Yes, it's true that this week I didn't have the most optimal teaching environment anyway. It was anti-bullying week, dress up week, Halloween, and afternoon assembly schedule. Still, I know I can take some responsibility for my pretty mediocre lessons. Here are my confessions:
- Confession #1: I put my social life before my job this week. Yikes! I know, I know, I can try to excuse my behavior by saying that I am young and still single and live in a house full of desperately eligible bachelorettes. I admit that I was lured by the promises of costume parties and lots of candy (including eye candy). But the truth is simple: I knew when I accepted the internship that I would have to put in a lot of time and effort into doing my job well, and this past week I didn't put in the needed focus for successful teaching.
- Confession #2: There were days (Dr. Coombs, please don't kill me) that I didn't have a lesson plan written out. Yikes again! I realized how big of a problem this was when I was standing in front of my class, watching them talking, trying to get the attention, and also trying at the same time to figure out in my mind what exactly I needed to tell them. While sometimes I write lesson plans that I don't use during the actual lesson, I still find security in knowing that it sit there on my podium just incase my brain decides to fail me momentarily. So lesson learned.
- Confession #3: Because I was feeling so guilty, I went to the library last night to work on my unit plans. I am happy to say that I have basically everything planned out from now until Christmas break. But here is a little thing you may not know about me: I am a perfectionist when it comes to writing. I hate scribbling out things, but I think I hate writing in pencil more. It's a no-win situations. Until...I figured out a brilliant way to plan without having to scribble out changed lesson plans. I call it "the post-it method" and some of the veteran teachers at my school have started using it since they saw my planner. I have different colored post-it notes for different subject (the novel we are reading, writing, and grammar) and once I write the different lesson plans on the post-it, I am able to move and rearrange them to fit just right. I love it! Here is what it looks like:
While you may read these confessions and think, "Maichael, you are being too hard on yourself. I'm sure your lessons were fine," I sit here and know that, although my students may be none the wiser, I know I didn't put in my full effort and that disappoints me. But, a new week will come in a few days, and I am already rededicated and better prepared for the future.
Anyway, enough of my bad confessions. Here are some more entertaining ones:
- Good Confession #1: I think I may be falling in love with teaching 7th graders. True, I haven't yet had the opportunity to try my hand at teaching older grades, but I actually enjoy teaching 7th grade much more than I thought I would. They are always so full of surprises. I have one girl in my first period class who is in love with words. The other day I said "befuddled" in class and she immediately got up and picked up a dictionary to find out what that word meant. Then, a few minutes later, she said to me, "Ms. Mayans, that is a cool word! You want to know another cool word I learned a few days ago: Indubitable." She promptly opened up the dictionary again to find the official definition of the word "indubitable" and has been carrying a dictionary in her hand ever since. I love it! :) Big words are so fun.
- Confession #2: It is pretty funny working in predominantly Mormon community. You get some very interesting reading logs. (The second picture instructs the students to write down sentences from their reading and identify the subject and verb).
- extra credit if you can identify where this girl is reading!
Well, that is all for now. Thank you to those who have commented or emailed me to give me advice and support. I love you all!
These are some real, hard, and terrible truths. Teaching is (at least during the early years) an all-consuming activity. No amount of lecturing from me will motivate you to embrace this perspective, but a week's accumulation of less-than-wonderful teaching can be very effective in helping you come to this conclusion:) Point made.
ReplyDeleteYou've also pointed out some of the beautiful things about teaching in the unique contexts of Utah culture. These assignments you posted made me think about the discussion in your class today about religion. It's so interesting.