Well sort of.
Today was a delayed opening and we had a school wide meeting. I was surprised when my CT told me that she was only staying for the meeting, which she helped plan, and that she had to leave immediately after because her son was sick and couldn't go to preschool. She had already called a sub but unfortunately the sub didn't speak any French.
She let me know that I should only do what I felt comfortable doing. The substitute was going to be here and that if I didn't feel like teaching I didn't have to. She gave me the sub option, a movie, and told me that it was 100% acceptable if I was too nervous or unsure of teaching an entire class. She also said I could do an activity for part of the time and then we could watch a little bit of the movie.
Because of the delayed opening we only had two third grade classes and the then the usual first grade classes. I decided to try teaching, why not get a feel of it now and just see how it goes? Plus, I had been thinking lately, I am really comfortable with the third grade and totally feel like I could start doing activities with them (secretly I think that third grade is my favorite, shhhh).
So I went ahead with the scheduled lessons for third grade, which were actually different because of the way the schedule is. I have to say that I think I did a really good job with them. They were so well behaved, maybe I bribed them a little with one of the school wide rewards, and they did exactly what we wanted them to do in the lesson.
First grade was different. They had just started a new unit and I don't know the story that they are working with. My CT suggested doing the normal routines at the beginning and then watching the video with them. I did that but I kept stopping the video to ask quick comprehension questions and drawing their attention to certain details. That went well too. The only thing was that the poor sub just sat in the classes all day. It must have been pretty boring for her. But I think it was better for the kids and for me.
I had such high energy after those first two classes. I couldn't believe it worked so well. Maybe I forgot to do this one thing, or maybe I could have spent two more minutes doing this part, but overall, I got my feet wet and I have a lot of positive energy to move forward with.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
There's Always Something
Monday (when I wrote this post and forgot to post it) I got home before 4:30 which is early for me. My CT had a dentist appointment and we had already prepped for the next day so we both left around 3:30. As soon as I got home I thought of about a million more things I could have gotten done. I thought of the slides I could have made for one of our review lessons, I thought about how I could have made a game better if only I had used a different color or font or pictures...., I thought about the emails I wanted to send, I thought about the questions I had forgotten to ask. I just remembered a lot that I wanted to get done. But once I was home I wasn't in "teacher mode" anymore and I didn't end up doing any of those things.
I think that I am going to have to learn to accept that once I've gotten something done I will have to move on. I wont be able to work on everything I want to do, there is not enough time for me to perfect it all. Of course there will always be a way to make it better, more exciting, etc. This is going to be difficult for me, I like to be proud of the things that I do (doesn't everyone?). And if I see that something could be done differently, or more importantly, better, I will not necessarily be proud of it. I'm learning how to work in this situation.
I think that I am going to have to learn to accept that once I've gotten something done I will have to move on. I wont be able to work on everything I want to do, there is not enough time for me to perfect it all. Of course there will always be a way to make it better, more exciting, etc. This is going to be difficult for me, I like to be proud of the things that I do (doesn't everyone?). And if I see that something could be done differently, or more importantly, better, I will not necessarily be proud of it. I'm learning how to work in this situation.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Teacher Workday
I had my first teacher workday on Tuesday. As a student I always looked forward to those days because it meant having a day home from school. Now I get a chance to see just how much work gets done on those days...
In the morning we had a meeting with the whole school and broke into groups to discuss a reading that we were given. All of the specials, PE, Music, ant Art plus French had to tag along with other grade levels. The reading really didn't have much to do with our subject but we had to participate. It was interesting seeing how the other teachers work together. I am usually just with my CT in our own little "closet" office and we don't have to work with other teachers to plan. Once a month there is a district wide FLES meeting, which is interesting to see all the elementary language teachers from the district and the issues that are current for them.
Anyways, back to the teacher workday. At the end of the day I told my CT that I was surprised by how tired I was. What had we done all day that made me so exhausted? I asked. Well, we planned. All day. There are so many decisions that had to be made, so many activities that had to be prepared. I was tired from all the mental work that we did. Even though working with the kids can be physically exhausting, acting a certain way and always working to make lessons go smoothly or according to plan can be draining. But a day of mental work, I found out, can be just as draining.
