Whew! I feel somewhat accomplished because I have completed my first week of student teaching! The first week went well, I enjoy my class, my cooperating teacher, and my fellow teachers. This week was a little off and unlike what the others will be, so my cooperating teacher and I had lots of recess and afterschool duty this week. I spent most of my day observing my teacher, taking notes on the students, and working through a schedule of how the semester will unfold. I will begin teaching math first, and I will start that in 2 weeks. After that, I will add one subject at a time until I am the full-time teacher in April. My Unit study will be in Science on vertebrates and invertebrates, which will include a Zoo field trip! :)
There are definitely expectations I had going into student teaching, and I have seen that some of those expectations aren't going to be met. I also went in with preconcieved ideas of how things work in the classroom, and I am gently being reminded of a wider spectrum. My school is strictly uses A Beka curriculum, which I am very unfamiliar with and will take some getting used to. Going in with an open heart and mind allows me to take in things so much better, even if they are things I necessarily wouldn't do in my own classroom, there certainly are things I would love to have in my classroom. One thing I admire most about my cooperating teacher is that she is calm and laid back, which is not how I pictured myself in the classroom. I have always worked with teachers who have a strong grip on the classroom, and they are very displined and orderly. My class on the other hand, they ARE disciplined and orderly, but in a different way. I really respect how my cooperating teacher lets their personalities come out, and that the classroom doesn't always have to be silent. But this will take some getting used to :)
All in all, this has been a great week and I am looking forward to the weeks to come! Next week = observations and work on my LRP. Thanks for reading!
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I like what you wrote about your classroom. I like to think of myself as calm and laid back as well yet with discipline and respect among the students and teacher. I agree with your statement that classrooms do not have to be quiet. In fact when students are internalizing and making the material their own they will learn it much better than simply reading and writing. Good luck on this adventure and keep up the good work!!!
ReplyDeleteYay first week down!! You are so thoughtful, I really like reading your blog! I love keeping up with you this way. I am a little familiar with A Beka, we used it in a class in undergrad. It's different, but still good stuff, from what I remember.
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