My first class was the 8th grade class. I felt pretty good until I got in front of the classroom. I was very nervous because this was a brand new class, I didn't know any of the students names and I began tripping over my words. When I'm nervous I talk very fast, unfortunately I didn't quite plan enough for my fast talking nerves. I had 15 minutes left in the period when I was on the final activity! Luckily, my seasoned cooperating teacher was able to give me an idea to finish off the period. The last activity was to judge how well the students knew different breeds. I put up 7 different names of breeds and had students write what animal the breed was. This activity showed me that many of the students don't know different breeds very well.
I teach the same class each day for the rotational periods. I had the opportunity to teach this lesson again! After reflecting and realizing that I was talking way too fast, I worked on some questions and things I could bring up when we did the activities. I also felt more comfortable the second time around because I had already facilitated this lesson. I really like having the two periods with the same lesson.
My animal science class is a whole different kind of beast. All except for one student are seniors and the class provides students with a science credit. The students listen attentively, but the information is rather dry and I was finding it difficult to get the class involved in questioning. I added a go-get-it emoment to get the students up and moving and this seemed to help. I also found that when they were more comfortable with me towards the end of the week they were more apt to answer questions.
For next week I will be trying a new way of quizzing called kahoot. I found that the animal science students who are learning prefixes, suffixes and roots were really disliking the way of quizzing I gave. I also have started making them create flashcards to quiz each other. This is a tip I was given by my cooperating teacher.
One of the largest challenges that I am facing for the next week will be to get my 7th and 8th grade classes back on track. We had an early dismissal this week which meant that I didn't have my 7th grade class. This means that my classes are on two different topics.
I'm enjoying my time at Juniata Valley very much and can't wait to see what next week brings! Thanks for reading!
Hannah,
ReplyDeleteAll new teachers at some point encounter not having enough planned, however, don't be afraid to pull the lesson plan for the next day and jump into its contents! You can always revisit the plan that evening to complete to meet the needs of the following day.
Something to think about to help you slow your pace, is to make sure you have scripted lesson plans. By actually laying out everything you will want to say, you will have a better idea of how long it will take and how much more you need to add. It's always better to be over prepared.
Always keep in mind, that although you may have the week's plan ahead of time, keep working on ahead to future classes so you aren't swamped later on.
Good luck next week!
LR