judgement day

after two full weeks of my teaching block...my faculty advisor came in for a scheduled visit to assess my progress thus far. very nerve wrecking when you have someone watching your every move but i just kept telling myself it was just another day..another lesson. it shouldn't be any different right?!?! except it is different as much as you want to keep telling yourself that....you infact are being judged in that 45 minutes he/she sees. up until now, i've felt good about what has been going on...i've taken a lot of initiative of things and i think i've got my management piece down considering i've only been in block for 10 days. but my faculty advisor managed to find a few things to nip me on. it's fine...i don't expect to be perfect but i think having two teachers and two classrooms, the "culture" as i put it is very different so the kids respond differently. i think my advisor might get a better idea if she sees me in the afternoon as well. luckily she got to talk to both my associate teachers. i definitely think i have a challenge and a more difficult task then the other teacher candidates at my school...not to say their assignment is easy but i feel that many teacher candidates would fall under pressure with what i have...and i think i've risen to the challenge and have adjusted very well.

one of the things i'm still puzzeled about is my apparent 'coach' like talk. im still nto sure if that is bad or good. i think my kids respond to it very well so i don't see a problem. i've definitely improved on the teacher talk and have been very stern but i still want the kids to see me as someone they can come to not someone they are afraid of. my biggest glow was that i am very flexible...something i do pride myself in because i am seeing a lot of t/c getting bogged down and stressed over minor details. i don't fret!

anyways i could go on and on about today but the fact is i'm tired..and i was suppose to plan my double period drama tonight so KC could see it tomorrow. Guess what?!?! i havent even started it.

feeling better today

what an awesome day at school today. other then a few "Shhh, lets stay on task and work..or that's inappropriate...or seriously, is that really necessary" comments throughout the day...the kids were pretty good, and i had a great teaching day.

MC was away so there was a supply for her. Surprisingly it wasn't someone they normally call in, maybe because there were like 7 teachers away. Anyhow, the supply came in pretty early so we got to know each other before the kids got in. She was super nice...she didn't care that MC had essentially told her that I would be taking the lead since i had the math and science lessons already planned. The supply just let me do my thing and she helped circulate the class to help some of the kids out during their work, but i essentially was in control the entire morning. It was like i had a student teacher...hahaha. But it felt good, the kids listened, they did their work. It was a moment...you know the "yes, i'm meant to teach...or the so that's what it feels like to be a teacher" moments. The supply even said that she couldn't believe i was only in my 2nd week of my block...she said your management skills are fantastic and if only some of the teachers she knew was half as confident as I was today. Boy..was that a complete confident *cough* ego *cough* boost!

It's always nice to here something like that...especially when i'm about to be assessed by my faculty advisor.

Anyhow I had my double drama period with my 4/5's in the afternoon. This was such an awesome lesson. I really had a good time doing it. The kids loved the warm-up game we played - "Honey I love you, won't you give me a smile" - ever played it?? I've done it with kids at camp and my methods prof also used it in his class as part of the tribes stuff he does. So the point was to get the kids to try and not laugh. Many of them had a hard time staying in role from last week's drama class, some even told me in their reflection that was what they wanted to work on so that their performance would be better. So i tried this game with them, I had the class split up in two and we played it for about 7-8 minutes. I knew many of them would laugh but it was a great exercise and they loved it, i couldn't get them to stop saying the line for the rest of the class. Many told me that was their favourite part of the lesson...so nice to hear that! Then we did role-playing with a script..emphasis this time on oral fluency, projection and being able to add expression using what they got (gestures, voice..no props). Kids whined about it b/c it was "boring" but oh well, i'm the teacher...what i say goes...lol! Oh and they whined about their groups again. I made the groups up and assigned their roles only because the scripts i used were leveled reading so i tried to accomodate some of my IEP kids.

anyhow...it was a good day and maybe i am cut out to be a teacher afterall....yes i know a complete 360 from last night...

i need to go to bed

eeeeeeeekkkk

its 11:30 and i'm still working on stuff for my class.
amongst making notes from today's lessons, planning for tomorrow's classes (did i mention i'm teaching 5 periods tomorrow), planning for friday's classes and looking at planning monday's classes because my faculty advisor is coming in to assess me...i feel like i haven't been productive at all tonight considering i came home at 6, had a quick nap for 30 mins and cooked dinner while having my kittens try to steal my food.
I'm definitely stressed tonight, and the only reason i know that is because i'm getting angry at my kittens and at my lovely boyfriend who i don't normally. and yelling at the computer as if it knows what i want it to do.

