Well, it's my second week of student teaching. For those of you who don't know, I'm in the teacher training master's program at Ohio State University (sorry, forgot the "The"). In order to get my degree and the certificate to teach K-12 drama, I must complete 100 hours both this quarter and next quarter. This quarter I'm in a fourth grade class at Indianola Elementary with MissTeacher. Yesterday was my third day in the classroom. I had two days last week, which were basically spent learning the kids’ names (I’m so close!) and getting used to the routines of the classroom.

Things I am noticing about the classroom…well, I’m noticing that fourth graders are a lot less mature than I expected them to be, yet a lot more mature sometimes. I tend to think of them as just really short people, and sometimes that’s the case, but sometimes it’s not. They all seem to be incapable of sitting quietly all at once. There’s always SOMEONE that is acting up and needing to be shushed. To be honest, I’m not quite sure yet how to measure what the kids are learning. It seems like they never have enough time to finish assignments, and I’m never quite sure why some assignments are considered okay when they clearly don’t include everything that was asked for. I have no idea what to expect, because it’s been a LONG time since I worked with fourth graders or was in the fourth grade. I’m unsure of how to bring this up with MissTeacher, as she’s been teaching for longer than I’ve even been alive. I am wondering how to question things I don’t understand without feeling like I’m disagreeing with her or questioning her methods (even if that’s exactly what I might be doing).

One thing I am noticing about the classroom is that discipline seems to be lacking. I feel like there’s never a moment in the class where everyone is paying attention and all are focused on the various lessons. It doesn’t help that it always seems to take longer than expected to do anything. I feel like I’m not noticing a lot of consistency in the punishments or reinforcements. Actually, I’m not noticing much reaction to misbehavior at all. I try to remind students to be quiet and pay attention, and I try to move the students who are always talking away from one another, but I’m not quite sure yet what my role is, and where the boundaries are for me. I have noticed some of my efforts making a difference in the students’ behaviors, but I am not sure that it is lasting. I must remind myself that I will need much more time and much more practice before any of this will come effortlessly to me. I’m just a beginner. A newbie to teaching and learning.

My goals for the quarter, aside from learning everything I possibly can, are to come at each new day as a new challenge and try and keep everything fresh and exciting. I’d like to incorporate some of the ideas that I am having and some of the things that I am learning in my classes throughout the quarter. I would also like to see some more organization in this particular classroom and do everything in my power to help with that. I am, by nature, an extremely organized person. Hopefully that will come in handy throughout this experience. Hopefully, after a few more days, I’ll have some new ideas for how drama will be incorporated into this classroom.

I am already noticing that kids are much more apt to play than adults. The only time that they have been all engaged completely in the classroom is when MissTeacher brought out her puppet Hilda. He’s a tree frog. She talked to the kids as Hilda, talking to him as MissTeacher and letting the kids talk to him as well. They asked him questions, and were all very engaged in what was happening. I’m not quite sure what the kids were learning during this time, but I am positive that it was a use of drama in the classroom. I am starting to notice what that is, but I am still unclear of how it is effective in this class. Hopefully I will see more as the time goes on. Maybe that’s something that we can discuss in our class. I would also like to talk about and learn about what happens in the students’ play during free time. I have seen glimpses of stuff while the boys are playing cards in the corner (not playing cards, Yu-Gi-o cards or something). Some of the girls also got together and wrote a small play incorporating some of the concepts from the “Migration to the Fourth Grade” that is happening in the classroom. The students are learning about what we can learn from geese migration. For example, when a goose is hurt, two geese fly down out of formation and stay with it until it is healed or dies. The lessons there would be about helping our fellow man. Hopefully after some more instruction in 644 and 777 this quarter, I’ll be able to wrap my brain around it more and developed a more trained eye for it, to recognize when it’s authentic and when it can be directed for learning.

I’m also getting nervous about my own lack of knowledge. I was trying to teach a child how to subtract when one of the bottom digits is larger than the one about it, like, 20-7. I couldn’t explain how to make the two a one and the zero a ten, or why that is done. I finally had to ask MissTeacher over to help. What happens when I have to teach students something that I don’t have a complete understanding of? I guess I’ll be able to answer these questions after more experience and more learning. Again, I am still a newbie. Hopefully all of these things will come with time. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for.

Well, more adventures the next post. I will be starting a regular schedule this week and will be going to my own classes as well. Soon my posts will be able to be more focused, as I gain practice and knowledge. Be back then!