Now that I am entering my second month at Triton, I have lots of exciting news to report! The first is that I definitely enjoy being a part of the Triton community; the second is that I have begun to teach my freshmen Macbeth!!!
The Macbeth unit is going very well. We just concluded day three of the unit and my freshmen appear to be enjoying it. I had originally been concerned by the apprehension that my students had regarding Shakespearean English. I heard the same concern repeated in many variations from my students: “The language is so hard; I am afraid that I will be confused and not understand what I read.” Ms. Harvey [my CT] had already taken some steps to help the students feel more comfortable with the language by having them take notes over common words and their meanings; unfortunately, many of the students did not revisit these notes after their initial writing so many of the freshmen horrendously BOMBED the Shakespeare Language test that occurred last week. I think that, for some, it just made their anxiety more tangible. – Thankfully, these fears appear to be dissipating as we get deeper into the text. All of my classes are more than half-way through Act I and they appear to be doing very well at grasping the content. All of my students [with the exception of one] have been reading the text when called upon. No, they do not read every word flawlessly, but they put forth so much effort that they make me smile every day. My students are participating and they are interacting with the text in a positive way!
My only concerns about Macbeth are:
- Reading is taking a bit longer than I had originally planned. Ms. Harvey and I know that we must get through the entire play and the final exam by Spring Break [mid-March] for the sake of the students. It would be cruel to leave them dangling for a week and then expect them to return with the text still fresh in their minds. I have had to adjust my pacing to accommodate the extra time that reading requires. [Please note that part of the problem is that the students are not able to take the play home so I cannot assign extra reading over the weekends.]
- I will not be able to do many activities alongside the reading. The fact that reading is taking so much time [students must literally read ALL of the play during class] has caused me to have to cut out many of the enrichment activities that I had originally planned. There will be days when all students will do is read Macbeth as a class and answer the questions on their study-guides. I want so badly to do more with the students so that they can better apply the text to their own lives, but I only have twelve class periods allotted for this unit [those twelve days must include the reading of the play, act quizzes throughout, a review, and a final exam]. Sometimes you have to sacrifice activities due to time constraints. Thankfully, I have pulled out the most meaningful activities and plan to go forward with those so that my students do not miss out.
As I have been teaching, I have discovered my greatest flaw as an educator: I am a HUGE softie! As a result, discipline is not my strong suit. I immediately address obvious discipline problems [e.g., verbal confrontations, bullying, rude commentary, etc.], but I tend to ignore or not even notice the small, predictable problems [like side-conversations]. It’s a weakness that I really need to work on. Sometimes, I think that I am soft because I do not want to be the bad guy. Students encounter lots of belligerent teachers and I do not want to be like that… However, the more that I teach, the more that I realize that enforcing expectations does NOT make me cruel… If anything, it makes me kind because I care enough to address bad behavior so that students can come to realize what is acceptable and what is not. Turning a blind eye does not do my students a favor; apathy is a cancer to our children because it enables them to continue poor conduct without realizing that their behavior will not be accepted by respectable adult society. Although, I am coming to terms with my need to be firm within the classroom, I would like some advice from my fellow student teachers. What can I do to eliminate side-conversations and outbursts? How can I be firm, fair, and friendly?
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ReplyDeleteMercedes,
ReplyDeleteI am glad your Macbeth unit is going well! I am also in the middle of teaching it. And like you, I am working with the same constraints--not enough books to check out so all reading has to be done in class and so I have to sacrifice some "fun" activities in order to adequately cover the text and so, and so, and so...
However, I commend you stressing the value of the material over fun activities, even though, well, that's no fun... Perhaps you might be able to incorporate "fun" group activities during the review time? Or maybe have them do a group project as their Macbeth final? I'm sure you recognize the double-edge-swordness-ness of it all: if all they do is read, read, read, they'll lose interest and get bored, but at the same time you can't only implement tons of group work... In my class, we do readers' theatre and small group readings--groups will "master" their section and then we do a reading jigsaw--so that we can cover as much literary ground as we can every class. I'm also saving the group projects until after we've finished the play. You're right--we have GOT to finish the play before Spring Break! It sounds like you've got a pretty good grip on planning and the direction of the material. I just want to encourage you to remember: there is simply no way you can cover EVERY single facet of Macbeth in just a few weeks' time--it is too complex. So, your objective should be just to cover something entirely manageable, like themes and character progression/digression. You can always tweak it later to make teaching it again new for YOU!
Regarding your teaching personality, being a "softie" as you call it. This isn't a terrible thing--you can easily relate to, and communicate with, your students. Students, as a general rule, like to approach nice people. You're so sweet! But I do understand your concern. You don't want to be seen as a doormat. I think perhaps the solution is to outline your expectations and procedures not just at the beginning of the year (when you have your own classroom), but also at the beginning of EVERY lesson. Take thirty seconds and tell your students, every day, what you expect of them that day. That way, they know what you need and they will recognize that they have work to do. And when they attempt to take advantage of your nice demeanor and misbehave, explain to them that they have options. Teenagers love having choices, because it gives them a sense that they are secretly in control, when we know they're really not. (See my blog entry for my example from last week). Enforcing expectations does, in NO WAY, make you cruel--it makes you a better teacher. Best of luck!
Hi, Ms. Spears and Mrs. Leighton:
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas in both of your posts! Quick question/suggestion: have you considered copying an excerpt (e.g., important passage, scene) from the play and sending just that portion home with students for some close reading? They could read and annotate the text (you might need to model this first) outside of class, and then return to class with their annotations and responses to the text. That might be one way to encourage some out of class reading and make time for some in-class learning activities that help students create meaning from the text. :-)
I completely understand where you are coming from when it comes to discipline. The most important thing to remember is to be consistent. You can’t get on them one day for talking and then the next day ignore it. You have to lay out your expectations for your students and then make sure you follow through on a daily basis. I know this can be difficult especially since we are “only the student teacher” but I think it is important to do the best that you can. You could always discuss with your CT her expectations of you when it comes to discipline. I would try and enforce the same rules as she does; don’t go creating new rules and procedures the students are not used to. In regards to side conversation, I believe sometimes a look can say it all. Or walk over and stand next to the students who are chatty; this usually gets them to stop talking. They don’t want you hovering over them; therefore, they will usually be quiet. Keep working hard!
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