The beginning of the week started out rough around the edges. This could be due to some events in my personal life, but as the week progressed I really noticed a difference in my comfort level with the class. At first I didn’t even know all 29 students names. This became a point of concern for me – how was I going to teach a lesson on Friday if I didn’t even know their names? In the beginning of the week, I struggled to find a role in the class that wasn’t too passive or intrusive. I found that sometimes I was just awkwardly standing or sitting around without a clue what I should be doing to be more helpful. As my school advisor and I became more comfortable with each other we found a nice balance. Through conversation we got to know each other and started to build a working relationship.

By mid-week I was knew when to pitch in. I was interacting with the students more. The students became more comfortable asking me for help. I started to get to know some of the students as individuals by watching them in class and through our interactions. I really started to view these two weeks as at time to build relationships with both my school advisor, the students, and  other staff at the school. It’s nice to spend time getting to know them for longer than a few hours on Thursdays. I’m sure they appreciate the opportunity to get to know me before trusting me to teach the class. My personal philosophy in life includes the sentiment that relationships are the fundamental building blocks of our learning. As I started to apply this to my time in the school the experience became more meaningful.

By the end of the week, I felt more at ease and found an rhythm in the classroom. The SEL lesson plan was the first I delivered to the class. I am doing four next week: PE on Monday, Math on Tuesday, Fine Arts on Thursday, and Science on Friday. I was surprised to find that I was nervous before and in the beginning of the lesson. While I have taught other lessons before, I’ve never been formally observed before and I think that may have contributed to my nervousness. I feel like the lesson went well and I accomplished what I intended to for the most part. Timing was an issue but I’m confident that with practice that will become easier to gauge. By the end of the week, I rather liked hearing “Ms.Brown” which I never thought I would get to used to.

I’m excited for next week and look forward to the opportunity to be uncomfortable, grow, and learn some more.