This year has been one
hundred times more successful than last year. I think that this was due to a
different bunch of children, but also, more importantly, it was due to the way
I handled and owned my classroom from the very beginning.
I went into this year
knowing that I was going to be a whole lot stricter and more confident. I
started this on day 1. As soon as someone started turning into a monkey I
jumped on this, and then on the next thing and then...on the next thing. My
class is not perfect. They do not always keep quiet. They don't always pack up
in their allocated 5 minutes. They think they’re on holiday if I'm not speaking
at that moment. Some hardly ever do their homework. But if I glare at
them, they keep quiet. And this, is a GREAT victory for me!
I don't shout as much as
I did last year. I had to actively work at this. Now it is very rare, and if it
does happen I am usually pretty aware of it. I realise that it’s because I'm in
a bad mood, or that it’s important that I shout right now! There are still some
of those awful banshee-throat-screaming moments, but when they happen I try not
to take them too seriously and laugh at the way my throat hurts!
I love the way I can sit
or stand in front of my class waiting for them to keep quiet and that it doesn't take
them too long to get the message. I don't have to shout to get this to happen.
Folded arms and a bored look will do! I love the way my students sit on the
carpet and can (usually!) be quiet and listen to the other children. Even if
they’re not listening – at least they are quiet!
My success stories of
this year:
- Going to a Whole Brain Teaching Workshop and learning about the Super Achievers Board, where individual kids can get recognised for anything they do. This has been great for me and my kids!
- Timing EVERYTHING they do on the Promethean board. I am structured and so are they. And I can tell them how long they've been doing NOTHING for. Or celebrate how quickly it took them to do a task.
- Doing a ‘pack-up’ competition that encouraged them to pack up quickly. At the end of it, the classroom looks spotless too!
- Morning Meetings. Every morning we meet as a class for about ten minutes, some days are longer as we discuss issues that have been brought to the ‘agenda’. This has been a wonderful time where the kids get a chance to be heard - “what if your friends says she doesn’t want to be your friend anymore”, or I get a chance to tell them if the routine is interrupted in some way or if there are certain classroom things that I'm not happy with. There is also meeting protocol, everyone must sit up straight, be quiet and no fidgeting! I always ask the person who is messing around to remind us of all the rules!
Things that were difficult
for me:
- Teaching maths. A big challenge. I have many different levels in my class and I find it so hard to juggle all these. I also find it difficult to get kids to understand things that I find so easy!
- Monitoring homework! Following up on the sneaky ones.
- Losing my temper without thinking first (screeching-banshee moment!)
- Battling with kids who have emotional issues. Trying to get them to behave, care about their work, make an effort to listen and understand.
- Letting go of the things I can't change and not being so hard on myself. Sometimes a child won't change (yet) and doesn’t realise that he or she is just making it worse for themselves.
I have endeavoured the
whole year to keep getting better. Through the year I started to realise,
however, that being a teacher, or at least being a grade 5 teacher, is not the
best thing for me to do. I realised that in the moments when I wasn’t as
patient as I could have been or while I was standing at the board battling
through division with my class. Children deserve teachers who are passionate
about what they do. Being just less than passionate about teaching is not going
to help the world in the way I want to. I love the kids and I love being loved
by them, but I'm not sure I want to make them do their homework!
Through all this though,
when I look back at my year, I am overwhelmed with love for the children in my
care and wish that I could see where they’ll go in their lives!
And... this is my story!
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