Thinking about September

Just a little over a month before 20 kindergarteners enter my classroom. I am a new teacher and the thought of setting up an effective, community-oriented, positive, encouraging, organized, and warm kindergarten math and science classroom is a bit overwhelming. I have decided to begin this blog as a place for me to reflect as a teacher, share my thoughts, and grow. I strongly believe in reflective teaching.

"Reflective teaching means looking at what you do in the classroom, thinking about why you do it, and thinking about if it works - a process of self-observation and self-evaluation. By collecting information about what goes on in our classroom, and by analyzing and evaluating this information, we identify and explore our own practices and underlying beliefs. This may then lead to changes and improvements in our teaching" (Reflective teaching: Exploring our own classroom practice, 2004).

The first thing I did when I signed my first-year contract was run out and buy kindergarten math and science books at the local Goodwill to feel like I was somewhat prepared for tackling this new challenge. I felt a little better, but by no means prepared. The second thing I did was pull out my favorite teacher textbooks and books.

My uncle gave me the book The First Days of School by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong. This book is given to all new teachers in his school district. I'll share my favorite passages.

"Douglas Brooks observed a group of teachers in his research. The ineffective teachers were those who began the first day of school with a fun activity and then spent the rest of the school year chasing after the students. The effective teachers spent time organizing and structuring the classroom for student success. Effective teachers have classrooms that are caring, thought-provoking, challenging, and exciting.They have this because they begin with classroom management procedures. Students like well-managed classes because no one yells at them and learning takes place. Effective teachers spend the first two weeks teaching students to be in control of their own learning."

"You were hired to affect lives. You were hired not so much to teach third grade, history, or physical education as to influence lives. Touch the life of a student, and you will have a student who will learn history, physical education, even science and math..."

"The three characteristics of an effective teacher
1. has positive expectations for student success.
2. is an extremely good classroom manager.
3. knows how to design lessons for student mastery."

Next week I will attend my first staff meeting with fellow kindergarten teachers. I will also meet my co-teacher. I will teach 10 kindergartners math and science in the morning (this is my homeroom group) and then switch with the literacy and humanities teacher in the afternoon to teach my second group of 10 kids. Looking forward to meeting teachers and learning more about the curriculum.