Weekly Reflection 14

Hello,
As you know this week as a short week due to the Holiday.

Monday
The students were not happy on Monday, as they did not get a late start due to getting out early. This week is going to be low maintenance. I had the Honors students work on the short story we have been working on to prepare them to move into The Old Man and the Sea. They were to read the short story and then outline the dialogue in the story in order to understand the concepts that will be found in the novel later on. I had the Regulars work on concision, aka avoiding wordiness, I made a PowerPoint and planned the lesson. However, the lesson was not as entertaining as I thought it would be. The students were not that happy to see that we would be taking notes. I did, however, with one class effectively guess where they fell in birth order in each of their families. They were shocked, and I told them that studies show that personalities play a specific role in birth order. They thought that was pretty cool. I had to leave a bit early to get to class as usual.  

Tuesday
Today, the Honors students read on Hemingway's life and Iceberg theory. They were not too happy with that, however, they did read and annotate the packet in order to prepare to read tomorrow. Regulars worked on organizing the characterization of George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men. I had some trouble keeping them on task. However, the same period wanted more psychology stuff to do so I said I would look into it and maybe before each class starts I can use as it starter to the day. The students were pretty upset that they had school the next day due to all of the middle school students, and the grade school students being off on Wednesday. I had a meeting with the Principal today to set up an appointment for my observation with him, I am excited and nervous about this.

Wednesday
Finally made it. The students were not really excited. They were complaining that I was the only teacher that made them do work today, with it being a short day and all. I told them they would thank me in five years. I had the Honors students read their new books, and the Regulars were to continue reading their book. The Regulars did not want to work at all. I was on top of them for the entire 30 minutes of each class. I was fighting a loosing battle. I was just as excited for the Holiday as the students.

This week I was focused on standard 6, Instructional Planning, which states, "The competent teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’
development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and performance skills." I have found that it is important to use a variety of instructional strategies, so that I can become better, and so my students will not feel as if school is mundane. I know that they will always feel like that on a superficial level, but I want to do my best to make sure they feel they are in a learning environment that promotes excellence. We are now winding down, and I am sad that I am leaving my students, but I have learned a lot these past 13 weeks. It has been a roller coaster of stress and fun, but totally worth it.

Courtney