The saying is that a teacher will make about 1500 educational decisions a day. I'm starting to see just how true that saying is.
In the morning we had a meeting with the whole school and broke into groups to discuss a reading that we were given. All of the specials, PE, Music, ant Art plus French had to tag along with other grade levels. The reading really didn't have much to do with our subject but we had to participate. It was interesting seeing how the other teachers work together. I am usually just with my CT in our own little "closet" office and we don't have to work with other teachers to plan. Once a month there is a district wide FLES meeting, which is interesting to see all the elementary language teachers from the district and the issues that are current for them.
Anyways, back to the teacher workday. At the end of the day I told my CT that I was surprised by how tired I was. What had we done all day that made me so exhausted? I asked. Well, we planned. All day. There are so many decisions that had to be made, so many activities that had to be prepared. I was tired from all the mental work that we did. Even though working with the kids can be physically exhausting, acting a certain way and always working to make lessons go smoothly or according to plan can be draining. But a day of mental work, I found out, can be just as draining.
The saying is that a teacher will make about 1500 educational decisions a day. I'm starting to see just how true that saying is.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The First Friday
I made it my first full week! That said, I don't really have that
many responsibilities yet. But the transition to waking up early every
day and actually having a morning commute is something new I'm adjusting
to.
Everyone keeps asking me what it's like to be teaching. I haven't really gotten it through to everyone that this is a gradual process and that I wont be fully taking over for a few weeks. That always disappoints them. I have to try to explain that right now I'm observing and getting to know the school, the staff, the students etc. I kind of act like an assistant in the classroom, which is helpful because I can run back to the office if we forgot something or to the nurse when a kid has a bloody nose, yeah that already happened.
My CT is awesome. We seem to get along really well and she is genuinely interested in seeing me become a great teacher. After a lesson she likes to "debrief". I'm hearing this word a lot which means there is a lot of information coming in. I hope I can remember it all because everything she says seems so practical. I've gotten so many tips about classroom management, student motivation, diverse learners, having backup plans and just being at this school in general.
On Friday morning the fifth graders Skyped with their penpals in France. It was so much fun to watch their reactions when they saw their penpal for the first time face-to-face. Some of the students were really nervous to speak to French students but once they saw how easy it could be, and that my CT was always standing near by to help, they seemed more eager to talk. But the process showed me just how much you have to set up an activity like this. The time difference made coordinating with the other school a little tricky. And a lot of our students didn't know what Skype was before so that needed to be explained. And a few days before the chat my CT told the students what the procedure would be, how they would line up and take turns introducing themselves, and how the chat would go on the other side, and if there was time a few people could have a longer conversation with their penpals if they wanted, etc. So I'm really getting to see how much time and effort and planning it takes for one 25min Skype chat, or just any 25min lesson.
Everyone keeps asking me what it's like to be teaching. I haven't really gotten it through to everyone that this is a gradual process and that I wont be fully taking over for a few weeks. That always disappoints them. I have to try to explain that right now I'm observing and getting to know the school, the staff, the students etc. I kind of act like an assistant in the classroom, which is helpful because I can run back to the office if we forgot something or to the nurse when a kid has a bloody nose, yeah that already happened.
My CT is awesome. We seem to get along really well and she is genuinely interested in seeing me become a great teacher. After a lesson she likes to "debrief". I'm hearing this word a lot which means there is a lot of information coming in. I hope I can remember it all because everything she says seems so practical. I've gotten so many tips about classroom management, student motivation, diverse learners, having backup plans and just being at this school in general.
On Friday morning the fifth graders Skyped with their penpals in France. It was so much fun to watch their reactions when they saw their penpal for the first time face-to-face. Some of the students were really nervous to speak to French students but once they saw how easy it could be, and that my CT was always standing near by to help, they seemed more eager to talk. But the process showed me just how much you have to set up an activity like this. The time difference made coordinating with the other school a little tricky. And a lot of our students didn't know what Skype was before so that needed to be explained. And a few days before the chat my CT told the students what the procedure would be, how they would line up and take turns introducing themselves, and how the chat would go on the other side, and if there was time a few people could have a longer conversation with their penpals if they wanted, etc. So I'm really getting to see how much time and effort and planning it takes for one 25min Skype chat, or just any 25min lesson.
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