This year eight new teachers joined the faculty at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies and despite the fact that I am the only one with prior urban teaching experience, I still feel like a first year teacher in these classrooms. Shifting to a new city, a new school, and a new curriculum is - to put it mildly - tough.
The main issue I am currently dealing with is the new curriculum: College Prep Math is a powerful tool to use in the education of our youth, yet it is a new way of teaching for me and takes time to get used to. The way I respond to questions has not really changed - I usually ask them to be specific and ask a peer - but the way in which I navigate groups and the content has.
Case in point: today I was teaching a lesson on the cube root function (featured here) but the class was having a lot of difficulty understanding how to use it. What do you use an an input? How does the output change depending on the input? CPM's general philosophy is to put the onus on the student to ask a question and someone else can help answer it with minimal prodding by me.
The students were asking me to "just teach" (meaning direct instruction) instead of questioning them on their knowledge - something I shied away from even before using the curriculum. When prodded by students in this way I get frustrated and have lost some control over the students in the classroom and felt very much like I did in my first classroom five years ago.
Teaching is tough - even with a curriculum that has all the resources ready for you to use. I have faith I can surmount this obstacle I just do not know when it will happen. I can't wait for that day.
The main issue I am currently dealing with is the new curriculum: College Prep Math is a powerful tool to use in the education of our youth, yet it is a new way of teaching for me and takes time to get used to. The way I respond to questions has not really changed - I usually ask them to be specific and ask a peer - but the way in which I navigate groups and the content has.
Case in point: today I was teaching a lesson on the cube root function (featured here) but the class was having a lot of difficulty understanding how to use it. What do you use an an input? How does the output change depending on the input? CPM's general philosophy is to put the onus on the student to ask a question and someone else can help answer it with minimal prodding by me.
The students were asking me to "just teach" (meaning direct instruction) instead of questioning them on their knowledge - something I shied away from even before using the curriculum. When prodded by students in this way I get frustrated and have lost some control over the students in the classroom and felt very much like I did in my first classroom five years ago.
Teaching is tough - even with a curriculum that has all the resources ready for you to use. I have faith I can surmount this obstacle I just do not know when it will happen. I can't wait for that day.
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