I am a week into my second placement which is in a 3rd grade public school. I have 22 students and it is a HUGE difference from my 12 Kindergarten students in a nursery school! So far I'm a bit out of my element. I feel like I have NO experience with this age level in my field experience. Really only 15 hours in a 4th grade and that's about all...so I feel very unnatural working with these students. Already I am getting a bit more comfortable, and I think it's a matter of figuring out what type of things this age group loves and how to have control over the entire class.
So far my biggest challenge has been how to assert myself with this older age group. The rules in the classroom seem a bit lax and I don't think there is as much respect as I like...it's interesting for me because I'm not sure if this is the age group or the class expectations! I hate the fact that the students are disrespectful to each other and I don't think an atmosphere of respect has been cultivated. They are also disrespectful to the teacher and do not listen!!! I completely understand having discipline issues and I think every teacher faces this, but I do not think it is typical to have problems with a majority of the students in the class day in and day out. This puts me in an interesting position as a student teacher keeping the classroom schedule and rules the same while trying to assert myself. I am learning already that one way to do this is stop and review my expectations before I teach my lesson. I go over the behaviors I want to see and what I do not want to see for a minute or two before we get into the actual learning portion.
Another thing I find interesting (and also a pet peeve of mine!) is my teacher allows students to eat snack whenever they want during the day. It is because she does not want to take any time out of teaching to have a 5 minute snack time in the morning and afternoon, but students are eating all day long. I find it disruptive as people are constantly going to get things out of lunch boxes or throwing garbage away or focusing on eating rather than the lesson. I understand the teacher's reasoning and also her belief in the children's independence and ability to make choices on their own, but in this case I think it is detracting from the classroom management. I feel like I would be annoyed if I was a parent of one of these kids because they literally eat all day long! I don't think there is ever a time there are less than 5 kids eating! Basically this is one thing that doesn't not bother my teacher but it is something that drives me crazy! Everyone has a different style and philosophy I guess, which does not make one way right or wrong, but this is definitely one thing that will not work for me :)
One of the biggest things I miss from my former placement is the connection I felt with the students. Part of this I am sure is because I was with the first group from day 1 and I was another teacher in their classroom rather than being the random person coming in for a month to teach. I also miss the center/play time with my first group because that's when I got to know the students and connect with them. With the public school setting there is not really a time to just talk to the students and learn about them. I'm now seeing how a private smaller setting school has so may positives for parents looking for the best school with individualized attention!
