Katy Jain the Teacher
This is my "Missing Work Cart".
I have been fortunate enough to have been teaching in Michigan for the last seven years. I have also had a large variety of teaching assignments over the years. I have taught middle school, high school, and adult education. I have taught traditional face to face classes, fully online classes, and blended classes that use both face to face synchronous teaching and reinforcement through online course modules and activities. Finally, I have taught regular general education classes in traditional high schools and middle schools; I have also taught middle school and high school in an Alternative Education setting.
Over the years, I have learned to tailor my classroom management and engage students by integrating technology into my classroom. From my experience in the Alternative Ed program, I have learned so many techniques to help at risk students and deal with disruptive behaviors, two skills any teacher would need in any classroom. I have also developed my own set of principles that I like to follow, no matter what kind of class I am teaching. Here they are in no particular order:
Over the years, I have learned to tailor my classroom management and engage students by integrating technology into my classroom. From my experience in the Alternative Ed program, I have learned so many techniques to help at risk students and deal with disruptive behaviors, two skills any teacher would need in any classroom. I have also developed my own set of principles that I like to follow, no matter what kind of class I am teaching. Here they are in no particular order:
- Be organized! You have a classroom of kids you expect to be organized. Practice what you preach and be ready the students walk into the room.
- Plan and over-plan. Always make sure to have more than enough material ready to go.
- It is OK to stray from the plan! Teachable moments can happen any time - not just in the moments you've planned.
- Know your students. Adjust your plans to meet everyone's needs and work for each individual class period. Be conscious of what might be going on in and out of the classroom that may be distracting to your students.
- All students can be successful. When students are not successful, actively seek out ways to help them.
- All students make mistakes. Have an open discussion about the mistake, your expectations clear, and then invite them back.
- Treat all students fairly and remain consistent. Inconsistencies create problems.
- Look for ways to differentiate instruction.
- Conduct Action Research to make sure you are using successful strategies.
- Make lessons interesting and engaging! If you're not having fun, neither are the students.
- Give students feedback often. Post grades frequently. Talk to students about what is affecting their grades. They can't fix what they are not aware of!
- Have a system in place for students to access missing work on their own. Of course, they can get help if they need it, but the system should allow students to get what they missed without having to wait. Pictured to the left is my "Missing Work Cart". In the binder on top of the cart is a list of each day's activities and assignments. Any handouts that were given out are placed in the colored bins below. Each class has its own bin. When students return from an absence, they are responsible to check the binder and the cart and complete the work they missed. This allows students to get what they missed without having to wait for me.
Introductory Video - A Blast from my Past!
Here you can view an introductory video I made two years ago. As you will notice in the video, I was still going by my maiden name, McDonald, and I even noted that my students were still calling me "Miss Mac". The video explains the teaching schedule I had during one of the years I worked in the Alternative Ed program. I had a lot of preps that year. Not all school years were that "unique", but I did learn a lot about what it truly means to help students in that program. Click the video to the right or you can also view it on Screeencast.com using the link below:
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