Weekly Writing - 1

one could say that this week's readings (the first of many) caught me by surprise, especially when I read the following quote from Wong:''

                           "The first year of teaching can be frightening"
1) "Teacher education will not have prepared you."
2) "Student teaching will not have prepared you."
3) "The district may not have prepared you."
4) "Yet you will be expected to perform immediately."


As one can imagine, I was less than impressed because I am paying a tremendous amount of money for an education to prepare me to be a teacher, and yet Wong says that I will not be prepared.  Well, I suppose and hope that Wong was wrong because a lot of the problems that he points out with beginning teachers, I know will be addressed during this academic semester.  One of the fast approaching labs for my student teacher co-hort is based on the first day of school and how to facilitate and engage.  Another thing that was mentioned in the reading was a new idea for me and that is an Induction Teacher Program.  This is to help the teacher enter their first year knowing that they have a support team and that can make a huge impact.


According to "New Teacher Induction" another article written by Wong, Flowing Wells is in its 15th year of training 30-50 first year teachers on five attributes critical to classroom success:

1. Effective instruction practices
2. Effective classroom management procedures and routines
3. A sensitivity to and an understanding of the Flowing Wells community
4. Teaching as an avenue for life-long learning and professional growth
5. Unity and teamwork among the entire community

Wong's writing nicely connects to what Garton and Torres as well as Newcomb's Methods of Teaching Agriculture because they all are booming with ideas and strategies for beginning teachers. 

Gatron focuses on the top ten effective teacher characteristics: Clarity, Variability, Enthusiasm, Task Oriented/Business-Like Behavior, Positive Reinforcement, Student Opportunity to Learn, Avoided Criticism, Structuring Comments, Effective Questioning, and Humor.

Newcomb uses the first two chapters of his book to explain factors that influence decisions about teaching as well as the principles of teaching and learning.  Newcomb is program specific because the book is entirely devoted to the agriculture instructor.  The eleven dimensions of a complete program are: The School Labotatory, Supervised Experience, FFA, Use of Community Resource, Facilities and Organizations, People in the Community, Advisory Committees, Parents, Teachers and Administrators in the School.

Overall it is nice to realize that even though that one quote from Wong is a bit nerve wracking, that my instructors at Penn State are working to address some of the key components that I addressed in this blog.  They are helping to ensure that when I finally enter the classroom I will be able to effectively manage my students.