Bullying

The last few days have been the hardest I've faced as a teacher. Despite my best efforts to create a safe space for my students, the bullying and harassment that has been present all year with 8B has surfaced with a vengeance. I was tuned in to potential issues, recognized a problem, attempted to stop it but the students ignored my instructions and went ahead as planned with a play presentation that was hurtful to another member of the class. I shouldn't have trusted they would make the right decision. I should have checked their scripts before they performed. I was tired, overwhelmed and I dropped the ball. I have done my best to repair the damage that happened on my watch. I have had a solid community circle with the perpetrators, apologies have been well thought out, plans of action put in place. Guidance is involved and stepping up efforts to deal with the seismic divides in the classroom. This week, caring was not enough. And yet the fact that I do care leaves me so broken hearted that I wasn't able to be the teacher that I want to be. And that is a really shitty way to wrap up what has been a successful practicum.

Are they even listening?

Last week all our students went to see The Neverending Story at Young People's Theatre. The play fits into our Pathway on Courage, which is all about reading comprehension and understanding texts. Prior to going to the theatre we worked on pulling out the main details from a text and we also reviewed what to pay attention to during the production. After the play we summarized the performance as a class and then we moved into their assignment: writing a play review. Students were given organizers that gave them the specific questions to answer in their play reviews. We went over the rubric, made an anchor chart, reviewed instructions during each lesson and worked one on one to complete the task. Despite it all they just weren't getting it. They decided within the first 5 minutes of the movie that they didn't like it, so they stopped paying attention. They decided that they hated the play and instead of backing up their opinions with supporting facts, as per the assignment instructions, the majority of one class wrote rants. They wrote opinion pieces and/or summaries of the play and ignored their organizers and assignment instructions almost entirely. I've spent this whole week working with them and the result is that they haven't been paying attention. Or they've opted not to listen.

Reading their play reviews was a very frustrating task for me. I had moments of thinking that I've failed as a teacher because the majority of the class bombed the assignment. But then I marked my other two classes and for the most part their reviews were great. The issue, and I've come to learn that many teachers have the same issue with this class, is that they have poor listening skills and don't follow directions well. They are outspoken and opinionated but can't follow through on assignments. Nevertheless, I know that I can improve my own practice. If I have a class like that again I would make sure that they hand their organizers in with their assignments, so that they are more accountable and on task. I will also follow their progress even more closely so I know that they are on task and can't nip problems in the bud. Ultimately though, there is only so many times I can repeat myself, or give clear instructions.

Next week my students in that class will be redoing their assignment in class. They will receive their assignment with a mark and assess where they went wrong. Then, in class, the students will fill in their organizer all over again. There will be no shortcuts, no "I'll do it a home" or "I know what I'm gonna write." They will redo it in detail and hand it in with their assignment. Then they will have one period to re-write the assignment by hand and submit it at the end of class. The new mark will be averaged with the old. In part I am being generous by providing them with the opportunity to get a better grade. However, I believe it is important to reign in their attitude and lack of listening skills and demonstrate that following instructions is important. Miss Williams is disappointed.

Goodbye Comfort Zone, Hello Glenview

During my last practicum I was learning new things, and teaching them to my students, on a daily basis. But it was all within my comfort zone. I'm not a drama expert, but I have a familiarity and a comfort with how to teach it. My main challenge as a rotary teacher was classroom management. At Glenview I'm teaching subjects that I've never taught before but I have the advantage of teaching three classes as opposed to twelve.

I absolutely adore being able to get to know my students. Last practicum it took me the better part of the month before students would turn to me instead of to my AT. These students have been coming to me since my step days. They've gotten to know me faster because I've been teaching a lot more than during my last practicum, and I have much more face time to interact, answer their questions and get to know them. Caring about them has been the most rewarding and straightforward part of my first week.

My challenge this week is to adjust to the environment at my new school and to working with my new AT. My last AT was extremely committed to me and to my success. He gave me extensive feedback, both detailed and general, to help me improve my practice. This time around the feedback is very minimal, which I suppose is okay for a second practicum. I am now comfortable in front a classroom, I can run and manage a lesson, I can get through to the students. I am a competent, caring teacher. Yet, there is still room for improvement. The feedback that would be useful at this point is how to fine-tune, tweak and adjust my practice in order to improve on what I'm doing. I can always be doing better. My AT isn't paying close attention to what I'm doing and I will have to get used to not getting the feedback that I want. I will learn to adjust on my own and through speaking to other teachers and teacher candidates. Nonetheless I'm logging great practice time in front of the class and gaining significant experience. This time around will certainly be different, which through me off at first, but it will definitely be a learning experience.