Thadra Petkus's Blog
Posted by Thadra Petkus
Teachers should strive to continuously broaden their perspectives of society, education, and their role in each. Just as a teacher never stops learning, she should continue to develop and fine-tune multiple perspectives. While teaching Adult Education ESOL classes, I was bombarded by many cultures, including those from Brasil, Colombia, Haiti, Turkey, Lithuania, and Japan. I was faced with the task of communicating with my students with nonverbal cues and visual aids to clarify class expectations. Early in this experience, I realized the importance of posters, flashcards, hands-on games, real life objects such as telephone books and checkbooks as well as the all-mighty overhead projector to share my endless transparencies.
I engaged my students with laughter and body language. I welcomed students nightly with handshakes and smiles. I endeavored to create a welcoming environment, realizing that attendance for my class was not mandatory: it was up to me to keep them coming back.
I've witnessed that the older an individual is, the more difficult it is to acquire new language skills. Adults work all day and attend nightly classes to improve their English skills so that they can obtain better jobs, assist their children with homework, and truly feel at home in their new environment. Now that I work with children, I realize that many of my students have parents similar to my adult students. In my classes, I have numerous mainstreamed ESOL students. Of these students, most of their parents still have very limited English skills.
I remind myself of these students' struggles and work to maintain a similar level of warmth in my high school classroom. One of the most pro-active, positive and simple ways to accommodate diverse multicultural students is to provide a nurturing environment where students feel like an important and integral part of the learning environment.
Posted by Thadra Petkus
In addition to maintaining a comfortable classroom, the environment is improved with positive interactions. Getting students on your side can only benefit the overall tone of the classroom and enhance learning experiences by encouraging students to take risks, give their opinions, and tackle difficult concepts.
Teachers Model Positive Interactions
Students respect the fact that once they enter the classroom, they may not yell or treat each other or me with disrespect. I model a friendly tone and the students, for the most part, mirror this tone. When something goes wrong, I laugh at my own mistakes or about things which are out of my control. I try to communicate that no one is perfect and that what I expect most out of myself and of others is that we try to do our best each day. Teacher introductions are a great way to establish this practice.
Teachers Provide Encouragment and Share Decision-Making
When something goes well, praise is abundant. I often congratulate my students for their insightful remarks; this goes a long way towards inciting positive classroom discussions and fosters creative thinking. Students know they can freely express their ideas and I reinforce the notion that there are many perspectives which can be explored regarding literature. Also, students’ suggestions are considered when making administrative decisions and they are given choices about assignments and test dates, etc. whenever possible. We make decisions together when appropriate. I like to think that students not only feel comfortable in my class, but they also feel respected and valued as individual members of a community learning environment.
These are just a few ways in which I attempt to be a positive influence on students who enter my classroom, and I have found the rewards to be limitless.
Posted by Thadra Petkus
I have many interests. I love to go to concerts and listen to all kinds of music, such as rock, jazz, and blues. I also enjoy traveling, camping, and reading. Two years ago, I spent my summer studying in England. Before I started my classes, I enjoyed a thrilling week in London. I took many pictures, some of which are displayed around our classroom, and look forward to sharing my experiences with you. I am excited to learn about your interests and experiences because I find that my students teach me so much throughout the school year.
I am looking forward to a great year. It’s important to have variety in the classroom, and I try to make each day interesting in some way. I expect that each of you as unique individuals will contribute to the positive classroom atmosphere. I also think it’s important to be a good listener and hope that you will participate in class discussions. Finally, I am almost always available for extra help, specific questions, or make-up work during lunch or after school.
Sincerely,
Ms. Petkus
Posted by Thadra Petkus
August 13, 2003
Dear Students,
Hello! My name is Thadra Petkus, your English teacher for the 2004-2005 school year. I have lived in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and California, but I moved down to South Florida thirteen years ago for college. I attended Florida Atlantic University and majored in English. I recently completed my Master’s degree in Education, and I’ve been teaching for seven years. We will have a BookShare for any students who are interested in taking books home with them. The books located on the front bookshelves are yours to borrow during SSR as well; hopefully, some of you will also like to donate books you’ve enjoyed for others to read.
I come from a medium-sized family and am a first generation American. I have a sister, Jessica, who is a preschool teacher, and a brother, Alex. I live with my three cats: Taziki, Hunterboy, and Bella. They keep me company when I’m grading essays in the middle of the night.
Posted by Thadra Petkus
Put simply, I hope that my impact as a teacher can best be described as positive. In as many ways as possible I like to create a positive environment for my students.
Student-Friendly Space Encourages Ownership
I continuously maintain and decorate my classroom according to the units we are exploring. I want my students to walk into my classroom and feel that it is as much their space, if not more, than it is mine. I have decorated it with plants and posters and bookshelves filled with a library exchange of over 200 books. As we progress through various units, students hang posters and display projects they have worked on for that unit. During lunch, students can earn extra credit to help me decorate, clean desks or alphabetize papers. I think this helps them claim ownership over what goes on in class as well as improve our student-teacher repoire.
Student Work Table Develops Responsibility
In the back of the room, we maintain a table for make up work which contains a daily calendar detailing what we complete in class each day in addition to homework assignments. A make-up binder contains all handouts throughout the semester. This way, if a student is absent they can look at the calendar and obtain any handouts they missed that day. This procedure establishes a tone of student responsibility as well as helps improve classroom organization as it prevents students from walking up to me and asking me what they missed. We do not lose valuable instructional time and students are responsible for following a specific procedure.
I have had positive feedback about these procedures which proves that it works well for them and me.
