Woot Woot! I made it to Friday. I have officially made it through my first week with the middle school students and what a week it was. There was a huge learning curve that I experienced over the past 5 days. There were some really good times and then there were not so good times. There were times where I thought that I couldn’t do this; I can’t do this. On the other hand, there were times where I thought that I can see myself doing this for a very long time.
It would be easy to fall into the program these teachers are displaying. It would be easy to fall into the lazy routine of picking units and teaching them. They have settled into a routine that will take hard work and effort to come out of. However, my colleague and I are too thorough and educated to do so. One of my main concerns is that I will settle like they have. I would like to think that because of my pursuit of excellence, this will never happen, but who knows what things are going to be like in 10 years.
It has become known to me that our cooperating teachers do not really like the other teacher. Apparently she doesn’t do her job and I would have to agree. She is the one who said that she likes to listen to her iPod when the students are participating in P.E. Out of all three teachers. One is an okay teacher, but she is yelling at the students all the time. One is just lazy and the last one just doesn’t care.
These teachers are disengaged from their students. The dynamics of teaching change at each school level. In the elementary school, the main focus is on family and community. However, here at the middle school and high school, it’s all about individuality. Here, it’s all about ourselves and what we can do for #1. We are tucked away from the rest of the school even though we are still attached. It is definitely different than elementary school. The first week I pretty much met all the teachers and knew what grade they taught. Here, I have yet to meet any other teachers from this school. I know I should go out of my way to meet them, but I am so backward and shy that I will just wait to be around them than to go seek them out.
There is a boy’s basketball game later this evening. They are so serious about basketball here that even all the kids are always asking to play basketball. P.E. is not allowed in the gym because they are cleaning and waxing the floor. However, when it is time for a girl’s basketball game, this special treatment is not showed to them. The girls are even the ones who say it’s not fair. It’s only because of who the boy’s basketball coach is.
It is quite apparent that we are overly qualified to go into any physical education teaching position and teach right now. The only real thing that we lack is the experience. Our teacher education program has prepared us in a way that I don’t think others across the nation are being prepared the same way. What we are doing is revolutionary. Nobody else in the country (or very few programs) is learning what we have been learning. They are still stuck in the traditional ways of teaching (i.e. choosing units for the students).
What is going on in the world today that all these students know is to resort to violence to solve their problems. This is definitely becoming a Godless generation. If these students were taught to have morals and values, maybe they would find other ways to liberate their anger. Heck, maybe they wouldn’t be as temperamental or as quick to become angry. It seems as though the students know no other way to solve their problems other than beating the daylights out of the person causing them the problems. They don’t know how to be civil and use problem solving strategies.
The first class of the day is still doing Tae-Bo and the 15 minute walk/run. The students are doing the stuff without complaining but the walk/run is so boring. It’s no wonder the kids don’t want to participate in these activities. When talking with the students after they make a comment about the activity, I have to be sure to watch what I say because I don’t want to be going against my cooperating teacher. While I want my students to think that I am the better teacher, I know that will come with the things that I do and how I act towards them. I don’t want my words to be the deciding factor. Why say with words what you can do with actions?
In the second class, my eighth grade honors class, we only had 8 girls. I did adventure education the whole class period. In the beginning of the class, the girl’s were asking why they couldn’t be with the boys today, but by the end of class, I heard a girl say “This was the best class ever” and no one seemed to disagree with that statement. Some of the activities included group juggling (name game), human knot, partner falls, partner leads, all aboard, team seating, and hoop games. In the group juggling, I asked them several questions that they needed to answer every time they got the ball. The questions included “What do you like about school?” “What would you dislike about school?” “What would you change about school?” Most of the responses included events and activities outside of school and being with (like) or without (dislike/change) friends. Needless to say, it went really really well. I had a lot of fun with this class and I believe that they understood the concepts that I was trying to teach them: teamwork, communication, and leadership.
The last class also did participate in group juggling. This class is like pulling teeth. I then had them do the co-creating class environment. After doing the co-creating, I gathered them back in and talked to them for a little bit about who I am and what I want to be as a teacher. I hope that by doing this will help me gain a level of respect and trust from the students. I also want them to feel comfortable around me. I guess you could say that in the back of my mind, this was also influenced because I want the students to like me. I told them that “I don’t want to be the kind of teacher that yells at you. I see that you get that a lot already. So you have to let me know when you think I am yelling at you too much, but do know that there will be times that I have to yell at you. Keep in mind that I am not yelling at you as a person, but the behaviors that you are doing.” I proceeded to tell them that “I don’t think students are down here and the teacher is up here. I think that we are on the same level. I am not the only one who teaches in this room. You teach me how to be a better teacher. I want to do this with you. I don’t want to pick an activity and you have to do it because I am the teacher. I want you to be able to voice your opinion in this class.” (I also said this to the honors class, but will have to say it again because half the class wasn’t there.)
At the very end of the day, some of the students had an assembly. I guess that every Friday they do this and it’s a reward for the students who do their work for the week. Other students have to go to advisory and tutoring (or something like that).
We were in charge of seating and watching over the students. It was quite a spectacle to see how assemblies work on the other side of the fence. A lot of the beginning moments were spent trying to get the students to quiet down and pay attention. However, the projector and volume wasn’t working as it should, so obviously the kids are going to be talking and being off task. My colleague and I sat at the top of the bleachers so we could see all the students and talked about a few things. I looked over at him and said “I think these teachers forget that they were kids once.” It was amazing to watch all the other teachers yell at the students. This to me just makes me lose respect for the teachers themselves. I mean, come on. We are talking about middle school students. You tell them not to do something, and they are going to do it to spite you. I just wish these teachers would remember that they did the same things when they were in middle school and be able to reason with the students; not always get on the soapbox and yell at them. The one cooperating teacher does this thing with his eyes and it is just so stupid. He does it all the time and it doesn’t even faze the students anymore. They should feel bad seeing that it upsets us when they misbehave and think “Aw man. I just made the teacher mad.” I want my students to want to behave out of respect, not out of fear.
Can’t wait for the next week to see what it will bring, but regardless of what it is, I know that the Lord has already provided me the strength to overcome any obstacle or barrier to teaching and learning. (Philippians 4:13)
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