Ms. Norton’s (My Co-operating Teacher) Teaching Methods

Ms. Norton was my cooperating teacher at St. Michael Community School. She is the teacher of a grade 1/2 split class. She also has an assistant teacher, Ms. Morris who works in the classroom to give extra help to the students. I found Ms. Norton to be a very kind lady. But, the first time I met her she said that teaching did not pay a lot and to maybe think about a different career choice. I was not expecting to be told this and I was worried a bit. I did not think about the money I would be making when I joined the education program. I was thinking about how teaching young children would be an enjoyable career for myself. Many individuals talk about how they do not like their jobs, but I have always seen myself becoming a teacher because it is something that I would enjoy doing every day as a career. Teaching does not seem like work for me, it just seems like something fun to do that you get paid for doing! Besides that, Ms. Norton has a very distinct teaching method. It is different from anything that I have ever seen or experienced personally before. She shows her students videos from popular cartoon shows such as “Sesame Street,” that explains a concept to the student as well as showing a familiar cartoon to the students for them to be interested in the lesson. Every time she transitions in between subjects, she gives the students a “brain break.” A “brain break” encompasses Ms. Norton showing her class of students a dancing video for the class to watch and to dance to. Students at a young age can not focus for long, so it is important for them to be able to get up and move every once in a while. Ms. Norton always wants her students to behave properly. If she asks her students to line up to go to the library to pick out books and the students do so noisily, then she will ask her students to sit back down in their desks and to line up again in a more appropriate matter. She will point out a student if they are behaving properly (such as hands on the desk, feet flat on the floor and looking at the teacher) and ask her other students to model this specific behaviour. Ms. Norton always wants her students to “act their age” and behave appropriately. When showing how to understand a concept, Ms. Norton asks a student to complete an example on the whiteboard in front of the class. She wants her students to “listen to the details” instead of shouting out the answer right away. She wants her students to know that the details of the concepts are important instead of just shouting out the answer right away and being the first to answer the question. If a student is continually not behaving, Ms. Norton will send the student to the principal’s office. She gives her students usually two to three chances to correct their behaviour though before sending the individual to the office. Ms. Norton truly wants the best for her students and wants them to behave appropriately. Most importantly, she wants her students to focus so that they can learn!

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