Last Week of Teaching!!!

This past week was my last week of teaching. I just did language arts. It went well. Nothing too crazy happened. My CT told me exactly what to do and answered any questions for me. I saw the principal on Wednesday and she went over the form with me and how my lesson went. She said she thought it went well. She really did not have anything bad to say. One of the other teachers was getting rid of some books and gave them to me. She had a box full of books, which were quite old, but I don’t care. I need to start with something.
This coming week I will be observing in some other classrooms. Tuesday I will observe the whole day in a first grade class. Wednesday I will observe afternoon kindergarten and on Thursday I will observe a fourth grade class. Hopefully, I will get a good idea about which grade I would like to teach, if I were to have a choice.
I have been talking more with my next CT. She has never had a student teacher before which makes me a little nervous. She told me that the students are going to be starting fractions when I get there. I cannot wait to teach math! I really feel that I am supposed to teach math, and definitely not language arts.

Week 6

I taught everything this week, but it did not go how I imagined it would. For some reason, I thought my CT would be out of the classroom for the entire day. She was gone for bits and pieces, but she pretty much stayed in the room. The principal came in on Wednesday. I think my lesson went well, but I still have not gotten the form back she’s supposed to fill out. This coming week all I teach is language arts. The week after that I will be observing some other classes. It will be interesting to see which grade I like the most.
I am going to miss being at my old elementary school. It was certainly much easier for me to be at a school where I knew some of the teachers. However, I am excited about 6th grade. (Not so much the attitudes I will probably get, but the fact that I get to focus solely on math). Yesterday, my fiancé and I drove out to the school, twice. There does not seem to be a way to get there that does not involve traffic. It will be interesting to see if I make it there on time the first day.

Only 3 Weeks Left!!!

As this week comes to an end, I realize that teaching is about 50 times harder than I thought it was. I knew it was not going to be easy, but I really did not think it would be so difficult. I am not sure if I can handle some of the students. They are so disrespectful and when they go home, tell their guardians that I was in a bad mood, that is why they get in trouble, and then the guardian sends my CT an email about it, it really irks me. I cannot imagine why a parent/guardian would believe such a thing. (I’m trying to let it go, but it is so hard when you can’t defend yourself).
I taught pretty much everything, but I don’t know how I would have done it without her in the room. I had so many questions like ‘Do you want them to write in their journals or just on paper?’ and ‘Which kind of paper?’ I am not sure, but I am thinking she will be out of the room for most of next week to let me teach on my own. I am not real sure about this. I am introducing ‘Writer’s Workshop’ and do not really feel comfortable with it. (Plus, it does not help that she has told me nothing about it and I am not comfortable with language arts to begin with).
The week definitely had some frustrating moments, but it also had some good ones. I got so many hugs, one from a girl that wasn’t even in our class. This other little girl told me that she was going to take care of me when I got older. It was too cute!
I am excited about science this week. I think I was kind of slack last week and did not really do that much except read the text and complete worksheets. This week they are going to be doing some activities and experiments that I think they will enjoy. Language arts should be interesting since it is a weak point of mine. Hopefully I can explain a subject and predicate to them. The principal is also coming to observe me on Wednesday during language arts. (I probably should have picked a different subject).
I am going to miss the students, but I can’t help but count down the days!