Hola everyone! Things are going great at East. I've taken the assistant baseball coach position for the Spring, just adding something else to the plate! My CT was very encouraging about it and really wanted me to take the position, so I have. I've found a way to make it work even with a seminar on Wednesdays!
Currently I'm teaching a Video Unit in my Intro to Newspaper class. The kids really seem to be enjoying shooting interviews, editing video, and learning Adobe Premiere. It's a major change-up from the various writing assignments they had the first semester of school. I'm still learning how design and layouts work in Intro to Yearbook, so I'm basically just observing and soaking it all in like a sponge. The classes that are the trouble are suprisingly not our freshman/sophomore classes, it's our junior and senior students in Newspaper 2 and Yearbook 2.
The Yearbook Staff is severely behind where they should be at this time of year. The CT is constantly on their butts, and the senior leadership is questionable. One senior has been diagnosed with being bi-polar, and constantly goes to doctor's appointments during yearbook class. How convenient right? The other seniors aren't doing a HORRIBLE job, but are not stepping up and directing the staff like they should. Most of the junior kids are hard at work, but a few slack off 10-15 minutes every class, and that's when that senior leadership should be stepping in. Their deadline is in the middle of March to have this yearbook due, and the CT is constantly rubbing her temples worrying about this book. I've tried to walk around the room and encourage the students, and even seniors, to pick it up for the home stretch. It seems they are adjusting to me being in the classroom, and being a part of their routine they have had for 6 months now. The freshman and sophomore classes have been easy transitions for me. However, the older classes seem to almost treat me like a friend rather than a co-pilot to the teacher. So my question is, what can I do to show the yearbook staff to take these last few weeks more serious? To take me more serious? To show the seniors to step up and be true leaders? Help!
Spencer
Hey, Spencer!
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like we are dealing with similar issues. Have you addressed your CT about this issue? If not, definitely try that!
In addition to checking out the ideas in my post, I would also suggest that you continue to maintain your authority by establishing a mentor/mentee relationship with your students, rather than a friendship. In other words, make sure they know you are there to support them in their learning and facilitate instruction in the classroom.
I hope this helps!
Good luck!
Hi Spencer,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are taking full advantage of your opportunity-that's fantastic! Good luck in your coaching. As far as keeping a student/teacher relationship, I think you must be very careful not to address topics that are unrelated to journalism. I'm sure it is hard for the students to see you as their teacher considering you're probably not much older than them; however, you should make it clear that they have boundaries on what to discuss. If students begin sharing too much about "outside" topic, make sure you redirect their attention quickly. Perhaps you could inspire them and motivate them with some personal stories about accomplishments or even times that deadlines were not met and how that affected others. I'm not sure how their class is structured but perhaps the students need to have more guidance regarding deadlines by specific tasks. Ok, so I don't really know what goes in to all of this and I may be taking a shot in the dark...but if my comments don't make sense or are completely incoherent, at least you will have a good laugh! Good luck to you Spencer...I know you will do great!
Nancy Best