As Mrs. Hoover and I continue our journey through "What Great Teachers do Differently: 17 Things that Matter Most", our conversations are becoming more and more meaningful. The second part of the book focuses on putting students first. The best teachers always ask themselves, "Is this the best thing for my students?" They are likely not to move forward if the answer is no, but more likely to if the answer is yes. More mediocre teachers may be more concerned about what is best for them. Mrs. Hoover thinks this can be really easy to fall into as an FFA adviser or agricultural teacher. While you might come up with a really cool project for students in the greenhouse or classroom, it may take a lot of prep time on the teachers part. A great teacher is going to see how the students are going to benefit from the project instead of how it will affect the teacher.
It is also important to focus on colleagues second and to stay out of the so-called complainers club. While it is valuable to interact with your colleagues, do not fall into the habit of complaining to your co-workers. Both the book and Mrs. Hoover agreed - stay out of the teachers lounge! Great teachers filter out complaints instead of adding to them. Many times if you start complaining about a student, the other teacher has a problem with that student too, even if they didn't before. Mrs. Hoover said she always tries to stop the conversation when a teacher starts complaining about "Jimmy" and how bad he is by saying, "Oh, really? He doesn't give me any trouble." This will generally steer the conversation elsewhere. And she tries to avoid the teachers lounge at all costs.
The best teachers have high expectations for their students and even higher expectations for themselves; to meet their expectations they are constantly repairing their relationships. "The best teachers consistently compliment and praise students." Praising students is one way great teachers keep their relationship with their students healthy. Mrs. Hoover added how important it is to have structure in the classroom. Although you want to leave room for creativity, students like guidance and consistency. If they have that, they are often more comfortable in your classroom, know what to expect of you everyday, and in return, know what you expect of them. This structure helps to keep a healthy relationship with your students and allows you to constantly repair.
Great teachers do consistently give praise, but they use five strategies to make it work. To be effective praise must be:
1. Authentic : Praise must be genuine and true.
2. Specific : Praise must focus on a specific action, such as an effective job asking questions during class.
3. Immediate : Your praise needs to be made in a timely manner.
4. Clean : There are two parts to clean praise. First, if you are complimenting someone with the sole purpose of getting them to do something in the future, your praise is not clean. Second, it can not include the word "but". You cannot couple praise with a criticism.
5. Private : The most effective praise is done privately. It may not be cool to have high grades to some, so if you recognize students with the highest grade, they may work hard to not get the highest grade during the next quarter.
Many people may have reasons not to praise their students, but I leave you with this - Do you work harder for your employer that praised the good work you were doing or for the one that never told you how good of a job you were doing?
I enjoyed our discussion on classroom procedures. I know that the ag department can often be a busy place with classwork and FFA responsibilities but we must remember that students want structure.
ReplyDeleteThe ag classroom can be a "go to" place for many of our members however we need to remember that they come to us for guidance not to be their best friends.
I think that remembering that we are not their friends is something important for people my age (and younger) to remember. As it wasn't that long ago that I was in the students' shoes. I need to remember to keep that separation and not fall into the "friend" category.
DeleteKarlie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. When we talk about cultivating motivation in students (both intrinsically and extrinsically), verbal recognition (or praise) can be a powerful tool.
I am not sure I agree with the notion that the most effective praise is private. It would be for some (if not many) students, but depending on the topic of the praise or the student, public praise could be effective in cultivating positive peer pressure.
I believe that pictures can be worth a 1000 words. Contemplate if there would be pictures, images or graphics that could complement your post.
Also, for future utility of the blog - be sure to be using "labels" to organize your blogs (ie motivation, AEE_295, Summer Reading, etc). I can help if desired.
I like the fact that you stressed teachers must be authentic with their students. Don't try to be something that you are not, or they will see through it.
ReplyDeleteHi Karlie!
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed reading your blog posts this far and can't wait to "cheer you on" this year throughout the rest of your journey!
One thing I thought was interesting about your blog this time was the idea of "staying out of the teacher's lounge". I agree, avoiding negative talk is good, but that doesn't necessarily mean avoid other teachers!
One thing that really helped me in my first year teaching was building relationships with other teachers outside the Ag department!
My mentor was the head of the Art department, we've done collaborative projects with the creative writing classes, and I've become good friends with the career coach!
These relationships were so important, not only for class resources, but in helping me feel welcome and a part of the Broadway High School community.
Avoid the negative talk, but visit the teachers lounge every now and then :)
Unlike what you read and your cooperating teacher, I am a firm believer in going into the teachers' lounge. By going there, it helps other teachers hear what is going on in the agriculture program. It gives me the chance to hear what they are teaching and find ways to then help my students make real world and agriculture based connections to it. It lets me find out what some of the home life or educational struggles my students have that I am not aware of because I am an elective and somehow information forgets to be shared with me. Is there negative talk from time to time? Yes. I just make the choice to take the positives I can, advocate for my program, and be a ray of sunlight in their gripe session. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou have some great insights here! The best advice I ever received as a teacher was from my mentor my first year after I graduated college. I had a vet science class that was split in the middle for lunch (we had three lunch periods). I knew that this would never work given the large number of labs that we did and expressed my concerns to my veteran mentor teacher. She simply explained that the administration would probably be able to fix the problem as long as I used the magic phrase, "This is not what is best for my students." Whenever you need to talk with your administrators, always express your concerns in that language, and never make it about yourself. However, on the flipside, be sure that you are taking care of yourself! A lab that requires you to be at school for an extra 5 hours at night is not necessarily the most sustainable option (unless it is going to pretty much undeniably change the lives of your students). Focus on your objectives for your students, figure out the best way to achieve them within your means as a human being, and the rest will work itself out. Schedule breaks and make sure that you take at least one weeknight off for yourself to recharge.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned avoiding the teacher's lounge, and there's certainly room for debate on that one. I think it depends on the school. I worked with some great colleagues and I enjoyed their input and expertise, but I also just needed a mental break in the middle of the day (even if for only 15 minutes). I actually ate my lunch at my desk while watching Netflix. It gave me a quick mental break and let me be mentally recharged for the afternoon. To each their own though :)