Throughout these past couple weeks, I've gotten the privilege to become more comfortable in the classroom everyday. I started off sitting quietly back, and at this point, I'm teaching all day, making connections with students, and grading papers.
This week I started taking attendance as well, and running the show from beginning to end. I'm thankful for my mentor teacher giving me the opportunity to grow over these last couple weeks. He could have easily had me sit back, and observe, but instead he gave me the chance to create a classroom, and teach these students. |
Too QuickI never thought I would say that 7 weeks of getting up at 6 am, and being in 90 degree heat without air conditioning would go too quick. It has though. I'm sad to see my days wind down with these students that have inspired me. I'm sad to see my days wind down with a mentor teacher that trusts me so much. Finally, I'm sad to see an experience that has changed me so much be over so quickly. I guess that's why they say smile because it happened, don't cry because it is over.
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Third HourMy third hour is my last class of the day, and I feel that any teacher would agree that this class is always tiring just due to the lack of energy by the end of the day. It's not right, but it happens. My third hour is definitely my most challenging, but even at that they are still great kids. The group is just loud, active, and friendly. Sometimes it is difficult to get through instructions, or keep them focused on the assignment, but I'm very thankful for this class. While it is frustrating at moments, they helped teach me to focus on classroom management. I learned the small details like grouping students, individual conversations, and switching activities up to keep them focused. I'm glad that this class has made me notice these ideas, and I know I'm a better educator because of it.
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Fun ActivityAll too often it seems as teachers we hear this was boring, or do we have to do this, or this sucks. It can definitely be frustrating after all the lesson planning that we do, however as teachers we've learned to move past this. How exciting is it though when we hear this was fun? It is really exciting. I've been hearing this lately about the hands on activities like skits about Romeo and Juliet, art projects, or the writing game we played. It is starting to make me think about what students really enjoy doing, and what keeps them interested. I'm excited that I've been able to come up with some out of the box ideas, and figure out what will keep students interested and excited about learning.
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Photos used under Creative Commons from Kevin.Ward, CJS*64 "Man with a camera", IQRemix, Sebastiaan ter Burg