First two days

I started student teaching on Valentine's Day and nothing extremely special occurred that day. Well, except for all of the heart shaped balloons squished through doors by giddy 16 year-olds, but other than that nothing too exciting. I had already met my CT (cooperating teacher) last semester, and visited her several times hence, so it wasn't too scary walking into her classroom. My first day was just observation. I observed my CT plan, become frustrated, and yell at a student who didn't finish their work, but I also observed her try a student's home-cooked, prize winning cake with loving kindness, teach a stellar lesson about violence and consciousness in poetry, and help me tweak my lesson for the next day. Overall, it was a good first day.

Today, I woke to my alarm at 6:18, hit the snooze until 6:28, crawled out of bed and convinced myself to turn on the TV to KLRU Q (18-3) for the 6:30 am CLASSICAL STRETCH: THE ESMONDE TECHNIQUE. 

It's amazing, try it. Once I was stretched and yoga/balleted out, I showered, ate a quick breakfast and headed into the high school. This was it, my first day of teaching!

First I showed the class the "My favorite things" Imovie I made in my final teaching class. They thought it was a little funny, but seemed to appreciate my effort.

After I introduced myself, I told the class that I wanted to get to know them, so I split them into partners the way our instructors at taught us in college. "Raise your hands, keep them up....1,2,3, etc. 1,2,3 etc. Okay, now raise your hand when I call your number and find your partner" Chaos! No one knew what I was doing, but thankfully I took note of this and did a much better job during my second period. I think this is something the kids are just going to have to get used to. I remember, even as preservice teachers, we stumbled with it in the beginning.

I asked the students to interview their partner with the 10 questions I had given them, plus a freebie question they had to devise. The first period took much longer than I thought they would, so I changed the timing on the next period. After the interview, I gave the students this template for a bio-poem:

(First name)-

(Four adjectives that describe the person)

Son/Daughter/sister/brother/friend of (their relation)

Lover of (three different things that the person loves)

Who feels (three different feelings and when or where they are felt)

Who gives (three different things the person gives)

Who needs (three different things the person gives)

Who fears (three different fears the person has)

Who would like to see (three different things the person would like to see)

-(last name)

Then I gave them my bio-poem as an example:

Andrea-

Inquisitive, independent, conversational, compassionate

Daughter of pilots

Lover of possibility, adventure, and those closest to her

Who feels nervous, but inspired by teaching, happy with life, and comfortable in her husband's presence

Who gives good advice, hugs, and photography tips

Who needs gratification, a way to relax daily, and a conversation with a good friend 

Who fears having children too early, getting cancer again, and the dark

Who would like to see her parents hold their grandchildren, one of her students accomplish something amazing, and every continent in the world

-S*

These kids' poems (at least the ones that I read over their shoulders) were awesome! I'm so excited for them to bring their chain links back on Thursday for us to make the paper chain poems, and so that I can read all of their poems!