It has been forever since I have blogged. I apologize for that becuase I am just not in the habit of blogging. I am now at my second placement but I want to share my experince taking my class on their field trip to Hook Mountain.
We took the kids to Hook Mountain for part of their geography unit. We had to walk as a class up through the park to the base of the mountain. There the students got a lecture on the type of terrain we would be hiking through and how they need to stay with the group. Naturally the teachers broke into sections to keep an eye on a different part of the group. I was somewhere in the middle. I hadn't realized how steep some parts were going to be, let alone helping the kids work their way to the top.
Once at the top the students were split into two different groups because there wasn't enough room for all of us to fit. This was not the original plan. For my lesson, I had planned to instruct them as a group, so quick thinking was necessary. I started with my group first. I asked them to tell me which direction was south. Being at the top of the mounatin the students were confused as to what direction was what. Finally, one student said I can see the Empire State building. Instantly I jumped on the fact that if they could see a landmark such as that then they would know what direction it was in. (south) I then instructed them to record in their social studies notebooks what they saw in the southern direction. Then, I went to the second group and did the same with them. While the second group was working I went back to the first group and did the same activity for north. This bouncing between the two groups went on until each group had recorded their findings for each direction.
I was disappointed because I had a worksheet for the students to do after the directions were done. Because the groups were separated, I wasted a lot of time having to walk back and forth. The day overall was a lot of fun and I really got to bond with my students, learning things about them I hadn't known before.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
What are my strengths?
Over the weekend I decided to take my Strength Finder test. I have not taken this test before, so it was rather interesting to see how it all played out. My five strengths are achiever, woo, communication, discipline and relator. Some of the strengths that came up I was not surprised by but others definitely shocked me. For those who have not taken this test, or know what these things are, I am going to explain each one of mine in further detail.
For anyone who knows me, I am definitely an achiever. An achiever has a constant need for achievement and works their butt off everyday to no avail. After each accomplishment is reached the fire dwindles and then its on to the next item of business. For me as a teacher, this is the driving force to take on the next challenge through constantly improving lesson plans, learning new strategies and trying new ideas (anything to meet the goal). Because I do not take the time to enjoy what I have accomplished, I worry that I will not do so for my students either. I will need to be conscious of being still and be proud of their work.
My second strength was WOO. This stands for winning others over. Those who have the strength of WOO are what most people would see as outgoing. They naturally strike up conversations with strangers and befriend people without concern. They form connections and build a rapport but quickly move on to mingle with the next group. This will be great for dealing with students parents and other staff. Because I am not scared of striking up conversation, I will have the ability to build rapport with the parents and create a comfortableness for them to come to me with any concerns. With this, I will need to be conscious of parents who do not so easily engage in conversation so as not to scare them.
I may be a bit dramatic, but hey, it's my strength of communication. Those with this strength have the ability to take a dull, dry idea and turn it into something exciting and energizing. As a teacher, this strength will allow me to capture the attention of my students and engage them in, what otherwise would be, dull information. As a matter of fact, I have already experienced this in the classroom. The other day I was teaching a lesson about longitude and latitude (boring for sure) but because my communication of the material was so engaging the students were connected and having fun. Some even stopped to tell me I needed to calm down a little because I was getting too excited.
Discipline is my fourth strength. People with the strength of discipline desire a world that is predictable. They live for routines, plans, and order which give them the sense of having control. This rings true to who I am as a person. I have a plan for everything and desire, even need, to feel like I am in control. This will benefit my teaching because I will be conscious in my planning, organized in my work and form routines for the students to adjust into. Though this strength has its benefits it is also something that I will need to work on. This is probably the hardest strength I deal with. Life is not always predictable and God is the only one who is truly in control. I need to learn to be flexible with my students, other teachers and parents because not everyone is as organized as I will be.
