Zinzer - Week 3

Teach to the individual not the curriculum.

It was a productive week.  AH Sophomores are reading The Book of Job while AP Juniors are diving into various essays by Thoreau.  We've had some profound discussion about suffering (The Book of Job) and living life simply and consciously (Thoreau).   

I taught a lesson on suffering that correlated with The Book of Job, but from the parallel sufferings that Job’s wife endured.  She lost her home, lost her financial stability, watched her husband fall ill with a disease that took over his entire body, witnessed her husband be falsely accused and judged by his friends, and the most painful, she watched her children die, all ten of them.  As a class, we explored Job’s wife’s parallel sufferings through modern-day scenarios of suffering.  The students had to step out of their comfort zone on this, and they did exceptionally well.  Each student also shared a personal, 21st-century response to the suffering scenario that restored faith in humanity.  It was a powerful lesson.  The day before, we had watched a short documentary on the impact the tornado had on Joplin, MO.  The documentary tied in The Book of Job and some of the similarities relating to loss and suffering.  Even though these were tough topics to watch and discuss, Standard 4 - Learning Environment was front and center in my mind.  I made sure that the classroom was a safe and respectful place for all of the students to share their feelings and thoughts.  

My cooperating teacher has been a great support system for me by always willing to help me get where I need to be with lesson planning, teaching strategies, and just good advice.  We had a possible cheating situation happen with one of our classes and he went through the app steps with me when this does happen.  It’s important not to have a knee-jerk reaction, but to explore all of the situations and have a plan in place.  We will be tackling more of this and talking about what the plan is on Monday.  Standard 9 – Professionalism, Leadership and Advocacy struck a chord with me during this experience.  My cooperating teacher defines professionalism and will handle this situation ethically and competently. 

This week I’ve learned that The Great Books Foundation is a wonderful resource for me.  I will be using this resource a lot through student teaching and will continue to use it as I progress in my teaching career.  I’ve learned that students respond well to interactive learning.  The discussion format works well, but interactive learning is beneficial and the results can be magic. 

For the upcoming week, I hope to find ways to connect with my students through the lessons I’m teaching.  I’ve learned that when you are teaching, you must over plan.  That’s an adjustment I’m making as I teach more and more.  It’s safe to error on the side of over planning versus under planning.  I've also learned that exchanging pleasantries with students as they enter and the leave the classroom is vital.  When I connect with a student on a personal level it allows me to capture a glimpse into his/her life.  I need to and want to get to know my students not just AP or AH students but as humans; humans that have lives outside of school, ups and downs, stress, various outside extra curricular activities that consume their time and working while managing their course load while trying to keep it all together.  The lesson is important, but that relationship and getting to know a student at a deeper level is more important.