Student Teaching

Littlek--

Balance is all--and it takes time to find your balance.

Remember, you aren't a Real Teacher--you are training to be a Real Teacher. Also, not all children have been raised to be reasonable, the way you've raised your sister's kids.

Hold your dominion.

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MsO - MsD has a few incentive systems in place. Marbles for good behavior - when the jar is full of marbles the class gets a special treat. When you accomplish a series of extra math work, you get a no-homework pass. At the end of the month, people with class jobs get to pick from a treasure chest...... Maybe I could have gift bags for good behavior during my take-over week? Some sort of bribe, I mean incentive.

German Boys! Wait, tell me more. Thomas, the homework was assigned for class time? I think I'd have angry parents if I sent kids home with a slew of homework. Walter - give me an example of your behavior. And any behavior a teacher had incentivised you to be good.

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Noddy24 wrote:

Littlek--

Balance is all--and it takes time to find your balance.

Remember, you aren't a Real Teacher--you are training to be a Real Teacher. Also, not all children have been raised to be reasonable, the way you've raised your sister's kids.

Hold your dominion.

Well. I dunno about my sister's kids....... balance is a word that keeps coming up in this teaching thing.

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They don't have homework in fourth grade? (but wait, is this a special ed class?)

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I did read somewhere that homework is considered outmoded..

<frowns>

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littlek wrote:

...I think I'd have angry parents if I sent kids home with a slew of homework...

These are 4th graders, lil'k? My son's public elementary school assigned about 30 minutes of homework per night in 4th grade. Projects required more time...usually weekends. The private school he now attends does the same (maybe a bit more) for 4th grade. Plus 15-20 minutes of reading time per night, 5x week.

The parents expect it from a "good" school.

The only schools here that I know of that don't assign homework in 4th grade are either academically substandard or schools for DD and other "special needs" children.

Every parent I know spent part of every school night helping their child(ren) with homework. It's a family routine.

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BTW, at our public schools, homework begins in kindergarten. It's usually only about 10 minutes' worth then, but it's enough to build good study habits.

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No no! They do have homework! But, Thomas made it sound like his substitute provides hours worth.

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Oh. I guess I didn't read it the same way you did.

Nevermind. :wink:

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<grin>

I guess I can't see what the list of homework does to control the students in class.

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Thomas wrote:

One German substitute teacher who tought me used a magic incantation when confronted with a hostile class. The incantation was "well, kids, your homework for today will be ..." <turns>

It's nasty, but effective. Our class always fell silent as soon as she turned around. Maybe it works for you too. It's a good stop-gap measure, but not to be overused.

I understood this as more of an implied threat, actually. Laughing

The substitute could've just listed all the regular homework, but the TIMING (when the class became unruly) along with the smug delivery would scare the students into thinking the teacher might be planning to add some extra work. And that would definitely shut 'em up fast!

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And, then if she didn't? Seems like a one-trick pony.

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littlek wrote:

Walter - give me an example of your behavior. And any behavior a teacher had incentivised you to be good.

I've been a bit older than your children at school.
We always were behaving good if we were taken seriously - something, I did myself when teaching at schools.

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littlek wrote:

German Boys! Wait, tell me more. Thomas, the homework was assigned for class time? I think I'd have angry parents if I sent kids home with a slew of homework.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "was assigned for class time". She would assign it to us for doing it at home and having it done in the next class. I suppose some parents would get angry about this in Germany too, but maybe it's easier for German teachers to risk angering parents.

littlek wrote:

And, then if she didn't? Seems like a one-trick pony.

She would continue writing until the class shut up. We learned to shut up very fast.

But what works for other teachers won't work for you if it's not your style. And I'm getting the impression that meanness, unfortunately, is not your style at all.

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Littlek--

Call it "penmanship practice" instead of "homework".

If the kids can't settle down for an interactive lesson, give them a sentence to copy in class. Repeat as necessary:

Silence is golden.

Learning requires concentration. Concentration requires quiet.

School is a place for learning, not for confusion.

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Thomas, our teachers did the same. If we were misbehaving, we got more homework. Strikes me as fair - if you cannot behave, we cannot cover everything at school, so you have to do more at home... If you behave, you have more free time... Worked like magic for us, too.

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Sigh..... so many tricks to learn!

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Thomas wrote:

But what works for other teachers won't work for you if it's not your style. And I'm getting the impression that meanness, unfortunately, is not your style at all.

I didn't see it as mean - rather firm and clear and consistent - which is what parents who post on A2K seem to want from their children's teachers. Teaching is a different thing from parenting or babysitting - it's a profession - with goals to be achieved every day.

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Littlek--

You can also throw in stand-beside-your-desk stretch exercises, followed by a teacher-led minute of concentrated breathing.

They don't want to listen? Then you choose to have them write. Or stretch. Or breath.

You choose.

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Our French teacher also sang with us when we were good. She would teach us a new song if we were extra good. We loved that. And her.

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