My last strength is that of relator. As a relator, you are a person who values deep relationships. You may not have many friends that you are close to but for the ones that are, you are constantly trying to deepen the relationship. You understand their is a sense of risk in opening up to someone but the closeness your relationship will bring is worth it. This confused me at first because I do not feel like I open up to people easily, if at all. I tend to feel like I am a very surface kind of person but as I read on i realized that this may be me. I am extremely close to my family, my boyfriend and a couple friends. In those relationships, I work to deepen the bond between us despite the risk of getting hurt. As a teacher, I am not sure how this would help me. Feel free to comment and try to open my eyes as to how this has a benefit in the education field.
With knowing your strengths it is important to understand how they can help you as well as the problems they can cause. The key is to having balance between them all. As an achiever I need to be conscious to enjoy life and not work it away. With WOO, I need to be conscious that I may intimidate others who are not as open. I will need to learn to listen just as much, if not more than I speak with a strength of Communication. Flexibility is the key to dealing with the strength of Discipline. And lastly, I will need to be open to forming new friendships and take the risk of allowing the relationship to go to a deeper level. Be conscious to find the balance in it all.
For anyone who knows me, I am definitely an achiever. An achiever has a constant need for achievement and works their butt off everyday to no avail. After each accomplishment is reached the fire dwindles and then its on to the next item of business. For me as a teacher, this is the driving force to take on the next challenge through constantly improving lesson plans, learning new strategies and trying new ideas (anything to meet the goal). Because I do not take the time to enjoy what I have accomplished, I worry that I will not do so for my students either. I will need to be conscious of being still and be proud of their work.
My second strength was WOO. This stands for winning others over. Those who have the strength of WOO are what most people would see as outgoing. They naturally strike up conversations with strangers and befriend people without concern. They form connections and build a rapport but quickly move on to mingle with the next group. This will be great for dealing with students parents and other staff. Because I am not scared of striking up conversation, I will have the ability to build rapport with the parents and create a comfortableness for them to come to me with any concerns. With this, I will need to be conscious of parents who do not so easily engage in conversation so as not to scare them.
I may be a bit dramatic, but hey, it's my strength of communication. Those with this strength have the ability to take a dull, dry idea and turn it into something exciting and energizing. As a teacher, this strength will allow me to capture the attention of my students and engage them in, what otherwise would be, dull information. As a matter of fact, I have already experienced this in the classroom. The other day I was teaching a lesson about longitude and latitude (boring for sure) but because my communication of the material was so engaging the students were connected and having fun. Some even stopped to tell me I needed to calm down a little because I was getting too excited.
Discipline is my fourth strength. People with the strength of discipline desire a world that is predictable. They live for routines, plans, and order which give them the sense of having control. This rings true to who I am as a person. I have a plan for everything and desire, even need, to feel like I am in control. This will benefit my teaching because I will be conscious in my planning, organized in my work and form routines for the students to adjust into. Though this strength has its benefits it is also something that I will need to work on. This is probably the hardest strength I deal with. Life is not always predictable and God is the only one who is truly in control. I need to learn to be flexible with my students, other teachers and parents because not everyone is as organized as I will be.
My last strength is that of relator. As a relator, you are a person who values deep relationships. You may not have many friends that you are close to but for the ones that are, you are constantly trying to deepen the relationship. You understand their is a sense of risk in opening up to someone but the closeness your relationship will bring is worth it. This confused me at first because I do not feel like I open up to people easily, if at all. I tend to feel like I am a very surface kind of person but as I read on i realized that this may be me. I am extremely close to my family, my boyfriend and a couple friends. In those relationships, I work to deepen the bond between us despite the risk of getting hurt. As a teacher, I am not sure how this would help me. Feel free to comment and try to open my eyes as to how this has a benefit in the education field.
With knowing your strengths it is important to understand how they can help you as well as the problems they can cause. The key is to having balance between them all. As an achiever I need to be conscious to enjoy life and not work it away. With WOO, I need to be conscious that I may intimidate others who are not as open. I will need to learn to listen just as much, if not more than I speak with a strength of Communication. Flexibility is the key to dealing with the strength of Discipline. And lastly, I will need to be open to forming new friendships and take the risk of allowing the relationship to go to a deeper level. Be conscious to find the balance in it all.
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