Grouping: The Great Confidence Booster (Effective Practice)

The classroom can be a scary place. As a teacher, its my job to make sure my students don't feel that fear. I find that my students biggest fear, is the fear of being wrong. Because I teach classes that are 60% gifted, they all fear the idea of giving the wrong answer in front of their peers. While teaching gifted, I have observed that they strive to achieve the highest grades possible. This usually creates competition amongst themselves to always be right. So when we have open discussions and ask for answers, they are always hesitant to give me their thoughts and opinions. I thought it was perhaps that they needed time to work it out. But when I experimented with  then having them work solo to come up with the answers, I found something odd. As they worked, I went around their work table to aid them and found that they knew the answers all along. I came to realize what they were lacking. Confidence. In front of their peers they were too scared to respond. I realized the best practice would be to have them work in pairs. I discovered that with the aid and reassurance from their peers, they are more likely to engage in discussion and to not over think the question. Now I find that I have made it a daily exercise before discussion is to have them critical think for three minutes alone, and then have them pair up to discuss their answers. This helps break the ice for class and give them just a little confidence boost for the discussion ahead.

Content Confusion

As  I progress farther along in my studies to become a teacher, I'm finding it more and more difficult to come up with lesson plans. I don't have trouble for the simple fact of coming up with creative ideas. Its the fact that I feel lost as to what exactly I am supposed to be teaching. Am I missing something? How are we to know what we are supposed to be teaching? In my observations we are currently reading The Diary of Anne Frank. My question is not what are we supposed to teach in regards to the text, but how was it decided that we were to read THAT certain text. Are we told this by team leaders? I have yet to have this question answered. Even though it seems to be such a simple answer. This is why when I sit down to create a lesson plan, it becomes difficult because I don't have a basis to go off of.  Standards only get you so far. Standards don't provide what texts I should be teaching. Can anyone answer such a simple question?

Tech Trainee

The classrooms these days have definitely changed from the days of chalkboard and old school projectors. This new generation is all about advanced tech and the media to keep us all connected. Even though most would consider me to be of that generation based upon my age, I find myself disconnected instead. This disconnect is the root of my nervousness of feeling like a novice. Often times I feel like a child being thrust into this adult world of bigger, better, and faster. For me, I was actually the generation that just missed having technology in the classroom. The only technology I ever witnessed was an overhead projector. I never even learned how to properly use the Microsoft Office tools.Now as I study to become a teacher in the year of 2015, there are instruments such as scanner codes at the bottom of testing sheets that automatically grade a student's paper. Tablets are being given to the students as a replacement for pen and paper. Presentations are being delivered through digital poster board. It's in this world I feel lost and confused. Several times I have had to have a student take the role of the teacher and lecture me on the ways of a smart board.  Its moments like these I feel I lose the respect of being a guide for these young learners. They see me as an 'idiot' to modern happenings and may not take me seriously as someone who can 'teach' them. I don't fear technology taking over my role, I fear it taking away my dignity as a teacher.

In the Beginning...

Hello!!

So I'll start this thing off with telling a little about myself and why I started this conversation.
Yes, CONVERSATION because I hope that's what this becomes. A way to connect with other teachers-to-be and swap helpful and inspired stories and tips. So here goes....

I am a 25 year old college student who is currently studying in the Secondary Education Program. I plan being English certified and focusing on middle school standards. When I was young I had actually always wanted to be a teacher. For career day I always threw on a pair of glasses and branded a ruler claiming I was the best teacher ever! I've always been a good reader, but was never truly fascinated by it. It wasn't until I reached middle school that I truly found a passion. Reading stories such as The Giver and The Hatchet is what ignited a fire in my soul for how reading can take you on adventures you may never experience yourself. They evoked emotions in myself that I never knew I could get just from simply reading.

Its this experience of soul finding and passion discovery that I want to witness in our future generations. The younger generation is nothing but social medias and videos of people hurting themselves for entertainment value. They are beginning to lose the time to experience how something as simple as a book can have such an impact upon ones life and future. I want to be able to be the person who helps and guides them to have that experience of soul defining moments. I don't just want to be able to focus on literary experience either though. I myself love to learn. If I could forever be a student and just learn new things every day I would. I want my students to be able to have that kind feeling of just wanting to know things and to expand their minds. I want to see a child's face light up when learning something that maybe they thought impossible or improbable in fact IS possible and even probable. The joy of finally understanding and overcoming a problem. If I can be that person that helped them discover passion, why would I not take that chance? Even if they never remember my name, why would I not want to provide the opportunity?