Classes done --student teaching here I come

I am finally done with all my classes. I have to admit to having learned so much this past year. It is hard to believe it has only been a year since I started this program. It is amazing to look back at how naive I was when I started this program. I thought I already had all the knowledge and experience I needed to be able to teach. I thought I could go in and change the world, change the future of children everywhere, become a super teacher straight out of the chute. I now realize how silly I was, how much harder it will be to change one small child, let alone the world.

I have grown a great deal this year, and think I will grow as much in the next three months of student teaching as I have grown the past year in course work.

There are certain areas that I can already tell I need to really focus on. The first is classroom management. In a class with 17 - 2nd grade boys, and only 5 girls, classroom management is a big issue. They are already testing me a bit. I have been experimenting to find a method that works for me.

Techniques I have tried

1. Clapping -The clapping thing doesn't feel comfortable to me.
2. Holding up fingers - The holding up my fingers and waiting for the kids to notice -- well , let's just say I am not patient enough for that.
3. Turning lights out - This works well, but I don't want to have to walk all the way across the room all the time to get their attention.
4. Ringing Bell - Again, this works but I have to walk over to the bell.
5. " Give me five" - I thought this was working all right. I raise my hand, say " give me five" - meaning eyes on me, voices off, ears listening, hands still, feet still-- the kids raise their hand and look at me. However, my MT isn't so sure this is working. She brought me in a bell of my own, like hers. I will have to evaluate this further.

I guess I will need to come up with some more ideas to try.