Final Fires Entry

Fires in the Bathroom is a great resource to use with college classes that are filled with growing teachers. This book gives teachers student perspectives to help understand what they should and should not do as educators. It is interesting to see what students think about certain things and be like well I never thought about it like that before. It really gets you to think and reflect on the aspects of teaching in a way you probably would have never thought about them. This book brings in whole new perspective most teachers do not think about. I believe this has a great impact on teachers and college students who are becoming teachers. A book like this gives them an idea of what is going on in students minds so they can keep students engaged more easily. This is a great resource that is very helpful in teaching educators in a different way.

When I first started this course I was still thinking of teaching from a student perspective. I was thinking about being that amazing teacher everyone likes. I was thinking of it in a different light than even the students in this book.  After taking this course and reading this book I have a different way of thinking. When I read this novel I was amazed at what I learned. They had many different perspectives about the classroom that helped me transform from thinking like a student to thinking like an educator. It opened my mind to aspects I had never thought about like relationships with students, group work, etc.  After reading this book I found myself in the field relating certain characters to students in the classroom. I looked at the classroom from a different perspective. I would be thinking about what one of the characters might say about certain situations. After reading this I was left wondering and thinking about students and the best way to impact them in a positive way. This book was a big help with all of that. I am thinking about ways to engage my students, form good relationships, make them feel comfortable, and help them grow as learners. This book and class have challenged me to make a difference in my students’ lives for the better, and it also gave me the information I need to do this.   

Engaging Students Reflection

            After participating in TJ and Emily’s presentation, I believe I have learned a lot about engaging students. I have learned that it is important to make students feel included in the classroom. A teacher can do this by having students help with rules, work together in groups, and discuss things that go on in class. Students need to feel like they are wanted in the class in order to get them engaged. Also it is great to get students moving because it wakes them up and gets them engaged. They are more at to remain focused if you get them excited about what they will be learning. Students like to know what they are doing, so it is good to write what you are going to be doing in class on the board. All of this and many other things keep students engaged. The secret is to do your research and find exciting ways to get each student engaged and excited to be in class. As teachers this should be our goal. After taking art in their presentation my goal is to make sure my students are always engaged and ready to be in class.

Rules and Discipline

When I become a teacher there are a few rules I plan on having. I plan on having a bulletin board in my room that is bright and colorful and on that bulletin board there will be a bunch of words with those fancy crossed out circles that are red. These words will be the words that will not be used in my classroom such as gay, retarded, swears, vulgar language, etc. Another rule I will have will be respect others when they are talking. Mindless chatter and disrespect of others will be dealt with accordingly. At the moment I have no idea what a good punishment would be, but eventually I will think of them. Lastly, my students will be expected to always be prepared and on time for class. In the real world being punctual is always important,  I am teaching my students for the real world, so they should be on time and ready to begin when the bell goes off. These are some of my rules I plan on having as a teacher. I will address all rules at the beginning of school on our first day. I will also have a poster up with all the rules, so students have no excuse not to follow them.

For my classroom tone I just want my students to feel comfortable and have fun. However, if I start my tone out like this they will think they can walk all over me. From Morgan and Kevin’s lesson I have learned good ways to show students these goals but in a way that makes them not walk all over me. For instance, I will start out a bit intimidating and get more exciting as the school year goes on. I will also need to set the tone by my actions, so when I am mad because students are not paying attention I should have an action that shows students how I am feeling in a good constructive way. These are some of my plans for helping to set the tone in my classroom of being fun and comfortable, but not being a teacher students can take for granted.

Google Earth

At first when I heard of Google Earth, I automatically thought social studies and geography. The idea of using Google Earth in the classroom seemed weird to me at first; however, now I find it to be a great tool to use.  This tool would be a great tool to use in social studies, science, math, and even English. I am going to be an English teacher in the future, and I can see myself using Google Earth. I believe that the Google Lit. Trips are wonderful tools to use in the classroom. It allows students to see where the characters in the book have been. It is also a good tool to use when a book describes a certain place because you can quickly have your students get on and look it up to picture it.  This all allows the readers to connect to the story they are reading as well as the character. It will allow the students to imagine the book in a whole new way. These are just a few of the great reasons why Google Earth is a great tool to use in the classroom. I will use this in my classroom after seeing the amazing things it can do.

Maine Memory Network

           Maine Memory network is a good tool that should be used in the classroom. It is especially great for history and social studies teachers to use in their classroom. It helps to see historical timelines for many different areas around Maine. This would help students get to know their town’s rich history as well as learning Maine’s rich history. Though this is ideal for social studies teachers, other teachers could use this also. Such as math teacher could use it for accurate measures in one of their word problems about Maine buildings. Science could use it to help people see the genetic make up of someone based off their ancestors that can be presented to them on this cite. It is a great tool to use in many different classroom settings. I plan to teach English, and I can certainly see myself using this one day in my classroom. Showing my students some of the pictures could inspire them for free writing activities during a writing unit. It could also be beneficial to give them a paper on Maine history where they would have to pick a topic and use this cite to help them. They would then need to write a paper for my class. If we are looking at writers from a certain time frame or a book of literature from a time frame, my students could use this cite to help them see what things looked like in Maine during that time. Maine Memory Network would be a great tool to use in my class, and these are some ways I could incorporate it into my class.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 10: Going Beyond the Classroom

It is complicated to think of a good way to get the world around you involved in your lesson. It is hard to think of a good way to teach class outside and incorporate it into your lesson. In this book it describes this as well as gives some explanation to help teachers think of possible projects out doors. This is very beneficial to know and figure out because it is important to students.

            In this book it shows how easy it is to do this for science because the world around you is what you are trying to discover. In math it is also easy because you could have students measure an object outside and this would allow them the opportunity to go outside. However, for social studies and English this is much more difficult. You need to think of a way to make the lesson productive while also giving students what they want, which is to go outside once and a while. This book shows that in English, which is my field, that you could find a way to relate the outside work to the book. Such as when Andres discusses how his teacher took him to the town hall to have a mock trial for the book Animal Farm. There is always a way to incorporate fun in learning. For English, it is also possible for you to take the students outside to reenact one of Shakespeare’s plays or to find some of the items for a poem. It is important to use the world as inspiration, so taking kids outside is both fun and educational.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 9: When Things Go Wrong

The part of the book about how to keep teachers from being discouraged seemed to be very helpful. It was all about what students think of new teachers. It also discussed how students deal with new teachers sensing their fear and showing it to the teachers. They like to test the new teacher, and often new teachers get discouraged.

            Kids will be kids and one aspect of being a kid is testing your limits. Students especially like to see where teachers stand as well as see how easy it is to get a teacher to waver. They are aiming to do little to no work sometimes and they will try to get by the teachers by challenging them. However, it is important for teachers, especially newer teachers to stand their ground and be firm. I am sure that all of us teachers fear the thought of not being liked because it is human nature. What we all must remember is that we must gain students respect by being firm and teaching them what they are there to learn. If we show our students respect and stay firm they are most likely going to show us respect as well. Alexis proves this by saying, “when you let students walk all over you, they’re not learning the essentials of respect, of how to interact properly. We as teachers need to remember to be confident in ourselves and stand firm. As long as we don’t let the students, sense fear they will follow the rules.