As I mentioned before, sometimes I feel like I have it all together! This post is about the days that I don't. Areas that I can definitely improve upon in my teaching practice and of course, how I can fix those things.
Two Areas for Growth:
After the student panel today I learned two things that I do (or don't do rather) that the students hold much more valuable than I do. I forget what it is like to be a high school student! It's been a long time, being a college student is so much more recent so when I try to get into the "student mindset" I think back to college so much more than high school. Obviously this isn't intentional, but I realized today that this is something I do, for better or for worse.
One Action Step:
Two Areas for Growth:
After the student panel today I learned two things that I do (or don't do rather) that the students hold much more valuable than I do. I forget what it is like to be a high school student! It's been a long time, being a college student is so much more recent so when I try to get into the "student mindset" I think back to college so much more than high school. Obviously this isn't intentional, but I realized today that this is something I do, for better or for worse.
- Putting grades in the grade book faster. Simple task, I could definitely make this happen. Grades just aren't as important to me. I check student work, I can quickly see what they are understanding and what they aren't by flipping through student work. I don't always put the work in the grade book. I forget how validating it feels to see that number in the garbed, like a pat on the back that they got that work done... they accomplished something. I didn't realize I was robbing them of that feeling!
- Checking in with students one-non-one more often. I should spend more time with every student individually. I check in with them twice every six weeks, but it's at their will. I should go out of my way to check in with them, I need to do more than say my door is always open, I need to walk directly up to them and pull them through that open door.
One Action Step:
- In order to address both of those areas of growth I need to better organize my time. Prioritize grading and teacher-student conferences because that is what the students find important. The student panel today was really eye opening. I work with these kids everyday and I am still surprised by their minds and everything I can learn from them!