Modeling

I am happy to say that the new teachers have finally arrived here in Sayulita!  They arrived on Monday and have slowly transitioned into the school and the school day with the students.  I must say that it has been fun to watch another teacher with more experience take over the classroom and implement new ideas.  I have been enjoying this process so much because it has been nice to be able to compare what I did with the students to what another teacher is doing, especially since I feel like I know the students so well.  Watching another teacher work with these students has helped me be able to evaluate my practice as a teacher more effectively. 

After reflecting on my practice, one area that I realized I could really grow in as a future educator is modeling.  Miss Teresa (the teacher whom I am now working with) loves to do centers, as do I.  However, before allowing the students to participate in the centers this week, she modeled exactly what was supposed to happen.  She not only modeled how to complete the activities that were at each center, but she also modeled the types of behaviors students were supposed to be using.  For example, she would model a student running to a new center and a student walking to a new center.  Then she would ask the students which skit showed the student who was using the correct behavior.  Though her modeling was a little time consuming, I noticed that the students behaved much better at the centers than when I had used centers with them.  The centers were clean for the next students to use, and students were transitioning from one center to another in an organized fashion.  Furthermore, they were accomplishing more of any given activity at each center.  I guess I always knew and learned that modeling was the best way to start off centers, but it felt like I was talking too much while modeling how to complete the activities at each center that I never made it to modeling how behaviors at centers was supposed to look.  However, I know truly believe that it is well worth your time as a teacher to model how behaviors should look, because younger students respond well to this modeling and remember it.  Moreover, once you model activities and behaviors thoroughly the first time, you only have to quickly review the ideas in the future.  Therefore, you are actually saving yourself time in the long run because students know better how to self-regulate and clean up after themselves at the centers.

I will definitely be sure to take the time to model activities, centers, and directions more thoroughly in the future when working with younger students!  I am now more conscientious of that area of my practice thanks to my new cooperating teacher.