Blog Post 6

This teaching experience has been full of firsts and full of challenges. One of those challenges is the technology availability; my school district does not have many technological advantages of other school districts, but I do have some chances to use technology in my classroom. Thus far, the overhead projector has been a life saver and I use it on almost daily basis. I believe that children learn better when they can observe real life situations and then connect them to whatever scientific concept I’m teaching. I use various video clips to engage my students and get their attention, and then when they least expect it I blow their minds by connecting the clip to science. This helps make the lessons memorable and when I later refer to something we studied, I can say “remember when we watched such and such...?”. This would not be possible without the overhead projector. The other example of technology I use in my classroom, on occasion, are the i-pads. I use them in my classroom when my students have to research a topic.

 With 11 weeks having gone by, I still wonder how long it will take me to get good at classroom management. For instance I still have a difficulty with getting students to get into the classroom, sit down and start working on their Bellringer assignment without having to be told several times. This is the one thing I hope to accomplish before my time at this school district is up; I want them to do what they are supposed to without being prompted.

I also struggle with keeping my “inner drill instructor” (who wants to make my class to pushups) in check when my students are talking during class.