My education blog (Mario Pickens)

I am excited about this semester. I am teaching Kindergarten and so far it is an experiece that I think I will throughly enjoy. The children are responding to me so well. I have learned all their names and I realized that it is very important in developing relationships with children when you learn their names. I have a wonderful mentor teacher who has already shown that she thinks I am a competent teacher with “withitness”. That makes me feel confident. I am a little apprehesive about the thematic unit. Since I have never done one, I am not sure if I will impliment it correctly. I am sure that it will be ok though.

I can tell that my classroom management has greatly improved since last semester as well as my ability to explain ideas and concepts to children. I remember how in the beginning, I was so focused on teaching the lessons, that I was not able to catch most of the disruptions and misbehavior of students. I was kind of afraid that children would not like me or listen to me if I was firm. I have realized students respect a teacher more if they are firm and will not let them misbehave.

My speech and tone with the students has also changed. Since I am a naturally fast talker,I have leared to slow down my speech as well as put more inflection into my voice. I have developed what is called a ” teacher’s voice”. I am much more confident in the way I talk to students and ask them questions.

I know this semester will be lots of work, but I know that I will make it through and do so with flying colors. I will be stronger and wiser as a result. I will also be a better educator. I am claiming it right now that I will have a teaching job as of May.

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I thought that my feelings of being overwhelmed would have subsided as the semester is coming to an end, but boy was I wrong. All I can say is,” What does not kill me, only makes me stronger.”  There is still so much I have to do within these last three weeks. It will get done, so why am I stressing? I guess its just the perfectionist in me sometimes. 

The get togther today at Dr. Schafer’s house really put me in good spirits. It helped to take away all that I have to do. It was great to just eat, talk, laugh and relieve some of the stress that we all have been feeling as a cohort. I laughed so hard today that I started crying, which I haven’t done in a long time. I love my cohort members and professors!

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This week has been a challenging week. First, my flash drive died on me and all the work I have done for this summester was lost. I did not have my work saved in any other places either, so I have to start from scratch. After almost having a nervous breakdown, I am wiser now. I will make sure that I have the work backed up. I also found out that the money that was paid for fall semester was an overpayment, so I may owe $1400 back to GA State. I also found out that I did not recieve HOPE. WHAT A WEEK!

On a positive note, I was told my field supervisor that I have drastically improved in my instructional planning and organizational skills. She told me that she loved my lesson and that it was culturally responsive. Her positive comments have made me realize that being organized and clearly thinking about what you want to say are very important skills as an educator. I can actually see my learning and growth.

I really enjoyed the soul rain line we did in class. As Ms. Vera discussed, some of us were hesitant to participate while some of us could not wait to show off our dance moves. It shows us that sometimes activities will get students out of their comfort zones. It is important to have a strong community so that students are not afraid to take risks.

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I am overwhelmed and tired. However, I am not defeated. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me is the bible verse I think of (Philippians 4:13) . My faith is what keeps me together from day to day. My faith is what keeps me going when I feel the urge to procrastinate.  I am getting stronger and wiser everyday. 

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What can I say? My eyes have been opened to a variety of issues that I had not given much thought to or was struggling to really talk about. The people who are a part of my cohort are people that I have grown to respect because of our differences. Although Maymester has come to an end, I will continue to stay aware of current educational issues not only in the U.S. but in other parts of the world. I encourage my cohort to do the same.

The childrens books were really great. I will be ordering a few for the students I teach. Everyone seemed to really think about issues that need to be discussed.

The consensus voting that allowed us to come up with a name for our grouped was very taxing. I feel that certain individuals did not even give Urbtopia a chance. While thinking about it, I began to get very upset, but then I realized that you can lead a horse to the water, but you can’t make him drink. Pangea is a great name for our group and I stand by it FULLY. I just wish that other people would have been able to do the same if the group name were Urbtopia.

From my observations, I believe that when we first started, everyone was really respectfu1 to each other, but as we got to know one another better, the level of respect seemed to drop for certain people. Blatant disrespect started to occur. We must all remember that children are going to come into our classrooms and are going to say things we think are inappropriate and don’t really make sense. How are we going to treat them when they do or say something that does not agree with what we believe? Just some food for thought.

I can say that Maymester was no joke. It showed me just how intense this program will be. I know that I will be stronger and wiser from this experience.

