Week 4 of Student Teaching

Monday
Today I was supposed to start teaching matter, but we did not get to it. They are already doing a Language Arts assessment with a bubble sheet and everything. It’s insane! I did get to teach math though. I feel like they understood it when I was explaining it, but when I was grading their Math Journals some of them did not do so well.
Tuesday
Today was pretty good. I still feel like math is too confusing to them. I showed them how to use their calculators, which was difficult with a somewhat broken overhead calculator. We actually had some time to do the matter lesson. I like the teacher’s edition of the science text. I feel it really breaks things up and puts it on their level. We spent quite a bit of time standing in the hallway waiting for everyone to get quiet in the line. After P.E., my CT even called them to come into the classroom as they were ready. I was out in the hall with one little boy for like 2 or 3 minutes before he was ready and standing the way he should be. Part of me feels like it’s a waste of much needed instructional time, but the other part knows how important it is.
Wednesday
I emailed my next CT and received an email back from her. I feel like she is going to be a great CT as well, at least that is what the email leads me to believe. She seems excited to have me coming. I just hope the 6th graders are well behaved. (But the chances of that are probably not very likely).
Thursday
Today was not such a good day. The students just did not want to keep quiet. I ended up coming home with a migraine. The teaching is not the hard part, it is the discipline. Tomorrow I will start carrying around a clipboard and take notes on discipline issues.
Friday
Well I did not start carrying around the clipboard. Hopefully it will start on Monday. I’m too busy holding hands with all the talkers in the hall to carry a clipboard. Last night I went to bed praying for each student. I hoped it would make today better, but I guess the Lord is just really trying to teach me patience and how to discipline difficult students. I found myself laughing with the students today probably more than I should have been. This one boy just does not stop singing, dancing, talking, misbehaving, and everything else. Looking at him with a serious face and telling him to stop in a very serious voice just does not work. So I ended up just laughing at him. Part of me just didn’t know what to do anymore and the other part was just over it. I know it probably wasn’t the best thing to do, but I am tired of getting migraines.
Next week I am teaching some of language arts, math, and science. I really hope I can get through it!