What went well?
The progress I made; what was achieved and done
This week the other Teaching Fellows and I were trained on classroom management, curriculum development, and how to employ culturally responsive concepts when teaching. As this was my first experience with teaching I think I made significant progress when it comes to understanding how to run a classroom and the different strategies instructors may use. These include methods of grabbing students’ attention and keeping them on task. This was achieved through a variety of seminars during the training including lesson rehearsals, practice drills, and close collaboration with my professional teacher mentor and other Teaching Fellows.
What could have been done differently?
Things that did not get done and/or could be changed
I think I need to improve on maintaining confidence when practicing classroom management strategies. Since this is my first experience teaching I am still getting accustomed to holding a commanding presence when deescalating classroom disruptions. I am sure that these skills will be improved upon through more practice during training and over the course of the summer.
What did I learn about myself when working with others?
Contributions, behaviours and values I exhibited
I learned both how I envision myself as a leader in the classroom as well as how I collaborate with other Teaching Fellows. I want my classroom environment to be welcoming to students and create an opportunity for them to both learn and enjoy the process simultaneously. By being conscious of things like body language and tone I can subtly create this environment for students to feel welcome. I learned I can be effective at managing subtle cues like these that influence student behavior, but still need to work on practicing remaining calm when there is a classroom disruption. In terms of working with my colleagues, I have found maintaining an open level of communication between myself, my mentor, and my partner teacher is important to ensuring we receive/give feedback constructively and respectfully.
What did I learn about leadership?
Leadership attributes and insights I developed
I learned that leadership, especially in the profession of teaching, is often exhibited through a subtle, but carefully executed command of the room. For instance, while initially I thought that responding to a student’s disruption with a reprimand would be the most effective form of discipline, I now better understand how having constructive, restorative conversations with students can resolve disruptions at their source by determining the causes for disruptive behavior. In this way, I believe leadership is demonstrated by having a deep understanding of the room and maintaining calm even during classroom interruptions.
What do I want to develop or focus on next?
What I still need to develop
The last few days of training focused specifically on developing the curriculum and tailoring it to our students’ needs. My mentor taught us about how to honor students’ accommodations during lessons whether it is in the powerpoint slides or through verbal commands. I hope to use the last few days of training next week before students arrive to incorporate these strategies into my lesson-planning. In this way, I will ensure that the lessons are as inclusive of different learning styles as possible.