This week has been as eventful as the rest if not more. The week started relatively normal until I observed a student for the day on Wednesday. Doing this helped me realize what is expected of a student in today's classrooms. Observing also helped bring back good high school memories of how much I enjoyed the clubs and organizations I was involved in. The student I observed was involved in band and FLA. I now realize that I want to help out with the production of musicals and shows the school puts on as well as track and cross country.
Aspects of the week I found most valuable:
The most valuable aspect of this week was learning how different things are when you come back from missing a day of teaching. After missing Wednesday to observe I had to re-focus and tweak my lesson plans for the rest of the week. My co-op covered the class, however the students didn't complete the activity I had planned which made for an interesting end of the week. Another valuable aspect of the week was the heart to heart I had with my one class. The students in my one class got a little rowdy on Thursday so I had to talk with them about this. It was nice to see how well they responded to me being disappointed in their behavior. They are such a great group of young adults and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to teach them. I know now that they truly respect me because I had no classroom management issues today. If nothing else, this was a "wow" moment for me.
If given the opportunity to start the week over I would?
Over the past few weeks I have been getting very comfortable with teaching and my co-op. A misunderstanding occurred one day this week when I told her I put my lesson plan for Thursday and Friday in the book, however when she observed me today I realized she wrote on her notes that I did not have a lesson plan. This frustrated me because I had to then tell her that it was in her book the whole time. From now on she will see every single lesson plan when I complete it before I put it in the book. I guess the best lesson I can take from this is always be sure your co-op knows exactly what you're doing when your doing it. Communication is the key to every healthy relationship.
Hope you all had a great week seven. Good luck with week eight!
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Having to have the heart to heart with your class does make them understand where you are coming from. I know what you mean, because I too had to do this. They do respect you for doing it.
ReplyDeleteSee you next door on Monday. We are half way there!!!!
I also had a similar problem with my co-op with lesson plans, she reviewed my lesson gave me ideas on how change it for the best then gave it back to me. I changed my lesson to from her ideas then a couple days later taught that lesson. Well she forgot I gave her the lesson and said she didn't remember me giving her this lesson. Later in the day she realized what had happened and that I did give her the lesson, like you said this shows that we need to physically hand the lesson to the co-op so no more problems arise.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear your students responded so well to you. I hope they continue to cooperate with you so well! Communication is important with your co-op. I had a similar experience where I had already given my plans to my co-op and he came to me wanting to know where they were. I panicked at first because I thought to myself I knew I had given them to him. He realized his mistake and of course everything was fine. Hope your week goes well!
ReplyDeleteCommunication is the key! I had a miscommunication with one of my co-ops this week as well. It made me feel kind of stupid, but honest mistakes happen. I guess we have to realize everything can't go perfect every single day.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am observing my student for a day this week so it will be interesting to see what obsticles I run into when I come back from my "day off". You made me think maybe it is more work to be out for the day than to be in. :)
I'm glad things are going well for you Shawn and that you are connecting the dots throughout this process. It truly is a time line of learning for both students and student teachers (also, throw in the student teacher supervisor :)
ReplyDeleteTake care and hope that your culinary lesson goes well! :)