Week 3

Well, it's another week down and a few more lessons learned.  This week was sort of an odd one being that we had a snow day followed by a two hour delay (on a day which I had my two sections of personal finance).  Needless to say, the periods were shorter on this day, but this worked out well because I had an activity planned anyway, and as it turned out, I was able to make the activity fit perfectly into the shortened periods.

My "lunch" class continues to be a challenge though.  The challenge is three-fold: the class seems to keep one eye on the clock, eagerly anticipating lunch, then after lunch it's often difficult to re-engage them, though I've been reasonably successful thus far, and finally (and most significantly) the chemistry of the class is such that the majority of the students are not interested in the least.  This being the case, the lessons that often captivate and engage my first class, don't have the same impact on my second class (let alone the whole lunch issue).  So, I've been getting a good hands-on lesson in differentiating instruction.  I am trying a new approach with involving a few of the quiet "leaders" in the class who are good students, but don't seem to care much for the material...my hope is to involve them more and start to "beat them from within" little by little.  Overall though, both of my classes are going well and the students seem to be retaining the material...though I will know more in this area after some presentations/quizzes this upcoming week.

The most beneficial thing of my week would have to be interacting with the students on an individual basis.  They seem to enjoy interacting with me individually, and I'm always eager to learn more about them.  Many of them have great ideas huge personalities, so I'm always trying to think of ways to make these factors work to my benefit, and the benefit of the class as a whole.

Also, I find it very beneficial to include two or three of the most important points from the content of the previous class in my introduction each day.  I find the students will often dig pretty deep to try to recall what we talked about, and also it's a good way to fasten the important points to their memory while linking it to new information before we get into the thick of class.

There wasn't anything that went "wrong this week" so it's tough to say what I would change if I could do it over again, however there is one thing that comes to mind.  On Thursday - with my "lunch class" - I had it in mind to split them into groups of three by counting off by numbers.  So, naturally, if you want groups of three (with a couple groups of two being that I had 16 in class on this given day) you would count off by three's, right?? WRONG...I learned this lesson this week after counting off by three's and then finding I had primarily formed groups of five...DUH!  So, with that in mind, I would have learned how to count earlier in the week so that I didn't stumble around in front of 16 seniors who didn't want to be there anyway (haha...it actually turned out fine, and they are all comfortable with me and vice versa, but it was still annoying that I was oblivious enough to make that mistake right off the bat in the beginning of class). Aside from that, I enjoyed this week and have gotten to be very comfortable in front of my classes.

*Lesson of the week for all of you reading this - KNOW HOW TO COUNT BEFORE YOU TRY TO SPLIT UP YOUR CLASSES BY 'COUNTING OFF.'

Second week

My second week started off without any ungraceful incidents, which is more than I could say for the first week. It was a very busy week though, and it seemed that no matter how much I got done in a day, there was always more to do that I wasn't able to get to. However, everything did go smoothly, and even my first lessons went relatively well. There were awkward moments in the first lesson simply because my co-op suggested a spontaneous change of plans that sort of threw off the flow of things to an extent, but it still worked out well in the end and I believe it was beneficial to the students overall.

My best lesson up to this point probably came with my first class on Friday. I seemed to have the students attention and kept it moving at a fast pace which worked well. Being that I have all seniors, and this is their last semester, they are not too interested in applying themselves unless it's upbeat and lively (which can be difficult at times because many of them are not interested in "The Fed" and other opening topics of personal finance, but so far so good.)

If I could change anything about the week, I would have had assigned seats ready for the students on the first day as well as name cards placed at each of their computers (for the sake of learning their names). This is something that I had prepared for the second class, but it would have been beneficial for me to have this done in time for the first class so that I could get a jump on learning the names. Other than that, everything went according to plan this week.

What I found to be most beneficial was the manner in which I "chunked" the lessons of my second class (I only taught two lessons/four classes this week being that it's a block scheduled 1/2 credit course). The segmenting of material, and varying methods of instruction (group-work, discussion, active reading, videos, and games) proved be beneficial in keeping everyone involved and entertained as much as possible. I felt good about Friday's classes.

The most challenging aspect of the week would be the fact that my 3rd period class has a "split lunch" which means I get them for about an hour, then they go to lunch and come back for the last 20 minutes of the period. This presents challenges in some obvious ways, so I am learning how to be creative in adjusting the material accordingly.

Overall it has been a good week, and I look forward to being able to tweak a few things in the upcoming week to improve on what I've learned up to this point.

My First Week of School...What a way to start ;)

Ahhh where to start. Perhaps I shall start with my very first morning. Although I got up at before 5:00 a.m. to be sure to be on time to Selinsgrove High School where I am placed (which is over an hour from my house), nothing too eventful occurred until approximately 7:25 a.m. when I, as I have done thousands upon thousands of times before, attempted to get out of my vehicle upon reaching my destination. Being that the weather has been especially balmy this week in NE/Central PA, the surface of the parking lot where I was told to park was not unlike a skating rink. I, being the bright, conscientious individual that I like to think I am, carefully surveyed where I parked and was 100% certain that the surface was simply plowed, somewhat soft, snow (rather than the 0-friction ice that it turned out to be.)

No doubt you can tell where this is going, so I'll cut to the chase...I energetically hopped out of my truck, left foot first, quickly followed by the right, only to find that my carefully surveyed parking spot was not so wisely selected after all. Without so much as a fleeting hope of preserving my footing, BOTH of my feet led my legs to become horizontal to the ground, landing me square on my rear end (keep in mind I have not even had contact with Selinsgrove "soil" for a single second of my first week yet.) Luckily, I was early to the school that day so there was only one other woman in the parking lot, and she was blocked from sight by a couple vehicles...the first of which was a pickup truck of which I almost kicked the door in when I so ungracefully "bit it" as they say. Miraculously I managed not to split the rear out of my pants, nor did I dirty myself...both of which I was certain happened to me in the midst of the chaotic opening seconds of my arrival.

Oh, but there's more! I managed to stand up, feeling rather like a child who hadn't quite learned how to walk without hanging onto something secure. I opened my back door to pull out my briefcase and other necessities, only to be greeted by my lunch bag which appeared to have been projected from my back seat onto the solid ice underfoot. At this point I was in such disbelief that I silently and sarcastically rejoiced, pumping my fists and quietly saying "OH YESSSS!!!"......I was off to a spectacular start. The only disappointing aspect from that whole chaotic, potentially embarrassing situation, was that no one was around to witness my awesome skill.

Beyond those first few minutes, everything for the rest of the week has gone "according to plan." I've been learning my student's names, working hand-in-hand with my co-op by grading papers, taking attendance, compiling resources, and gathering ideas for how to connect with my students through the content I will be presenting. It has been a wonderful learning experience already, and I have greatly enjoyed working with the students. I'm now referred to as "Mr. D" on a regular basis, (or any other number of names for that matter,) which range from "Mr. Schwarzenegger Jr. Sir" to "Mr. Bodyguard Man" (being that Mrs. Gavitt refers to me as her bodyguard) if they can't remember "Mr. D." I am eager for the upcoming weeks, and although I am very eager for April 29th, I have been enjoying myself thus far, and anticipate a wonderfully beneficial and enjoyable semester overall.