sighsss...

so i've managed in the last 40 ish minutes to write this post and catch up with a friend on msn...i'm so screwed! (note: 'screwed' should not be part of teacher talk)

Am i really cut out to be a teacher?

on my own

survived all by myself this afternoon with my class....3 periods is a really long time especially when your a student teacher just beginning her block. my associate had to attend a funeral so i had the lovely task of keeping the gr.4/5's in line...i mean busy and on task. I mean they had to have a "real" teacher in b/c i'm not certified but she didn't really have to do anything...it was all me. Luckily i didnt have to come up with my lesson plan, KC showed me what she wanted the kids to learn and I flew with it. It was a really great experience...and the kids really enjoy it when they find out i get to teach. Don't worry, there were no nose bleeds or headaches...but kids will always be kids, they'll always be chatty and loud. i'm alright with that. I think some of the boys are realizing i mean business. There seemed to be more and more of these "collector items" (aka TOYS) and i really had it with them so i told them i'd confiscate them if i ever saw them again. They weren't too thrilled about that so they are beginning to listen to me more. At first they were all really testing my patience..but i think they are getting better at it

AW still very impulsive...i hate to give him sad faces especially with what happened last week...but he just has a hard time controlling himself. He's doing better...improving with his effective choices but i still have to constantly check on him and remind him about happy faces. I really hope i can get through to him by the end of my block...he's such a smart kid but gets himself into unnecessary trouble.

There are a lot of great kids in my class...they aren't all very bright but they are just great kids...i call those "feel good" kids. When you walk into the room, and you see their face lit up or the light bulb switches on...you just feel better about what you are doing. Those kids make teaching more than worth the while.

The beginning...

and so i began my first teaching block...as of yesterday anyways.

I shouldn't say i never saw this coming, but teaching is definitely a whole other world. You don't really know what it will be like until the day you live it. All i have to say is...having a split 4/5, two separate teachers (one in the morning and one in the afternoon), and two different classrooms is not an easy task at all.

Sunday night i got the nerves about teaching my very 1st lesson that I had to plan. then again, it wouldn't be my very 1st lesson either. But the idea that this was it, it was my time, and that everything i do from here on in counts...scared the jebbers out of me. MC told me the friday before that I'd be focusing on a full science unit for my grade 5's....Human Body....fun stuff right???? Yes but when you never majored in science nor have any resources to help you plan...the weekend ahead proved to be a challenge. Needless to say, I was very excited about the whole idea about doing this from start to finish...besides I had already made a consecutive lesson on this very exact topic for my science pre-service class. So really i have a leg up on this.

I decided that i wanted to keep track of my students work throughout this unit to make it easy for me and for them so i made a workbook of handouts and what not that we'd be doing throughout. As great as that seemed, I realize that our school has a shortage of paper and the teacher's have to provide it. Well my idea went straight out the window....okay not quite but can you imagine the conundrum that brought. In the end, i didn't abandon the idea totally, i just have to be paper conscious and try to get the kids to write more with 3 ring paper and what not.

Tuesday morning rolls around, and before i know it i'm standing in front of the class trying to sell this Human Body Unit to them. They were estatic...grossed out that we'd be learning about the internal workings but estatic. I did a bit of a diagnostic to see where they were at...started with a science Q's to get their brain working and then had them complete a KWL chart in small groups. This part ended up taking two days. I have come to realize how fast times goes and how every little second is precious when trying to get your whole lesson in especially when you don't have the class the whole day in one room. But i'm not bothered by it too much, time will always be a teacher's enemy...just have to learn to be that much more flexible.

KC told me she wanted me to take care of Drama during my teaching block....Great except that I never liked drama growing up - it is definitely not my Forte. Give me art or math or even science i can manage but Drama...boy oh boy! I had Drama with my 4/5s in the afternoon for 2 periods...100 minutes of drama, kill me now. But just like science, they were off the wall about it. We brainstormed what is was and how we could model good role-playing and in groups of 5 had them role-play a scene about honesty. They really rose to the challenge. The presentations were great, a lot of them got right into their character, and it was soo much fun to see them have a good time with it. so hollywood here i come....

nap time for me and then plan for tomorrow's science lesson on the digestive system :)