Italian only. My fear of me not being able to assure myself that they "got it" would lead me at times to resort to English. However, I told them about my Lenten offering and that I would use only Italian for the 40 days with anyone who knew or was studying the language both within and outside the classroom. I promised them if they would agree to challenge themselves in my class as well and not complain, that I would, at the end of the challenge, cook for them. I have to say that this went over really well for the majority. Any time I saw my students - in the cafeteria, the guidance office, the hallways- our only interaction was in Italian. I was so pleased with the results that I will definitely do it again this year. It not only helped me find alternate ways to assess them and it helped them be more open to the idea of using the language exclusively. I know that many language teachers will be wagging their fingers at me; telling me that I should be doing this all year anyhow. I'm here to admit that it's difficult. And it's not difficult because I am not confident in my language skills but just for the mere fact that most of our daily life happens in English. I know many language teachers whose own children cannot speak the language well or at all. I try my best with my own kids and I know that can speak pretty well but for them, it can seem a bit unnatural because they go about 80% of their day, if not more, in English so to use Italian for the other 20% can be somewhat forced. I don't force too much because I don't want them to shut down and I feel the same way for my students. I encourage, encourage, encourage all year the use of Italian at all times but if I'm too forceful, they might not ask me a question or comment at all. However, if they know there is a start and an end to a challenge, they are more apt to participate and even though the 40 days come to a close, their use of Italian ALWAYS increases- for all of my students, even the weakest of them. It's like when I'm running. I set a goal for time or distance and try to achieve it and while I'm doing it, sometimes all I want is for the time to be up or that mile to be completed so I can stop. But when I finish, I feel good about myself and my achievement that I continue to push myself even after it's over.
The ideal collaboration between students-what would it look like?
Wow. As a language teacher, this is something I always wish would happen. Many times, the interaction is student to teacher and vice versa. In a perfect world, my students would interact in the target language ONLY. I don't just mean when I ask them to create a dialogue and then present to the class but also when they were chit-chatting. Although I encourage as much as I can the use of the target language only, fear overtakes many a student. The fear of having a poor accent. The fear of mispronouncing a word. The fear of not knowing a word. The fear of others thinking you try to hard or not enough. Basically, the fear of being judged. I do try to build my students self confidence by reiterating time and time again that they are awesome just for trying and that the more they use the language, the more comfortable they'll feel using it.
Last year, I tried something different. I chose to give up English for lent. I wanted to model for them. Although I do use Italian in the classroom for the majority of the lesson, I didn't always outside the classroom and I would resort to English for time constraints or just based on my perception of how difficult a grammatical point would be to understand in Italian only. My fear of me not being able to assure myself that they "got it" would lead me at times to resort to English. However, I told them about my Lenten offering and that I would use only Italian for the 40 days with anyone who knew or was studying the language both within and outside the classroom. I promised them if they would agree to challenge themselves in my class as well and not complain, that I would, at the end of the challenge, cook for them. I have to say that this went over really well for the majority. Any time I saw my students - in the cafeteria, the guidance office, the hallways- our only interaction was in Italian. I was so pleased with the results that I will definitely do it again this year. It not only helped me find alternate ways to assess them and it helped them be more open to the idea of using the language exclusively. I know that many language teachers will be wagging their fingers at me; telling me that I should be doing this all year anyhow. I'm here to admit that it's difficult. And it's not difficult because I am not confident in my language skills but just for the mere fact that most of our daily life happens in English. I know many language teachers whose own children cannot speak the language well or at all. I try my best with my own kids and I know that can speak pretty well but for them, it can seem a bit unnatural because they go about 80% of their day, if not more, in English so to use Italian for the other 20% can be somewhat forced. I don't force too much because I don't want them to shut down and I feel the same way for my students. I encourage, encourage, encourage all year the use of Italian at all times but if I'm too forceful, they might not ask me a question or comment at all. However, if they know there is a start and an end to a challenge, they are more apt to participate and even though the 40 days come to a close, their use of Italian ALWAYS increases- for all of my students, even the weakest of them. It's like when I'm running. I set a goal for time or distance and try to achieve it and while I'm doing it, sometimes all I want is for the time to be up or that mile to be completed so I can stop. But when I finish, I feel good about myself and my achievement that I continue to push myself even after it's over.
Non conformist...
DAY 24 - Reflective teacher Blogging challenge
Which learning trend captures your attention the most and why?