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I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Idlewood Elementary. I always get a certain feeling when I’m in a school that makes me feel good. I guess I love the kids. Idlewood is not what I expected, and I mean that in a good way. I thought the school would have been a lot less neat and and that kids would be bouncing off the walls. However, to my surprise, the kids were inquisitive and eager to learn even 2 days before summer. They were also well behaved. Maybe that had something to do with us coming in.

I was so glad that we got to interact with the students in Ms. Cunningham’s class. I enjoyed my conversation with Tinsaye (a student). I thought it was so nice of her to help translate for Kalibe ( a student from Ethiopia who did not know much English.) She told me that she enjoys helping him, but sometimes he says bad words. I thought that was cute.

I enjoyed the teacher forum today. I found it to be informative, and the teachers seemed to present an accurate picture of how the next two years will be.

I’m sorry guys if I have been kind of cranky. It’s just that I haven’t been sleeping enough. Please bear with me.

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I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion we had today on Gatto’s State Teacher of the Year Speech. I just want to clarify what I meant when I said children are so used to routines in school and how it relates to confusion. Children are so used to having routines and being told what to do that they become confused when something or someone breaks that routine. For example, I would always place homeowork on the counter where the students’ notebooks were. On occasion, I would forget to place the homework assignments where they usually go, and I can tell you that the kids were quick to either jump on me or act if they did not know what to do if their homework was not where it was not supposed to be.

I must say that we come up with some pretty good ideas as to how we are going to be agents for change in our classrooms and the communities we work in. However, I do not want the words we say to just be thrown out the window when the issues are right in front of us. I think that it is important to remember that to talk is one thing, but to actually walk ( do something) is totally different. Often the latter one takes initative and courage.

I feel confident that we will find a name that best represents who we are as a community. I feel bad that I sounded concieted or if anyone perceived that I was trying to take the credit for the name I think the class should be called. I think I need to work on that. I can be competitive at times and I’m an only child. Not making excuses though. I just have to work on it.

I am starting to feel stressed. Stress is a good thing though, right? In this case it is.

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I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion we had today on Gatto’s State Teacher of the Year Speech. I just want to clarify what I meant when I said children are so used to routines in school and how it relates to confusion. Children are so used to having routines and being told what to do that they become confused when something or someone breaks that routine. For example, I would always place homeowork on the counter where the students’ notebooks were. On occasion, I would forget to place the homework assignments where they usually go, and I can tell you that the kids were quick to either jump on me or act if they did not know what to do if their homework was not where it was not supposed to be.

I must say that we come up with some pretty good ideas as to how we are going to be agents for change in our classrooms and the communities we work in. However, I do not want the words we say to just be thrown out the window when the issues are right in front of us. I think that it is important to remember that to talk is one thing, but to actually walk ( do something) is totally different. Often the latter one takes initative and courage.

I feel confident that we will find a name that best represents who we are as a community. I feel bad that I sounded concieted or if anyone perceived that I was trying to take the credit for the name I think the class should be called. I think I need to work on that. I can be competitive at times and I’m an only child. Not making excuses though. I just have to work on it.

I am starting to feel stressed. Stress is a good thing though, right? In this case it is.

• Leave a comment... (0)

I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion we had today on Gatto’s State Teacher of the Year Speech. I just want to clarify what I meant when I said children are so used to routines in school and how it relates to confusion. Children are so used to having routines and being told what to do that they become confused when something or someone breaks that routine. For example, I would always place homeowork on the counter where the students’ notebooks were. On occasion, I would forget to place the homework assignments where they usually go, and I can tell you that the kids were quick to either jump on me or act if they did not know what to do if their homework was not where it was not supposed to be.

I must say that we come up with some pretty good ideas as to how we are going to be agents for change in our classrooms and the communities we work in. However, I do not want the words we say to just be thrown out the window when the issues are right in front of us. I think that it is important to remember that to talk is one thing, but to actually walk ( do something) is totally different. Often the latter one takes initative and courage.

I feel confident that we will find a name that best represents who we are as a community. I feel bad that I sounded concieted or if anyone perceived that I was trying to take the credit for the name I think the class should be called. I think I need to work on that. I can be competitive at times and I’m an only child. Not making excuses though. I just have to work on it.

I am starting to feel stressed. Stress is a good thing though, right? In this case it is.

• Leave a comment... (0)