Weeks ago I was really excited to start the new school year off. I was really anxious to implement all of what I learned from my previous year of teaching and enter my into my second year of teaching with more confidence and more effective instructional methods. However, as I reflect back on my first few weeks of teaching I have to admit that this year has proven to be more challenging then my first year.
My first few weeks I've felt that there has been an overwhelming amount of lows with a few celebrations. My celebrations are that I've been given a really great opportunity to implement science journals in my classroom that we learned from Dr. Jarrett's class. Although, I'm not explicitly teaching science to my students, my school participates in STEM Friday every Friday in which we do a day long science project. After reading through nurturing inquiry and going through Dr. Jarrett's class, I've been able to implement a lot of what I learned in her class in my own classroom. I feel I can also celebrate the fact that implementing my position on learning much sooner this year then I did last year. As we were constructing our position statements last year, I realized that I really want my classroom to be a constructive based classroom. This past week I feel as though my classroom was moving more towards that goal. I implemented learning stations in our classroom in which students were able to conduct their own research and record their findings through individual activities in each station. They learn so much more from working together with each other and through their own inquiry.
While I feel as though my instructional practice is improving, my classroom culture and behavior management have been very challenging. After reading Conscious Discipline and going through Dr. K's course of culturally relevant pedagogy, I realize how important it is to build culture in the classroom and provide a comfortable and safe environment for my students. Lately however, I have not felt comfortable with my classroom environment at all. Students' behavior with language, aggression, and constant class disruption I feel have gotten in the way of creating a real learning rich environment for my students .
Additionally, I haven't been able to develop a relationship with my students either. I've tried to implement opportunities such as morning meetings, and lunch in the classroom to create opportunities for us to bond. However, these opportunities have been limited because of time constraints or simply because I need a daily break from my students because of behavior issues.
Honestly, these first few weeks have been physically , emotionally and mentally draining for me. I've seen my school's environment seep into my classroom in which I find myself yelling at students and having very little patience. I've been trying to implement more positive language and praising the positive in my class to increase more of what I want from my students.
I'm hoping that with consistency, patience, and a lot of positive reinforcement my classroom environment will begin to shift and I can start to feel a sense of peace and confidence in my classroom and to create a better learning environment for my students.
