Weekly Reflection 5

Hello,
This week:

Monday was an interesting day. The students did not want to stay on task. Every period was generally chatty. I had a headache all day. But it seems like that is what teaching is all about. Sometimes the students didn't want to stay on task. That is understandable. I remember not wanting to do work at that age, but I try to make the lessons as fun as possible. I hope tomorrow is better. 

Tuesday was very similar to Monday; the students talked through every class. One thing that stuck out the most today, was that one of my students loaned me her book that she suggested to me on Friday. I think that goes a long way when you’re a kid and you trust someone with your possessions. I told her I would try to finish the book before I leave. I also found that even though you think you have a lot planned it is not always enough. Most of the kids sped through the work I had planned for them. Thankfully, I had a writing prompt planned for them to complete towards the end of class. I found that sometimes you need a backup plan. I am excited to try out the activities I have planned for tomorrow.

Wednesday

The students were so chatty today. They really did not want to stay on task. I find that I am really struggling with finding fun activities. However, the students are really working well with the material. It is exciting to see their faces light up when they  know the answer or when I joke with them.

Thursday 

Today the kids were a lot better. I think it is because it's getting closer to the weekend. They were generally on task for the most part. I believe it was because the notes were not very long. I had to change my lesson plan at the last minute to catch the students up on vocabulary. I felt we were lagging behind in that department and focusing too much on Grammar. I am really excited for our games tomorrow and I know the kids will like them too. I had a problem in my last class with the usual trouble maker. My CT talked to him as I did and he really doesn’t know why he’s acting up just in my class. Maybe it’s because he wants the wrong kind of attention, but I will continue to work with him. I don’t want him out in the hall the entire time he still needs to be able to learn 

Friday

Today, the students were very talkative. They loved the vocabulary games we played in class. However, they also could not keep their noise level down. My CT told one class, very loudly, that she would not ever play games with her after I leave ever again. It was a Friday and the students were squirrel-y because of this I was a bit lenient with the students on them being over hyper.  They really wanted to read their Buckabee character stories and they were really fun to hear. I also made a project for the one period I can't teach vocabulary to because another teacher does. 

This week the professional teaching standard that I applied to my lessons this week was Learning Environment, which states: "The competent teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation." I found that this was the case for this week as I really wanted to make a learning environment that was fun and engaging and I felt that I did well with that. 

Courtney