I wish I could easily answer this and sound super-amazing. I guess my main problem is that I have never been someone who could just follow one method or approach. Ok, fine, I'll admit it. During my methods class I know we had to read and study what the then pioneers in education were doing. I'll never forget being observed by my professor while student teaching. He said to me that he was really impressed the way that I used this method or applied that approach. All I remember thinking was, "I'm glad he thinks I did this or that but I just did what I thought would be good for my students."
Fast forward a few years and I find myself in my own class and I think I'm still doing the same thing. I use what I find fitting for my classes. I usually think of what I want the kids to get out of a lesson and then design it. I think that's along the lines of UBD. I use a lot of projects that put the kids in charge of their learning - I think that's something along the lines of PBL. Some groups of kids are nice and cohesive, working well together. Some groups are among the most mismatched that you wonder who could have possibly put them together and you almost dread their entrance. No matter what the group, I adapt my lessons to them. Basically, I just can't commit to ONE method or even a few methods. When my class reveals itself to me, my lessons seem to shape themselves. I know this sounds a little bit like a cop-out answer but it's the truth.
Which learning trend captures your attention the most and why?
I wish I could easily answer this and sound super-amazing. I guess my main problem is that I have never been someone who could just follow one method or approach. Ok, fine, I'll admit it. During my methods class I know we had to read and study what the then pioneers in education were doing. I'll never forget being observed by my professor while student teaching. He said to me that he was really impressed the way that I used this method or applied that approach. All I remember thinking was, "I'm glad he thinks I did this or that but I just did what I thought would be good for my students."
Fast forward a few years and I find myself in my own class and I think I'm still doing the same thing. I use what I find fitting for my classes. I usually think of what I want the kids to get out of a lesson and then design it. I think that's along the lines of UBD. I use a lot of projects that put the kids in charge of their learning - I think that's something along the lines of PBL. Some groups of kids are nice and cohesive, working well together. Some groups are among the most mismatched that you wonder who could have possibly put them together and you almost dread their entrance. No matter what the group, I adapt my lessons to them. Basically, I just can't commit to ONE method or even a few methods. When my class reveals itself to me, my lessons seem to shape themselves. I know this sounds a little bit like a cop-out answer but it's the truth.
23 September 2014
Community
Day 23 Reflective Teacher Blogging Challenge
One way that I have been incorporating the community as a whole into my teaching this year is through the Italian Honor Society. I am fortunate to be the academic adviser for this great group of students. We are working on many things this year and I am so proud of them for truly being organized! A few things that we plan to do:
1. Italian Night - This cultural event is aimed at the whole community from ages 1 -100. We will offer live performances of classical music by a quartet, an instructional dance (the Tarantella), fun contests like spaghetti eating and pizza making and of course there will be tons of FOOD! We will also be collecting donations of non-perishable food items to donate to a local soup kitchen.
2. Sav-a-Pet - There is a local animal shelter and many of the students have expressed a desire to help out. I find it only fitting that we help since our chapter was named for Saint Francis, who was a lover of all creatures.
3. Mini classes for the elementary schools - I was fortunate enough to lead a group of adults this summer to Italy. Among the group were some of my colleagues who I did not know so well. One of them is an elementary school teacher. Since we had hit it off so well, I felt comfortable enough to ask her if she would be willing to have my high school students come in to her class and teach a few mini lessons. She said she absolutely love to do that and would hold me to it! Right now, we are working out the schedule and we might even have a few other teachers interested in participating. I can't wait to see how this goes!
One way that I have been incorporating the community as a whole into my teaching this year is through the Italian Honor Society. I am fortunate to be the academic adviser for this great group of students. We are working on many things this year and I am so proud of them for truly being organized! A few things that we plan to do:
1. Italian Night - This cultural event is aimed at the whole community from ages 1 -100. We will offer live performances of classical music by a quartet, an instructional dance (the Tarantella), fun contests like spaghetti eating and pizza making and of course there will be tons of FOOD! We will also be collecting donations of non-perishable food items to donate to a local soup kitchen.
2. Sav-a-Pet - There is a local animal shelter and many of the students have expressed a desire to help out. I find it only fitting that we help since our chapter was named for Saint Francis, who was a lover of all creatures.
3. Mini classes for the elementary schools - I was fortunate enough to lead a group of adults this summer to Italy. Among the group were some of my colleagues who I did not know so well. One of them is an elementary school teacher. Since we had hit it off so well, I felt comfortable enough to ask her if she would be willing to have my high school students come in to her class and teach a few mini lessons. She said she absolutely love to do that and would hold me to it! Right now, we are working out the schedule and we might even have a few other teachers interested in participating. I can't wait to see how this goes!
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