Well, this was an interesting week. We had a delay on Monday and Friday, and no school Wednesday and Thursday. On Tuesday and Friday my co-op was out, so I had a sub. I've worked with three substitutes now in the past two weeks, and they are very interesting people. They know that the class is mine and I'm in charge with lesson plans and instruction, but they still feel the need to take over the teacher's desk and displace me to the back of the room. How am I supposed to have quick access to my stuff if it's in the back of the room? Oh well. I also find that sometimes the subs like to take over some aspects to try to help, but it irritates me a little because I can't really "manage" the class by myself if a sub is getting in there, too.
Overall, it was a pretty good week. Students finished taking a test on Monday, and I did poetry instruction to 3 classes on Tuesday while the 2 afternoon classes went and read children's books to 3rd graders at the next-door elementary school. Friday I did poetry for everyone, and I'm glad we had a delay because I realized I did not have enough material planned for a full class period with my second lesson. That works nicely for the afternoon classes, because I can get through that lesson and try to work in the 3rd lesson to get them caught up.
I feel like I am connecting with the kids better. They know from last Friday's dress-down day that I'm a Colts fan, so on Monday there was a lot of Super Bowl talk and Colts-bashing. Then I did an activity where they had to pull pieces of paper out of a hat, so I used my Colts hat for the activity. The kids had lots of comments about that, and it allowed for some less stressful time on an odd Friday afternoon. Also, when I was doing my intro to the poetry unit, I was able to tell the students about myself, and that helped them see me as a real person and not just a teacher.
I'm looking forward to next week's 4-day-week and diving deeper into poetry with some creative activities.
It's almost the end
16 years ago
Glad to hear that your continuing to get to know your students better. I think that's great. As for the substitutes that's kind of a tough one. It is a little unfair that they take over the space you use to plan and execute lessons. I do the same thing in my classroom. I put the my worksheets, notes sheets, and all handouts on the desk and I do work there as well. Maybe you could talk to your co-op and they could ask subs or instruct subs in their notes to sit in the back of the classroom or something so that they aren't hindering your class period. Good luck with this week and I'll see you Wednesday for our seminar meeting.
ReplyDeleteEllen
I've also had a sub but my experience was really great. The sub was very kind and only helped out when I asked. She had taught in NJ for 25 years before moving to Gettysburg so she obviously knew a lot about teaching and it was fun and informative to talk to her.
ReplyDeleteAlso, just on a personal note, none of my kids are Colts fans either!!! I can't stand it! :)