PERSONAL REFLECTION - SEMAINE 3 DE 9 - Getting caught in the silo, le dialogue interne and rubrics...

3/3/2018

Me voici. Semaine trois de neuf. Encore en train de donner un seul cours avec un très beau groupe d’élève. Par contre, la pile de correction monte. J’ai un roman à lire cette fin de semaine et deux unités à préparer. Enseignante de langue? Ouf. Au moins mes élèves viennent en classe prêts à apprendre et à partager de bonnes idées!

Pourtant, je suis encore à la recherche de mon identité en tant qu’enseignante du secondaire. Je suis encore en train de trouver un rythme naturel de travail. Je suis encore en train de me questionner par rapport à mes interactions et mes leçons. Je suis encore en mode découverte.

I realize I smile less as a high school teacher - why is that? Is it lack of confidence, am I underestimating my potential and what I can offer the students, is it because of higher stake learning, am I overall just more serious, is it because I am dealing with older students and having a difficulty connecting with them, or am I simply OVERTHINKING this - probably….

Don’t get my wrong - I am still optimistic and cheerful, however, I don’t know if the students truly understand the happy go lucky smiling Mme Lalonde that I am deep down inside. When teaching, I am often so focused on the getting through the content that there is no time for fun necessarily. I don’t like that. I want to change that. Next week, I want more FUN learning.

GETTING CAUGHT IN A SILO

I never thought that I would say this, but getting caught up in a SILO is a lot easier than I thought. Doing this week reflection, I realized that I spent every lunch period in my room working and had very minimal interactions with the staff of the school. I know the importance of connecting with others in and around the school, however, it is a vicious cycle of: you have tons of work, you try and get as much done on your spare time to not bring it home with you but you end up isolating yourself because of it. Naturally, I am a social butterfly, I love interacting and chatting with staff and students. That is what energizes me and ignites my fire. And, as much as I am social online, I feel disconnected from the staff in my own school. I want to change that. Next week, I want to CONNECT more with the students and staff of my school.

le DIALOGUE INTERNE

Le dialogue interne est tellement important. J’ai eu une conversation avec quelques personnes à ce sujet cette semaine. Premièrement, je vais avouer que je suis mon plus sévère critique et je dois arrêter d’être trop dure envers moi-même parce que le dialogue interne peut tout changer ma perspective de moi-même, mes leçons et mes capacités. Il faut se dire de belles choses. Il faut se dire que faire des erreurs c’est humain et que ces erreurs aident à ton apprentissage. Donc, je veux changer cela. La semaine prochaine, je veux me motiver en me disant des mots d’encouragements et me féliciter pour les bons coups.

Un autre de mes mentors a mentionné “qu'on grandit selon ce que l'on planifie... keeping a growth journal is key in growing in the right direction…” Cela étant dit, je voulais faire la liste de 3 succès dans ta semaine, 3 nouveaux apprentissages pour toi en tant qu’enseignantes et 3 objectifs pour la semaine prochaine. Les derniers “3 objectifs pour la semaine prochaine” sont déjà en gras ci-haut par rapport à chaque paragraphe.

Mes 3 succès dans ma semaine ont été:

J’ai eu une belle interaction avec une élève dans les corridors
J’ai créé une revue pour une évaluation qui a été engageante et stimulante
J’ai administré une évaluation dans laquelle je pense que les élèves ont été bien préparés

Mes 3 nouveaux apprentissages ont été:

Il faut constamment faire des rappels, des rappels et plus de rappels pour nos élèves.
Il faut véritablement rendre le travail authentique pour que l’élève sente comme il a de la valeur et qu’il vaut la peine.
Il faut parfois donner la chance à l’élève de travailler avant d'intervenir, car ils peuvent te surprendre.

I’VE FOUND MY ARCH NEMESIS

Developing rubric may be my arch nemesis. I know where I need to grow and learn the most and it is understanding and mastering rubrics. This is something I believe lacked extremely in my degree because in two years I have only ever created 1 rubric. This is very difficult for me as a new teacher and I thank my AT for having taken soooo much time with me this week to help me wrap my head around it.

mr. d is so relatable

Although I have been a little overwhelmed with lesson planning, unit planning and re-learning loads of things, I have tried to give my brain a beak. Of course, this break still had to do with EDU because lately I have been watching the CBC show Mr. D. Not only is it relatable because it's Canadian but overall, they did a really great job at showing what a true life of a teacher is like. I definitely relate most to Ms. Mason.

5 Commentaires

Ivanie (Mme. T)

3/3/2018 12:41:30 pm

Not to sound creepy, but I still see myself in a lot of the things you say in your posts. I am extremely hard on myself too and I constantly need to remind myself of my successes and that I am still learning. Down the road when we have our own classroom, we'll be still double guessing everything we do, but I believe this is a sign of being a good reflective teacher. Rubrics are challenging, but if you keep them in line with your success criteria which you co-created with your students and keep it simple, you should be good. Checkbricks are my personal favourite... If you can use those, they save a lot of time, but they still help students create their next steps and learning goals. I suggest you look into them! Happy planning!

Réponse

Ramona Meharg link

3/3/2018 01:43:20 pm

It’s something that with over 20 years in I still struggle with. Wanting to do the best job I can, needing a life outside of school, but also needing to connect with my colleagues. It’s a balancing act, and one you get better at, but will always be working on. It’s a good thing that you notice and worry about it. It means you care. If you were walking out the door at 3 and not thinking about it, that’s When you should start to worry.

Amber

3/3/2018 02:19:44 pm

I agree Ramona. I always find “hallway chats” (as I call them) a nice way to connect with a colleague or maybe find out that we have something we can meet up about later and further discuss.

Lisa Corbett link

3/3/2018 02:05:31 pm

Yeah. What Ramona said. I have weeks sometimes when I walk into the staff room for lunch on Friday and people ask where I have been all week (even though I didn't miss a day!) And Rubrics...well, as soon as you think you know what you are doing, another new thing will come along for you to learn. The learning never ends in teaching! It's hard work, but so worth it.

Amber link

3/3/2018 02:17:13 pm

Great post Sarah! “Self talk” is so important to watch. I can relate, I too am my biggest critic. Reflecting on practices is good, and so is finding areas to improve, learn & grow in, but also watching to make sure that self-talk doesn’t become negative. Also, a great point about interactions with staff. Connecting with other colleagues can be a great way to learn things you didn’t intentionally go into the conversation expecting to learn. For example, on Friday after school I sat down in a collegue’s classroom and we chatted for about a half hour. Out of that conversation, she discovered that she could get funding for her field trip, something she never knew, and I discovered a new program offered for kindergarten classes that I had never heard about. We all have something to offer to each other, whether it’s a word of encouragement or a new tip of the trade.