Student Teaching: Day 2

Today was rather uneventful. The D.A.R.E. officer visited the 4 classes to talk about cigarette and tobacco use. I sat through his 3rd presentation and didn't learn anything new. I did find it amusing that the students thought the 1980's video he showed was "so old" :)

During the balance of the day I tallied scores from the Spelltacular Spelling "tests" of Monday, wrote scores into Ms. Skala's grade chart, and gathered more information for my Poetry Unit. I'll get to teach that sometime in February, after the students finish their Science research papers.

I also attended the Literacy Meeting, which invited all the LA teachers and, for some reason, 2 Social Studies teachers. I sat and listened and was not surprised to hear the teachers dismay at the Principal's request for a breakdown or timeline of how and when each LA standard is taught. It reminded me of the time I worked for a company that expected me to keep track of what I was typing, while working on 3 projects and having to consult with (I think) 10 different people!
There was also some concern that, no matter what the standards or requirements or mandates, if a child doesn't want to learn, they just won't learn - which administration seems to not understand.

Well, Wednesday will be different - I get to teach a lesson for 20 minutes. The lesson is broken into 3 segments - 20, 15, and 15 minutes each - to cover Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'm no longer nervous!