“According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” Jerry Seinfeld

I wanted to find a quote about public speaking, this is what I found. Not exactly what I wanted but it made me laugh out loud and in teaching humor is a life savor.


It's my last week and I've been observing other teachers in my own grade as well as others. Some of them have been really good and I've learned a lot from. But I have to say the ones I learned the most from where the teachers that I would not want to be like. I was sitting one lesson about big numbers and math and I think I about fell asleep twice! I had to force myself to take notes and stand up in order to entertain myself. Then when I went and talked to my CT about it he basically said how would you feel if you were that student? The classroom seemed to have a lot of chatty students and the teacher said "I'll wait" 5 times in just a couple minutes (I started tallying after the 3 time she said it. This was her way of telling them that she was waiting for them to stop talking and to listen to her. My thoughts where why listen when she didn't seem to enjoy teaching the lesson and it was mostly a lecture. In essence we are public speakers. We stand in front of an audience and we need to figure out how to get them to listen to what we are saying and become interested in it. Yes this is more difficult thanks to modern technology and more entertaining television shows for kids, but it's still our job to keep their attention and teach! While watching the lesson the whole idea of "don't smile til after Christmas" came to my mind. I think the teacher smiled once at the end of the lesson when the lesson discussed baseball teams.

Another mistake that I saw was a teacher got upset at the students for throwing their marker board erasers into the baskets instead of handing them to the person next to them who's job then is to place the towel in the basket. I think I saw 8 or 9 students out of 27 do the right thing. So she stopped the class and had them watch her do it the wrong way then the right way. (And even though she told all students to watch her 5 of them who threw the rag was not watching). Then she went on with her lesson. First off if this was my class I would have found a different place for the towels, even I would be tempted to make a shot in since it was close enough. Then instead of modeling it for them I would have a few students that did it the wrong way do the modeling. The students know as the teacher I could do it, but as the teacher you want to show them they can do it the right way too. Then instead of just going on after showing the wrong and right way I would have every student collect the erasers and do it the right way. If one student did it the wrong way again, we would keep doing it till everyone does it the right way. One thing I learned a lot about in my second placement is showing authority in the right way. As my CT also says you are not the "bad guy" if you make them re-do something they did the wrong way. You are essentially setting them up for success. Showing them how to act the right way and also letting them know you won't just give into bad habits. I think it's also important to always explain to students why you do something a certain way. Your answer shouldn't be "because I said so" it should be "because we should always be doing our personal best and doing things the correct way because it makes us look good .... " or whatever the reason may be for the circumstance. Ok... so there is my rant for the week :)

On a sad note I only have 2 days left of student teaching and a lot left to do. It will be strange leaving the classroom (again) but knowing that I won't be walking into another room right away. While watching other teachers I feel a need to help students and be the one teaching them. I found myself wondering around the rooms that I observed and asking students questions or pointing out something on their assignments they where working on. I wasn't made to be an observer, I was made to be a teacher :)

All good things must come to an end.

So my time at Pierce is almost up. It is really bittersweet because I love the class and I loved teaching them, but I'm ready for the next step. I have learned more than anticipated over the last semester and gained a lot more confidence in many areas. Not just teaching, but in communicated, socializing and even professionalism. My fiance said that he has even noticed a different in my demeanor. Everything we do in life and every choice changes us in some way or another. No one ever said teaching was easy, but I've found confidence in the challenges that it creates for me. There wasn't a day in class that I left the room feeling empty. There was always something that happened or something one of the students did or said that showed me that this job is what I want to peruse.

Next week I will be able to watch some of the other teachers from the building. I feel that this is a strategy I will want to continue as I teach. Every teacher has different and unique ideas, and this job is all about stealing them :P I think a good teacher find what they are comfortable with and what works for them, but a great teacher continually adds to their list of strategies and keeps finding new and fresh ideas. They may or may not work but you never know unless you try. I'm excited to watch the other teachers to see how they teach and to see other aspects such as different ways to set up the classrooms and the different grades. I don't know what level I would prefer to teach yet so watching the different classes will hopefully give me a little bit better idea as to what I might want.