1/25/2010

Monday, January 25th
Today was extremely hectic. I couldn’t afford one moment to breathe, but you know what, it was still an exhilarating and, dare I say, fun day. Unfortunately, the day started off with a tragedy—Mrs. Smith’s guinea pig, Pachez, died today, and instead of making copies of the day’s lesson as I had planned, I was busy making afterlife arrangements for Pachez. Not that I minded, as I am always willing to help out a fellow colleague, but I really could’ve used that time to make copies, because I was scrambling the rest of the day to compensate for lost time. However, as Ms. Radcliffe said, “Welcome to the life of a teacher.” What a welcome, indeed.
I didn’t need to make copies for first period because the lesson I planned for them is for tomorrow, for my university supervisor, Mr. Shapiro, to overview, but because there is no time between first and second period, I needed to make copies AQAP. Unfortunately, the copy machines (all four of them) had other plans. Needless to say, I didn’t have a chance to make the copies I needed to make. Which is okay, because I didn’t crash and burn too badly today. Actually, I think I did quite well. As always, though, there is miles and miles of room for improvement.
I had to keep first period in the dark about my plan to use them as guinea pigs tomorrow, but I did tell them that we would be having a guest. Most of the students were well behaved, but I did have a small power struggle between a group of male students. We’re still pushing each other’s buttons, and figuring each other out, but I think we’re coming to an understanding of what behaviors are accepted and which are not. Second period was the same as first period (but, it kind of fell apart at the very end of class. Sixth graders are very sociable creatures). My favorite piece of dialogue from second period:
“Where is Ms. Radcliffe?”
“She’s at a dentist appointment this morning,” I said. “She’ll be back next period.”
“So you’re here alone today?”
“Yep. Is that okay?”
“Yeah,” she paused. “I just don’t think you can handle us.”
But she was wrong! Handle them I did. Granted, classroom management is easier when five of your students are in the computer lab doing FAIR testing, and a random four or five others are all absent on the same day, but I held my ground.
I ran around the school like a crazy person trying to make copies during the planning period. Never try to make copies of a lesson the day you want to implement it. Ever.
Fourth and fifth period is where I was a mad scientist and got to try out the lesson plan that I will be implementing tomorrow in first period for Mr. Shapiro. It went as well as it could have, I guess. Because of the 12 minute mini-period before lunch, I didn’t really know what to do for bell work, so I had them revisit a passage that they read last week. Their response was groaning and complaining. Fortunately, I have a plan for the rest of the semester: read Touching Spirit Bear during that short down time, then use the rest of the period after lunch to teach.
The lesson itself was good (there are some changes that I will make for first and second period tomorrow), but overall I think it went well. However, I will say this: the lesson is intended to be an individual assignment. Sixth graders, especially the sixth graders in the 4/5th period class I teach, have a tendency to gravitate towards group work. For the first 80% of the instructional time I circulated the room, offering help where I could, and encouraging students to work individually. But once the students started getting antsy and unsure of themselves, they started talking and asking questions to each other. The last 20% of that class period consisted of me playing fireman, running around and putting out tiny group work fires. I would rather be a fireman than a prison guard, though.
Sixth period is an entirely different monster than any of the other periods. I love them to death, don’t get me wrong, but I will have to be a hard-ass with these students. Everyday cannot be a struggle. I’ve had trouble with sixth period before, but today was a struggle. Maybe even a war. Because of the constant talking, I eventually had to close the lights and have the entire class put their heads on their desks. Even then there was still talking. It wasn’t until Ms. Radcliffe came back into the room (after disciplining some students) that the class was able to be calmed. The wasted time proved to be too much, and the main part of the lesson was scrapped. We ended up talking about the anticipatory article (about prosthetics and athletes), then talked about my back condition, which was related.
Ms. Radcliffe handled seventh period, while I just circulated and tried my best to keep the students on task. Some students are constantly off task, and I will definitely have to keep my eyes on them. One student in particular is throwing off the (mostly) good vibes of the room; I hope that this student doesn’t become a severe problem down the road as there may be an intervention or two necessary in the future.
After school, Ms. Radcliffe and I talked about my strengths and weaknesses. Things I will be working on from this point forward:
Ask higher-level questions (why, how, etc.)
• Try different classroom management techniques, especially with 6th period.
o Praise students who are on task
o Assign homework if the day’s tasks are not completed (due to behavior problems)
o Be frank with them—“We need to accomplish this, this and this today. If we don’t, it’ll be your homework.”
• Work on class instruction. I work really well individually and in small groups, but I need to take those strategies and apply them for the whole class.
• Practice, practice, practice!
Tomorrow I am being supervised by Mr. Shapiro, I know I’ll do well. I didn’t make it this far not to. New motto: “The task ahead of you is never greater than the strength inside you."
Your liberal, yet independent idiot,
-T