Our+Concerns+as+Teachers

=Our Concerns as Teachers= These are some questions that arose from a guest speaker. What are your ideas? And please sign your posts. :)

 · What do you do when your new idea/technique doesn’t work?
-It's ok, this will happen! Don't get discouraged in trying new things. Figure out why (talk to colleagues, students). Was it the directions, structure, time, management? Then make necessary changes/adapt for the next time. Or stick with something if you really believe in it, don't give up right away. -ALWAYS have a backup plan -its ok to admit to the students that you are trying something new and we are going to see if it works, if not, we'll change it and reexplain it later. students like to see that you are human and are willing to make mistakes. user:AmandaGSpanish -Don't try something once and completely abandon it forever. Try and think about the reasons WHY it didnt work. It could have been your delivery, the group dynamics (something I didn't really understand until my internship) the fight that happened last hour, a pep assembly, or a number of other factors. Think consciously about your instructional practice, what needed to be done for the activity/method of instruction to work, and try again later on, with a different class, or a few weeks later. You'd be amazed at how tweaking an activity or presenting it differently can change how well it worksuser:cartierm

 · How do you stay motivated when people don’t like what you are doing?
-Trust your instinct and show the results, assess your students and see what THEY think. Nothing is set in stone, so you can always change your plan. Test your ideas out and see what happens. Be open to change, consider what others' concerns are: what is their thinking behind it? Adjust without tossing out your ideas.

-accept constructive criticism. during your intern year it is all about learning what works and does not work for you. if your mentor does not like what you are doing, that is ok....stop doing it, or talk to your mentor about why he/she does not like it. adapt the lesson/strategy etc. if none of that works, just remember when you have your own classroom in a year, you can put your strategy into action! user:AmandaGSpanish

This is so difficult! It is a very hard position to be in. First and foremost, consider talking openly, candidly, and professionally with the person you are not recieving support from. Maintaining a strong relationship is what was most helpful to me in situations like this. Once I realized the people who were giving me criticism were ON MY side, and help me grow as a professional, it was much easier to understand their points of view and it allowed me to think about how things could be restructured to gain more sound instructional practices. Remembering that just because someone doesn't like an activity/method does not mean you must completely abandon it, it just means it's probably a good idea to dig a little deeper to figure out how to make it more effective in practice. user:cartierm

=== · What happens if we mess up? How do we deal with knowing that we couldn’t reach out to every student? What do you do with the students that you just don't like? (annoying, snotty, teacher's pet) ===

-Expect to make mistakes, like in any other work situation. It's helpful to always give people the benefit of the doubt--especially students, since they always have to deal with people not believing them. Most often there is a reason!!

-There are no such things as students you don't like. These are just students who don't understand you/you don't understand them. You'd be suprised, one day you'll be ready to go fight a kid outside, then after you give it some time and talk about it, you'll love that student!

-PATIENCE, have a lot of patience! user:AmandaGSpanish

-I would have to say that there are going to be times where all students are going to drive you nuts in one way or another, at some point in time. Like Amanda says, patience is key. It is also extremely important to have high expectations all the time. Expect respect, and give it back to the students in return. There are many kids who you may think don't like you for whatever reason... because you demand more out of them, because you are hard on them when they don't bring materials, or because they constantly fall asleep in your class. Whatever it is, they may have more respect for you than they let on, and word may come back to you that they actually LIKE you as a teacher. (yes, this happened, and I was shocked!) So all that to say be consistent, and remember kids want TEACHERS, real caring adults, not friends... So even though sometimes they may act like they don't like you, eventually, if you invest enough in your relationships with them, they will respect you. user:cartierm

 · How do I keep improving my language skills when I’m no longer in school? Am I adequate enough to teach another language?
-First realize that you are a good speaker and you have the skills to teach others. Think about what you went through as a language learner: this information is the most valuable for you to use with your students. Native speakers have different challenges as language teachers because they don't know what is hard to learn about their language ( like we might experience in TESOL). We have been in the students shoes and therefore can understand and relate to their situation. Continue TLRPing and use your summer time to travel. Find a co-worker/native speaker to talk with everyday. And get an exchange program in your school so that you stay in touch with the language as well. By staying informed yourself, your students will benefit as well.

-To be really honest, you MUST improve your skills. What you know right now will be sufficient because you're students don't know nearly as much as you do. When you get into the upper level spanish classes in high school, you better be up on your grammar and oral language. In my opinion, MSU doesn't do a good enough job preparing Interns in thier content area. I would highly suggest you practice, practice, practice.

- Think about how hard it is to understand grammar. I agree that MSU did not prepare me well enough to teach Spanish at the high school level. Not only practice by reading, listening and speaking the language, but continue to develop your knowledge of how the language works, and simple ways of explaining it. Many of you will be required to teach grammar explicitly, which is a difficult task. You learn a lot. So brush up on your skills over the summer, and try to think of projects, activities and simple exercises that will help you explain the structure of the language. user:cartierm