Detours on the Journey of Teaching

As I reflect upon my First Day Lab, I can admit that I hit a roadblock.

Reflecting back to my summer reading, Burgess suggested that we allow ‘roadblocks’ to get in our way of our intentions of doing great things. These roadblocks can simply be the following:

1. The fear of failure
2. Believing you have to figure it all out before you begin
3. Perfectionism
4. Lack of focus
5. Fear of criticism or ridicule

I admit that the fear of failure and perfectionism are roadblocks that were presented with for the First Day Lab. Especially, since students were assigned roles to play, such as the teacher's pet, the confused student, and chatty student. Since, I try to be a perfectionist, I thought I had it all figured out in my head and things were going to go smoothly, but then I was presented with questions and comments that disrupted the flow of the lesson and led to my roadblocks. To explore these roadblocks, I shared some opps (areas of growth) from the lab.

Opps - 

• Enthusiasm. Due to fearing failure, I was not displaying the enthusiasm that I have about teaching agriculture. First impressions count!
• Clarity of Instruction. I noticed some areas were confusing for the students in the classroom during the interest approach. Due to confusion, I lost their attention.  I failed to successfully communicate and develop the lesson. 
• First Impressions. Going back to first impression counts. I would have liked to create a more energetic and positive feeling when my students walked into the room. Music probably would have been a good start – I like how Karlie utilized it.

I realize that these roadblocks are just delays in the experience. I have a further journey ahead of me, and time to make up for the minor detour. In addition, I realize what got me past those roadblocks, which were gems (areas of strength) in my lesson.

• Review. The first day my classroom included some very important material - classroom expectations, procedures and consequences. I felt that I designed an appropriate amount of time to review those. In addition, to providing a handout.
•  Variability of Instruction. There is so much that goes on the first day of school, and many opportunities to transition to different material and activities to keep students engaged.

I hope to overcome the fear of failure and perfectionism, so I can be successful and effective in communicating my instruction throughout the rest of my journey.