James Coleman
Entry 3
One of the most influential factors in creating a positive classroom environment is the teachers relationship with the students. The students must feel comfortable enough in a classroom to make mistakes and ask questions in order to gain as much knowledge as possible. The teacher specifically needs to make sure they are someone the students can trust and are someone who is accepting of every student in their classroom. To do this, teachers need to be actively looking for ways to build connections and friendships with students. One way to accomplish this is to encourage open discussion throughout lessons and activities. This gets the students communicating with each other as well as with the teacher. The more this is done, the more confident and comfortable the students will become with sharing their ideas thus, allowing them to explore and create more without the worry of judgment from others. When students feel safe, they are more likely to explore concepts in detail as they are less afraid of making mistakes.
I have been incredibly intentional about creating a positive relationship with my students during student teaching. I was able to see the benefits in my classroom right away as I began getting to know the students. During the first week, I could tell that some students weren't sure how they felt about me and weren't ready to jump into the lessons I had planned. That changed as I began talking to the students about things outside of just music. I had to opportunity to help with breakfast at my school which was a great chance for me to grow my connection with the students. When they realized that I cared about their thoughts, opinions, and random stories, their attention in my classroom greatly improved. They were excited to share with me their ideas about the music content because they knew I would be invested and care about what they had to say. By building a strong relationship with my students, they were able to feel comfortable learning and growing in my classroom.
I have been incredibly intentional about creating a positive relationship with my students during student teaching. I was able to see the benefits in my classroom right away as I began getting to know the students. During the first week, I could tell that some students weren't sure how they felt about me and weren't ready to jump into the lessons I had planned. That changed as I began talking to the students about things outside of just music. I had to opportunity to help with breakfast at my school which was a great chance for me to grow my connection with the students. When they realized that I cared about their thoughts, opinions, and random stories, their attention in my classroom greatly improved. They were excited to share with me their ideas about the music content because they knew I would be invested and care about what they had to say. By building a strong relationship with my students, they were able to feel comfortable learning and growing in my classroom.
Artifact #1
This is a log from my apprenticeship that was when I was first able to start developing relationships with classroom students.
apprenticeship_log_and_teacher_assessment.pdf | |
File Size: | 972 kb |
File Type: |
Artifact #2
This is a reflection of a lesson I taught with individual 4th grade students, helping them choose their band instrument for the coming year.
music_511_field_reflection.doc | |
File Size: | 41 kb |
File Type: | doc |