This summer I have been adaptive by scheduling out time to work on homework. I also have been adaptive with trying to find new sources and trying to workout a new idea for my classroom for my AR. I have had to say no to things that happen on class days or on nights before class in order to be well rested and prepared.
People in my life have had to make adaptations to my schedule as well. Luckily knowing dates in advance helps so my friends and family have tried to schedule things that are not on those weekends. I'm currently the maid of honor in my friends' wedding for next year but we have been scheduling dress appointments and stuff on weekends that I don't have class so that I can be there to help out. They have also been understanding and supportive of me needing to get work done every week.
Friday, July 26, 2019
Teach with your Strengths: Unorthodoxly
I've had many best teachers in my life; which I am lucky to say. For this post, I could talk about my Chemistry teacher who always made our class feel special and honored because she didn't retire till after us in order to teach us all. Or I could talk about my English teacher and mentor who was eccentric and helped us understand material through weird projects and had students vote on his baby's name. But the one I would probably declare as the best would be the one that inspired me to be a social studies teacher myself, Ms. Neal.
She made every class interesting, whether it be from the different activities that we did, like an outside version of the triangle trade game, and infused her teaching with who she was. She was majorly into yoga and I can still remember her being up in front of the room and just standing on one leg with her other curled up and resting on a small table nonchalantly. We would take breaks during class and do yoga occasionally to reset. She showed her passion and excitement for the topic and made me realize how much I really love history and how much fun it could be to teach it. I still remember getting the "Future Social Studies Teacher" Award from her at the end of the year. I think one of her strengths was Positivity, she always showed her excitement for history in a way that pulled others in.
I know that I get part of my love of history teaching and teaching it through experiential learning like simulations or written word like short answers or essays from her. Her class was one of the first that I experienced how well social studies and activities and writing went together and actually taught me how to write a social studies based paper. I would say what is unorthodox about my teaching style is I'm not afraid to be real with kids. I constantly admit to my mistakes and weaknesses to them; in fact it's almost a running joke with a lot of my classes that I'm awful at basic math. I'm also not afraid to geek out in front of my kids about a topic and show them who I am. I also spend a lot of time getting to know them throughout the year and I am not afraid to stay after school just to be a place for students to come in and hang out in afterwards to get help or talk things through.
She made every class interesting, whether it be from the different activities that we did, like an outside version of the triangle trade game, and infused her teaching with who she was. She was majorly into yoga and I can still remember her being up in front of the room and just standing on one leg with her other curled up and resting on a small table nonchalantly. We would take breaks during class and do yoga occasionally to reset. She showed her passion and excitement for the topic and made me realize how much I really love history and how much fun it could be to teach it. I still remember getting the "Future Social Studies Teacher" Award from her at the end of the year. I think one of her strengths was Positivity, she always showed her excitement for history in a way that pulled others in.
I know that I get part of my love of history teaching and teaching it through experiential learning like simulations or written word like short answers or essays from her. Her class was one of the first that I experienced how well social studies and activities and writing went together and actually taught me how to write a social studies based paper. I would say what is unorthodox about my teaching style is I'm not afraid to be real with kids. I constantly admit to my mistakes and weaknesses to them; in fact it's almost a running joke with a lot of my classes that I'm awful at basic math. I'm also not afraid to geek out in front of my kids about a topic and show them who I am. I also spend a lot of time getting to know them throughout the year and I am not afraid to stay after school just to be a place for students to come in and hang out in afterwards to get help or talk things through.
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