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.
My CT actually called me in the evening to check in and see how things went. We talked for a bit and I filled her in with what happened and how the classes went. She seemed surprised that I had actually completely taken the classes over and that the sub was just sitting in the back of the room. She was also thrilled that the classes didn't fall behind since scheduling is a nightmare.
ReplyDeleteI just want to say how happy I am with my situation here at this school and during this entire process. Everyone has been so nice and understanding and supportive, I could go on but I think you all get the picture. I have a really good feeling about this semester.
That's great! You jumped in because you felt comfortable, and you had a back up plan in case you needed it. I love that you stopped the video to ask questions -- big smile on my face when I read that :)
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