Well, I am happy to say that it seems I've gotten my mojo back! I don't know if it was Mark's visit or what, but I am feeling so much more confident than I was before. I feel like I've got a better handle on the classroom, the students are responding to me, and the material that I'm teaching seems to be sinking in with most of them.
Of course I still have issues, but I am feeling so much better about my position in the classroom. I am on top of the grading (and there is a LOT of grading!) and on top of the planning (for the most part). One area where I still need improvement is classroom management, but I am continuing to work on that. It's really hard for me to keep those few underperforming students engaged in the lessons. I know the lessons need to be differentiated, but getting those students to keep their eyes on me is a challenge. Reminding them over and over, and calling their name out in front of everyone repeatedly doesn't seem like the best method. I need to do some research to try to figure out the best ways to keep these kinds of students engaged. I welcome any feedback or suggestions from my teacher friends.
I'll figure it out, I'm sure....I'm just glad to have my mojo back :-)
Yay for mojo returning! A lot of people swear by Love and Logic for the Classroom. I haven't personally read the book, but what I've heard about it makes some sense. Here's just one PDF that a search returned. https://www.loveandlogic.com/documents/how-to-create-a-love-and-logic-classroom.pdf
ReplyDeleteThe Responsive Classroom is also good, especially for elementary grades.
https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/
My advice is whichever discipline plan you decide to follow---follow through on all of it, don't give up! Good luck.
ReplyDelete