Week in Review and the 3-Day Weekend
It's the end of another week so talk to each other about what's transpired. Share a highlight and a stretch. What did you do of interest over President's weekend? Be sure to respond to at least one other person.
I think I have figured out the posting...for now anyway :)
Chris
posted by Chris @ 11:51 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Hello Everyone,
Last week was a good week. My supervising teacher was gone Thursday to a music conference, which meant I was the teacher all day. I really feel I have connected and already made a difference with some students. I had the students in jazz band set up in a non-traditional formation which allowed all of the sections to hear each other better and practice functioning as a unit (everything we do is a group project). I also gave several students the chance to improvise on one of our pieces instead of just over exercises. I had several positive comments from students regarding rehearsal.
I also have been able to connect well with the students in Guitar II. It's a smaller class size, so each student gets some individual time with me. My supervising teacher doesn't play guitar, so I think they have been glad to have me. I brought in some materials from the text book I have used in the past.
I still feel like I don't have a strong connection with the wind ensemble and the symphonic band. Sometimes I focus so much that I forget to smile and use positive language. That is going to be my goal for this week.
I don't currently see another post, so I will try to log in later and comment on someone's post.
Thanks,
Eric
PS Nothing of interest on President's Day weekend, just trying to get over a cold and carting my child off to the doctor!
Hello!
Last week was very interesting for me... I came down with strep throat and had to miss two days of school. I was there on Monday and my teacher could visibly see that I wasn't well and was going to let me leave early, but the parents of the student who gave me trouble the previous week were coming in Monday afternoon, and I needed to be there for it. The parent/student-teacher conference went well. The parents were very supportive with everything Allie and I had to say. We were able to talk to the student and square away behavioral issues before they got out of control. I felt kind of bad for the student because I'm sure from her perspective, it was four adults against her. But I think it was for the best and her attitude has been FAR better in class.
On Tuesday I woke up feeling worse than I felt on Monday and went to the hospital, which is where I found out I had strep. So I had to miss Wednesday as well to make sure I wouldn't infect the rest of the class.
By the time I got back, I hadn't prepared anything because I (foolishly) assumed Allie was going to teach the 9th graders. I had e-mailed her asking what the students worked on while I was gone so I could be prepared for when I got back. However, on Thursday morning both Allie and I sat back as the AP World History class got rolling, and a half hour before the next class (the 9th graders) came in, Allie turns to me and says "you're teaching the 9th graders right??" and I said "uhhh.. I didn't prepare anything, but I can!" So we had a good laugh and I created a lesson in 20 minutes. Fortunately, it went really well! That had the potential of being fairly disastrous, but overall it went just really well. I'm actually using that lesson on the Junior English class tomorrow!
Over President's weekend a group of us went to Paris and did all the typical touristy things! It was really fun! We did several museums and shopping. I love how easy it is to travel in Europe! :)
Eric --
Sounds like teaching is going really well! I think it's so great that you've been able to change the seating arrangement to vary the sound and allow the students to work as a group in different ways! I envy the art type classes because you build such a different bond with your students. Keep up the good work!
Amy,
Thanks for the encouragement. It sounds like you're doing well as well, except for the strep. I am not sick enough to go to the hospital but my voice is on think ice--that makes any teaching difficult, but try rehearsing a band!!
I'm glad you stuck your ground and that the parent meeting went well. Four adults against one is difficult, but I think the student is also aware of what she did. If you show her that you still care, it will be fine.
Eric
Last week I began taking over the 2 algebra classes. They had just finished a test from the week before so on Tuesday we spent the first half of class going over test corrections and then after that my teacher let me start the next unit on solving systems of linear equations. There actually wasn't a whole lot of time left over after they did test corrections so I just had them take some notes on the next section.
My stretch for the week was the lesson I put together for Thursday. I tried using algebra tiles to teach substitution. However, there was a large amount of students consistently off task and some of the more advanced students thought it was a waste of time because they already had a fair idea of how to solve the systems algebraically. They were working in groupings of two, and even though I did my best to explain how to use them before they got started they all had too many questions and so even the interested students had a lot of down time. At the end of the day I hadn't managed to get much done, so it pushed us back about a day in our schedule.
I decided that a large part of the problem was that they had never used algebra tiles before and so it was too much at one time. If I wanted to use algebra tiles in the classroom it would be best to start using them at the beginning of the year to explain some of the simpler algebra concepts like solving 1 and 2 step equations.
My highlight for the week was going and watching students get ready for Guys and Dolls. They are trying to get ready for their performance in a couple weeks and it has everyone involved a little on edge. They are all working hard though and it is fun to see it coming together.
Highlight of the week was getting to teach my first full day of teaching! It went better than I had expected and I was able to still maintain classroom management. They have a general routine and it makes it so much easier to transition. I think I’ve really been able to see how beneficial it is to have a strong, structured class because they kids are more productive. There are some days where it is changed it up, but for the most part it’s fairly laid out. I’d really like to have morning calendar time which can incorporate a lot of different standards (counting the number of days of school using popsicle sticks- they learn place value, talk about the seasons, weather, holidays/cultural information, etc). Then also talk about the tasks for the day, which gives them even more structure. That’s one thing I can improve on.
Struggle of the week was when I tried something new with the kids, and that was teaching to them while they sat criss-cross applesauce on the carpet in a group. Recently, I had been hearing comments about them wanting to share about a book they’ve read to the class so I decided to designate some time for each child to share. I figured it was a good way for them to practice their speaking and listening skills… however, it was a big challenge for them to be patient, and they weren’t use to sitting on the ground. So it took awhile to get through people and there was some wasted time. I’d like to still do it in the future because it’s important for them to learn how to share and listen to others, but maybe I can make it more interactive, or put them into smaller sharing groups.
Eva,
How exciting! I get to teach every other day, but it's really light because my teacher only has two classes. It is really nice that they have routines. In general my classes are also very good about their routines. It makes things easier, but I would've loved to have seen how to get them set up.
I had a struggle like that a couple weeks ago when I tried using a manipulative in class. I am still not sure what I should've done different, but I know in part that I was just trying to introduce to many ideas at one time.
I am glad things are going well!
-Brandon
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