One day into my second placement, and I could already tell it was going to be a completely different experience than my first placement. The school culture is very different, especially because the school is way larger than my other school was. I'm excited to get to know another school! I've met a bunch of the other teachers so far, and I'm nervous I'm not going to remember enough names since there's so many of them! That wasn't as much of an issue at Lockeland, since the whole staff is about 20 people. It's fun having a lot of teachers who are excited to meet the student teachers and help us get to know the school.
It's also super different being in a first grade class after being in a departmentalized fourth grade class. Spending the whole day with the same group is an awesome opportunity to get to know the students, especially since they're so young and all over the place! I also found it funny how direct the classroom is at this age, both on the part of the students and the teacher. When one girl was bothering a table mate, my mentor teacher simply said, "Are you being polite?" And the girl said "No!" And that solved the problem instantly. It's a completely different management style than an older grade, and I'm slowly but surely getting used to all of it. They also respond really well to music, so there is a lot of music in my classroom, especially during transitions. There was music in my first classroom, but not during transitions and it played a different role in the lessons. I'm excited to see some of the other big differences between first and fourth grade!
Has anyone else noticed any huge changes? Does anyone have any advice as I start teaching in first grade? I hope you all are enjoying your placements as much as I am! :)
The change from 4th grade to kindergarten is NIGHT AND DAY. (Not surprising at all, but still interesting to see!) My FM at my first placement was definitely strict and didn't allow for much funny business in her classroom, but I still thought 4th grade management was hard; at that point some of them think they are really just too cool for (elementary) school.
ReplyDeleteI was expecting kindergarten to be chaotic in comparison, but I've actually been SO pleasantly surprised. They. Are. Angels. My FM has been teaching kindergarten for 37 years, I believe, so she has her management strategy down. The classroom is so calm--when the students are supposed to be quiet, they do NOT talk above a whisper. It's amazing. My FM keeps the main lights in her classroom off and only uses lamps, because she says the dimness contributes to the calm atmosphere. Whatever she does definitely works, and I will absolutely be taking cues from her management style if I end up teaching younger grades!
I'm also experiencing the whole "culture shock" thing being at a new school--Tusculum and Hickman have completely different environments. I think the fact that Hickman is so much smaller definitely helps it have more of a "community" feel, which I'm enjoying.
Similar to Ilana, I have experienced a HUGE change! I went from 6th grade at a middle school to 3rd grade at an elementary. Obviously there's a huge developmental jump from 3rd to 6th, but I have also been very aware of the social changes between those ages. My third graders are still unaware of many social cues, give all adults full authority, and are not cliquey at all. SO different than middle school!
ReplyDeleteAlso, the environment at Hickman is incredibly different than what I experienced at J.T. Moore. Maybe part of that is the environment shift from middle to elementary, but I think that it is also just the "vibe" of the school. The other teachers have been far more encouraging of me and have tried to get to know me--something I never experienced at my first placement. Also, like Ilana said, Hickman has a "community" feel--all of the teachers and students say hello to each other in the halls. Additionally, my teacher has been at Hickman for twenty-something years, so she knows EVERYONE--kids, students and parents alike.
I am excited to see even more differences as the placement goes on. I am always so amazed at how unique every school I visit is.
Although I switched from a first grade classroom to a second grade class, I see a HUGE difference. I guess this shows how much the school environment and population makes a difference. My second grade class, even though only a year older, is extremely different behavior wise. In my first grade class, I had to constantly monitor their behavior and if they were paying attention or listening. Also, when walking in the hall way, I had to stand by them at all times to make sure they were not talking or walking properly. However, my second grade class needs little to no monitoring. During independent or group work, I do not hear one noise out of my students. They are so well behaved and on task at all point of the day that I do not have to intervene at all. Actually, this feels strange to me because I am so used to managing the classroom at all times. In the hallway, my students walk in a single line and quietly. If it were allowed, my students would be able to walk from place to place without teacher supervision!
ReplyDeleteAlong the same lines as Dana's comment, I too have seen a huge difference in comparing my first placement kindergarten class to my second placement third grade class in management in behavior - although mine is quite the opposite of what you might expect. In comparison to my new third grade class, my kindergarteners were incredibly well-behaved, needed almost no incentive except for social approval for good behavior, and needed very little monitoring. My third grade class is disruptive, difficult to monitor, and the management strategies in place by my mentor teacher (mostly entirely extrinsic-incentives-based), does not seem to have much of an effect. As Dana mentioned, I think this could partially be congruent to the students' SES - most of the kindergarteners at my first placement had (overly) involved parents, came from stable and consistent home conditions, and needed for little; whereas my third graders at my second placement have many different learning needs, parents that are exclusively not involved (save for one students'), and very little stability and consistency at home. Of course this is going to affect their behavior! Also, my old mentor teacher had been teaching for twelve years, where my new mentor teacher has been teaching for five. This could account for some differences in the comfort each of them has in their management strategies and the effectiveness of these as well.
ReplyDeleteOverall - I'm seeing a lot of the same patterns that you guys are seeing re. changes between school and grade levels. However, I think this change is really going to help give us a more complete picture of what our futures could be like in the classroom!