THE BEST WAY TO INSPIRE KINDERGARTENERS

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Recently, I tried to figure out the best method to motive kindergarten students to follow directions. There were numerous ideas I came up with. Of coarse, I tried to reward students with snacks and addittional recess. This strategy wasn't as successful as I hoped it would. These kids are very young (ages 4 and 5), therefore every aspect of school,especially rules and teacher expectations, takes a while for them to understand the importance of them. The beginning of the school year is the most difficult, because students are transitioning from summer (no school) less rules and restrictions into the fall (numerous rules/and expectations). The best way I found to reward students for good choices is to give them small prizes (pencils, erasers, inexpensive toys) out of a tresure chest. The reward I found that helped me the most was giving stickers out to anyone who followed my directions. I was amazed at how effective this strategy worked. I never knew the "true" power of stickers!

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD TEACHER

I believe a great teacher has a friendly and humerous personality, can create meaningful group and individual assignments, ability to help all students learn and reach there maximum potential. All these are necessary to help students learn a lot. When teachers have a friendly and humerous personality it helps make the learning process fun and enjoyable to most students. Also, I find that by doing these things, students are more inclined to pay attention in class, and are anxious to volunteer to answer questions. The more engaged and active students are the better listener and learners they will become! It is important to create meaningful group and individual assignment that not only forces students to think critically about topics, but also introduce new information. Teachers use individual assignments along with test and quizes to gauge how well students comprend material. I believe group assignments teach teamwork. Teachers main objective should be to help students learn as much as possible, by motivating them to achieve there personal best. Students spend a large portion of their life being educated by teacher. Therefore, educators can have a profound effect on shaping views and teaching students subject matter and relating it to current topics and issues.

SUBSTITUTE TEACHING

Sunday, November 8, 2009

The art of being an effective substitute teacher consist of several characteristics: classroom management, multi-tasking. If an individual doesn't display all these qualities while they are the guest teacher, the classroom and the entire day can become an diaster! I will explain the importance of each characteristics and how it helps the classroom run smoothly and safely. Being the guest teacher you have to be firm, but yet fair to all the students to create an environment that allows learning to occurr.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT: You are responsible for the introducing and explaining of various topics ranging from how to write paragraphs or solving algebraic expressions, it all depends on the lesson plans left by the teacher. During certain times you may have to address/ and handle behavior issues immediately.
MULIT-TASKING: If you become frustrated when you have to do several things at one time, then I would not recommend teaching as a profession. You have to be able to organize and adjust your schedule, based on your students needs. To be effective you need to be able to teach lessons, handle children that are off task and not focused, clarify and explain directions or questions.