Hi, everyone.
I'm struggling.
My students are exhausting me. I didn't feel this negatively about my students last year, ever. I guess this is one of the ways in which high school is different. Worse, I feel that a very small fraction of the kids are actually learning.
I'm hoping to turn this around. And I would appreciate any comments/feedback.
THE PROBLEMS:
- I'm overwhelmed. With grading (warm ups, classwork, homework, exit slips... gah, so many papers!), with keeping make up work organized (mostly because I don't take the time to do it), with lesson planning (is there a way to streamline this process more?), with effectively rewarding and "punishing" students, with cleaning my overheads, with keeping my class website up to date, with basically everything involved in teaching! So I'm behind.
- I'm having difficulty in finding more interactive activities for geometry.
- I wish I had more technology so I could show my kids pictures of where geometry fits into the world.
- Students talk too, too much - and not about math.
- Students are often tardy.
- Students aren't learning to their fullest extent.
Part of this is my doing. I'm feeling disorganized and overwhelmed so I'm not the teacher I should be or can be. But the students are a doozy too... They don't listen to or read directions, most don't do their homework and they rush through every assignment.
I know what my basic problems are. How do I fix them?
HI I just happened across your post and I was actually very moved by what you wrote. I am seriously considering becoming a teacher in NY. Thanks for giving me a look at the other side of being an educator. I have no clue how to help you because I'm not currently a teacher but I appreciate you giving a heads up of what I would be in for. This actually hasn't deterred me from considering the profession but I will be sure to brace myself and understand that I probably won't have the perfect classroom but I will try my hardest to create an place of learning. Hopefully others come across this as well and can see this as a warning to take a look at their expectations of teaching. Keep your head up! The fact that you are trying to figure out how to make your classroom better and get through to you children already makes you a pretty great teacher. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteCandice
Experience has taught me that I can always identify about 100 ways I'm failing as a teacher, but I can only authentically work to improve one or two of them at a time.
ReplyDeleteExperience has also taught me that when I spend a lot of time fretting over "grading" rather than assessing, I usually waste a ton of time that would more usefully be targeted at creating meaningful instruction.
Would you be interested/do you have the time to blog back and forth with me about specific problems. Thousands of teachers around the country are challenged by the same problems we're both facing. Blogging about them might help us think through some of them and move forward in our practice.
James, I would LOVE to blog back and forth with you about problems. I am in need of anything that will help me to improve the way that things are progressing (or not so much) in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts on how to do it? I could detail some specific problems I'm having in my classroom and you could relate, or vice versa. We could share strategies that have worked to combat our problems and problem solve. Perhaps reach out to Twitter and Facebook to invite other teachers to join the conversation?
ReplyDelete