Start of Year 3

Now, in the third year, I feel like a completely different teacher. Not only can I prepare for three classes, I continue to try out new technology, teaching strategies, and classroom policies. I have improved on a lot of simple things and I can tell that the students are getting more out of the class time that we have together. I don’t stress about what I’m teaching and I have much more energy to sustain me through the day. I catch on to the little hints that students give when they need help and I know how to take action to solve the myriad of problems that arise in school every day. For example, this year I have a student with a severe visual impairment. I knew that I needed to get her some headphones because she didn’t have any so I found some in the school and delivered them to her in another class. This is something I would have overlooked my first year. Another example is when two boys got into a conflict (already in the second week) I knew how to handle them calmly and without disrupting anyone else’s work. I took them outside, talked to each of them, and all while my principal was watching! In fact, he emailed me later that I did a “nice job” which was exciting. I know in my first year this situation would have been disastrous and stress-inducing. 

Another huge sign of success for me is just how well I can anticipate and set up activities now. For example, I set up the Moodle (our class website) to be organized and user friendly. I spent class time showing students how to use the websites, whereas in the past I just assumed they’d figure it out. I also spent class time showing them the resources and talking about the difference between using a translator and using a dictionary and with amazing results! I used to say “don’t translate!” but I failed to realize that the students didn’t know what to do instead. Now, I don’t assume anything. I know what questions they will have and I anticipate the misunderstandings so that I can save myself the time of explaining it later on in the year. I get them to help each other figure things out and I don’t have to stress about it. I now have the skills to create useful homework assignments and then get students to take responsibility for when they’re absent and catch themselves up. I even make sure students know how to contact me if they have questions or need help and I show them the technology they can use to study outside of class. I know these things seem obvious but it’s so hard to know how to effectively instruct students how to do them. I know I’m doing a much better job this year and the time I’ve taken now will save me a lot of headache later this year 

I had heard from teachers that things click in the third year but of course in my first and second year I didn’t believe them. I thought it was hard in the first but that I would be good in the second and yet I look back already after two weeks this year and think that I was awful the past two. I finally think I’m teaching and I finally have the confidence to do everything I need to on a daily basis. The biggest difference is that I can give up control to the students and I can let them dictate the learning. I design lessons so that I spend less time “teaching” and more time facilitating what the students are doing. This is how I can tell I have learned a lot from the past two years. I’m much more excited for my job every day because I know I can do it and that I’m not going to be lost in the lesson or get criticisms from students because I didn’t make any activity “fun.” I can blend learning and fun and show more of my passion to the students–all the reasons I wanted to be a teacher. So, third year is definitely the charm!