My week was busy! At 80% load factor I definitely felt the pace pick up. My 8’s had a test and an assignment due last week. I suddenly had a substantial amount of extra work to complete on top of lesson planning. I managed to finish marking it all and it will count towards their term 2 marks. I’m happy with my time management skills thus far. I am maintaining the pace of the program while staying ahead or on top of all my commitments. I feel confident moving into the next 4 weeks of 100% load factor that I can succeed.
I feel most comfortable with my 8s. I believe it has to do with my SAs choice to give me full reign over the class. Outside of evaluations and the odd changeover after breaks I have been largely left to my own devices with the students. I appreciate this. My SA and I are in contact everyday at some point.
This previous week I gave the students a Machiavellian Test (which I catered to their level of understanding) unbeknownst to them. I covered it as a simple survey from administration. I asked them to not place their names on the survey but instead draw a unique picture they’d remember if they ever saw the forms again. After they filled out the surveys I showed them part of a documentary on Machiavelli and his infamous book the prince. Towards the end of the clip the documentary starts to ask questions that the students had answered earlier in the class. It was oddly rewarding when they all clued in to what had happened. I told the class they could either take the test with them or leave it nameless and submit it to me to go through the online test. The response was great and I am happy to say the majority of my students fall under the low machs category of the test. Its nice to know they do not feel like they have to be ruthless leaders to succeed in the world. That same class I had one on ones with students to give them their quiz marks from the previous week. Having the one on ones was a really good tool to build more rapport with some students I’ve yet to really connect with during class time. I’m happy with the decision to use the documentary as a way to teach but also allow give me time to conduct one on ones.
My 9s were a work week. I rolled out a current events project that is due Monday and Tuesday. I am excited to see the work they produce. On Friday I held four students back after the bell who came into class with food from the cafeteria 5 minutes after the bell had gone. Upon reflection I wish I handled it a bit different. I should have given the students a chance to tell me why they thought it was a good time to go to the cafeteria before my class. Instead I told them it was unacceptable and I would not tolerate it in the future. This would serve as their warning. I remain steadfast that I needed to let them know I was not happy with their choice, yet I should have heard why they made the choice. Lessons for the future incident.
Grade 10s and I seem to work well together. I was nervous taking them on. Much more so than the 9s the previous week. Yet, here I am one week in and most excited about our week ahead. The course content is the first that I am teaching something I studied during my undergrad. I have a group project planned for a one day lesson which is a bit more interactive. I look forward to seeing how that is met with students.
Moving into the first week of my full load I am going to continue to focus on time management and staying ahead of myself by at least three days. I am looking forward to starting the grade 11s and rolling out their Inquiry project that we will work on for the next 4 to 5 weeks.
All in all, I am feeling very optimistic going into week five.
Highlight of the week: Going to a Boys Club meeting. Joining the Tennis program at school. Having students say “goodbye” and “thank you” to me at the end of classes 🙂
Goals for next week: Stay positive. Have fun. and Teach.