As I prepare for my student teaching journey, I am accompanied by my virtual mentor team to share thoughts and advice on teaching agriculture. Members of my team include, Matthew Webreck, Jesse Faber, Meagan Slates, and Miranda Kane. One part of the journey is collaborating with one another to read and discuss a professional development book. I chose The Wild Card on a recommendation from Meagan Slates. After reading the description of the book, I knew it would be chalk full of advice and relatable stories.
Chapter 1
In chapter one, both authors discuss the game of life and describing the cards they had been dealt. The message that I got from reading this chapter is that every person that walks through your classroom door will have different life experiences. These experiences may be good or bad, but as a teacher you hold the power to be "the wild card" that makes the difference. I posed the question " Can teachers really be the difference?". JF: Yes, teachers can be the difference but know that with some cases no matter how hard you try, some people will not except your help.
Chapter 2
The title of the second chapter says it all, "The deck is not stacked against you". In this chapter, the authors discuss what creativity is and that every teacher is capable of being creative. From this perspective, I began to think about many different ideas to be creative in the classroom. Some ideas may flop, others might just be a creative break through, but you never know until you try. The authors also discuss attending a professional development event that helped them to realize their creative potential. I posed the question, "How have professional development opportunities impacted your teaching?". MW: Technology has made a meaningful impact in my classroom. By attending professional development sessions, I have been able to utilize technology to provide guidance to my students and allow them to collaborate in class with their iPads. I agreed with this view on technology. I had the opportunity to attend a technology symposium earlier this year where I gained new ideas to utilize in my professional career and my classroom.
Chapter 3
The third chapter was the last one we covered for our first discussion. This section compares negative self-talk and negative peer talk to a joker. I loved this analogy, I have experienced some personal negative talk myself. I think it is hard to go out of the box for fear of people making fun of your ideas. The authors suggest changing the dialogue, which is a strategy I intend to use the next time the joker tries to play me. These thoughts caused me to pose the question, "How do you handle negative self-talk or negative peer talk?". MK: The joker can be intimidating, especially if you are trying a new idea that is different from everyone else. Just remember that it is more motivating to prove the joker wrong than to give into his negative opinions.
Over-All Thoughts
I am very happy that my mentor team and I chose to read this book. I have already gained important life and classroom advice coupled with witty analogies that are impossible to forget! I can't wait to read the next installment of the book! Stay tuned for more reflections!
