Easeyer

[Easeyer] “Is this how you spell easier?” I was asked this question a while ago in a 3^rd grade classroom. Here were two instinctual answers I thought about saying:

“Well… no. Here is how you spell it.”

“Does it look right to you.”

I think my answer was: “Yes. I mean… does it say easier to you? Yes? I’m glad.”

I am getting closer to finally becoming a teacher and I realized here that there are still some things that I need to make sure I do.

1.     Figure out what to say. As it turns out not correcting him is something that the teacher did not mind. The student is still young but is showing he understands that letters go in the order of the sounds he hears. There is still enough time to polish these phonemic skills.

2.     Figure out where to go. In my own classroom, depending on the age that I will teach, there are goals that I will have for my students. With this particular student I know that he as well as most of the class is very capable of spelling these words correctly. If I see multiple students having trouble with certain words, there are a lot of techniques I could do. For example I might write words that are often misspelled in my class and pin them up on the wall. Whatever I do should be to strictly benefit my classroom.

3.     Figure out how to talk. There is more to teaching than just knowing what to say or teach. Looking back on how I responded to the student, one thing I would have done differently was sound more confident. That is very important. My class will look to me to have an answer. I can give them the answer or help them find it themselves but I need to sound confident. Inflection, based on experience, can be a difference maker.

4.     Figure out the answers to my questions. Being in a different classroom I do have to try to follow the ways of the lead teacher. However in my classroom I have to know my way. What techniques do I like when teaching literacy? Which ones work? Which ones need to be adapted? How will I do this? Whatever my answers will be, I have to content and believe in them.

The time will come when I have my answers. I know it will be soon and I do have a lot of resources in my repertoire. For example I just read a technique in Catching Readers Before They Fall that would be good for students who have a lot of trouble reading. It has to do with taking a sentence that a student said orally and writing it down. After I do that I will cut and mix the words. Then I will order them in the correct way while saying each word and have the student do the same thing. I like this method and I can see myself doing this. By continuing to acquire more resources, have more experience in the classroom, and figure out my way, I feel figuring out the teaching process will get enjoyably easeyer for me.