My first class with the grade 8s did not go as I had anticipated. I came in with high expectations. Some of which may have been unrealistic to meet this early on in our relationship. To be honest, nothing particularly bad happened in that first class. Some students were quite loud, occasionally calling out to friends across the room or talking over top of each other and me. Trying to control the room sometimes took more effort than I thought I would need to exert. I had to move one student to a new seat. Later I learnt that he was not in his assigned seat that day.
The plan for the first day was focused on building rapport with my students and setting out clear, concise expectations and rules for everyone to follow. I felt I executed my plan fairly well. However, I found myself going back to my lesson plan more often than I wanted to. I am going to chalk up some of that habit to nerves. Most days I feel as though my nerves are out of sync. While this experience is exciting and rewarding, it is also very stressful as we navigate the complexities of the situation we find ourselves in.
The day of my second lesson was interesting. I was late to school as the weather unexpectedly caused transiting difficulties. It did provide me with the perfect opportunity to test our “emergency” procedures should I ever miss a day teaching though. I was happy to only test the system on Friday, the class which I facilitated was very productive and I felt that the students were much more respectful to our classroom expectations. I began the class by having students sign the Classroom Rules that we created. Reading over the rules and answering questions set me out on a good path and I think I will be reading the classroom rules for the next couple of classes to create clear and consistent expectations. I was very open with my rules surrounding respectful communication in the classroom. It seemed to work well and referring to the classroom rules when it did get loud gave me leverage to regain attention. I tested out my first worksheet with the class, I was curious to see how they would work when directed to do so individually. It went very well overall. I was slightly surprised at how many times I had to repeat the directions of the task to individuals but I think that speaks more to the size of the class than the student or me. I am very aware of the size of the class at 28 students.
My favourite part of the day: When all students stayed seated and on task up until the bell! I am feeling very positive moving into this second week.
My favourite part of the week: Getting an email from a parent asking for homework for her child before they leave on vacation.
Goals for next week: Have brief 1-on-1’s with each student. Continue to be consistent with classroom rules. Sharpen my ability to facilitate without the use of a lesson plan to fall back on as a security blanket.