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FINAL BLOG POST - OUR "DAILY TRIPLE" (DUE 12/1).
This week I would like you to use your imagination. You have just won the lottery and will leave your teaching post immediately to travel around the world. As you leave your keys you meet your replacement. You are asked to give this new teacher just ONE piece of advice. What would that be, and why? Enjoy your world expedition!

Blog Post - Week 7
This past week in my own teaching I felt a little disconnected which prompts my question to you, "What was the moment (or moments) when I felt most disconnected or disengaged as a teacher - the moment(s) I said to myself, I'm just going through the motions here?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 6
For the past couple of weeks you have experienced asynchronous online learning (doing modules by yourself). Previously this semester you have experienced synchronous online learning (all together in the Collaborate room). Which do you think is more effective and why do you think that? Which do you like better, and why?

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 5
This week we have what we call "open mic." You can write a post about anything related to your teaching that you would like responses from your classmates.

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 4
Here is this week's question: "What was the event that most took me surprise this week - and event that shook me up, caught me off guard, gave me a jolt, or made me unexpectedly happy?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 3
Please write a post about the following question, "In thinking about my past week teaching what is one thing I would do differently, and why?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 2
Please write a post about the following question, " In thinking about my teaching activities this past week, of what do I feel most proud? Why?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 1
Describe something you used in your program in the first weeks of school that you learned in the summer NTI program. How did it work? Did it get you off to a stronger start than last year?

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Help!

My one piece of advice would be to ask for help - from anybody and for anything. At first, I was so overwhelmed that I didn't know what to ask. Then, I felt like I was burdening someone if I asked them to help me in some way. Get over it! Ask, ask, ask.  My faculty mentor thought she was doing me a favor by not taking the process seriously and that I could handle it on my own. I NEEDED the mentoring. It was not inconvenient or unwanted, and I had to learn to ask for everything I got. The worst that could happen is that your call for help goes unanswered, and then you are no worse off than if you never asked. I think most people don't know what you need and so they wait on you to make your needs known.  Figuring it all out on your own is the worst kind of martyrdom and will burn you out before you know it.

3 comments:

DAB said...

I could not agree with you more Sherri. Asking for help is uncomfortable especially for someone who is an expert in
one profession. We are accustomed to being in the role of assisting others, not needing assistance. That being said....
" Get over it" is right. Ask away!

Unknown said...

Ask and you shall receive, maybe! I definitely feel like we should be more vocal as new teachers and reach out for support. I realized that I did myself as well as the students a disservice by not asking for help when it was obvious that I needed it desperately. Glad to see I am not the only one Sherri.

Unknown said...

You gave some excellent advice. Many of our staff would make every effort to help get things done in an appropriate manner. Like you said, you would feel a burden for asking others to take up the slack your absent would create. The nice thing is they know you would step in to help them in a similar situation. This is what we call teamwork, which includes providing good lesson plans. Include appropriate rules for student behavior, other teachers as backup support. We all are aware substitute teachers often receive the brunt of bad student behavior. Just put a supportive and workable plan in place, and declare “World here I come!”