Thanks to planning lots the previous weekend, I have felt prepared for this week. The expectation was that it would be very hectic with marking and report cards, but so far (mid week) I haven’t noticed it.
I used improv skits in both Business Education and Marketing classes this week (to aid in teaching “traits of successful entrepreneurs” and advertising laws, respectively). I think skits are excellent activities because they keep students invested and engaged in the class (everybody has to participate, and they’re all a bit nervous, which intrinsically motivates them to try hard). Even the difficult students (who are regularly absent and have lower achievement than they should) put on a great skit about using fear and superstition in advertising. Will that translate into higher achievement on summatives? I don’t know and (almost) don’t care: I could see they were engaged and will remember that lesson for a long time.
On being firm and assertive as a student teacher / teacher candidate: During skits, one male student said he felt sick and could he opt-out of participating in the skit? I asked him how he felt, where was he sick: apparently his throat. I told him he should be at home if he is not feeling well and can’t participate, and his reply was that he had to be in a film for a club after school. I gave him the ultimatum that if he feels well enough to do that, then he will participate in the skit: I was not going to negotiate. I think this was a fair resolution, although he participated tepidly at best. I am slowly getting used to being the leader of the classroom, which in some instances requires being more firm than I usually am on a personal level.
On consequences: One of the things I will be working on in the next few weeks is clearly laying out rules and consequences for students. Too often, I’ve taken the “guest” approach, which is to say I don’t want to tread heavily in a class which, on the whole, has graciously welcomed me.