Reflection Journal 3

This was my second week of aiding. I can now say that I know each one of their names!
This was quite an accomplishment, however each day I become more and more aware of how
much more I need to learn about every one of them. I believe a key aspect to being a good
teacher is to know each one of your students well. It is important to know what you can expect
from each child. This comes with time. I have been able to pick up on this some already.
Through my observation and the times I have been able to work with the students I have been
able to get a better picture of how they work individually and as a group. I have been able to
better understand what I can expect from them. My greatest struggle has been the classroom
management.
This week I had my teaching observation. I read to the entire class and we worked
through it asking prediction questions about the text. I had been in front of the class only a
couple times before and it was only for a few minutes when my teacher needed back-up. This
teaching experience was my first time in front of the entire class having to implement
management. One thing I found very apparent is that it is one thing to read about classroom
management and a whole other thing to implement it. I lost the students attention after getting
into the lesson and gaining that back was difficult. I am learning how hard it is to teach and see
everything that is going on in the classroom. I really wish I had eyes on the back of my head.
These are the situations where a better understanding of each student and who they are would be
helpful. I would have a better idea of who I need to be more watchful of or who is more
independent. I have also learned that a big part of management is follow-through.
When it comes to classroom management it is not only about observing all of the
behaviors of the students, but begin able to follow through on what you say. What I have been
able to observe from my teacher is that to keep control of your students you have to create a
relationship with reliability. Every time he gives an instruction to his class he follows up with
what he said. This creates structure for the students, structure that they can follow. Froyen calls
this conduct management. It is the creating of explicit rules or guidelines for individual and
group behavior while on school property. It also includes establishing positive and negative
consequences for following or not following rules (1999, p, 56). This is something I really want
to work on. I think that establishing rules that are constant will really benefit my management. I
want to show the students where my line is. I want to show them that I have rules and
expectations and I will follow through with them. This isnt something that is going to happen all
at once, but I believe its something that I can work on each day in there.
In closing I have learned a lot over the past week of teacher aiding. For one thing my
eyes have been opened to the sheer amount of work teaching is. I have also had the great
pleasure of observing a teacher who has great management skills. I have been able to see how
vital great observations skills are. My goal going forward is to work on my follow through. I
want to give clear expectations and respond with either consistent discipline or rewards.

Froyen, L., Iverson, A. (1999), Schoolwide and Classroom Management (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Merrill.