This week was a great week! Last Thursday my coordinating teacher was gone with half of the 8th graders at a ropes course. The other half went the day before. The ropes course was to prepare students for the MSP testing that they will be doing this month. The goal was to overcome fear and instill confidence. I decided to stay at school and work with the substitute teacher. It was a good experience working with smaller class sizes.

A highlight of my week would be the two lessons I taught. At school, my coordinating teacher teaches the same class five times. The substitute teacher, after teaching two classes, asked if I would like to step in and teach a class. I can see that the further I get in my observations, the more comfortable I am with the class. A few weeks ago I probably would have turned down the offer, but I was excited to take the class over for two lessons. The class was behaving well and they enjoyed the simple lesson. It was a great feeling!

It was a learning experience to see someone other than my coordinating teacher teaching. After observing my  teacher for a few months now, I can see what the students are capable of doing. I noticed that the substitute teacher was spoon feeding the students a bit too much. The students had to read a passage, answer five multiple choice questions and as a class answer a short essay. The teacher for the first two classes read the passage and pretty much wrote the short essay for the students. They were still talking about how exciting the ropes course was. I took note of how the substitute taught and thought of ways I could make it better. When she offered for me to lead fourth period, I tweaked things a bit. I had the students take turns reading the passage and gave them specific instruction as to what to look for in the passage. I got a bit more participation when it came time to do the short essay. I was proud of myself when the substitute taught the next lesson and decided to borrow the techniques I had used. I'm glad I got to see her teaching style and ask the question, "what can I do better?"

One practice I have been adopting is floating around the room and answering questions that students have. This week I have been making an effort to ask students if I can see their responses and help those who are to afraid to ask for it. This last week, I saw that a student had answered a question wrong and I was able to ask her questions and hear her explanation as to why she thought that way. I was able to lead her in the right direction. It was cool to see the light bulb go on. I didn't even give her the answer. It was through the process of critical thinking she solved the problem herself.

This week has been a smooth week. I did see something this morning that bothered me. There is a student that is in my sixth period class. He is very intelligent but often gets off task. I have heard through other teachers that he is disruptive in their classes as well. Today he was sitting in the office. I wonder what I can do to help this situation. Maybe he is bored with the material and needs something more challenging. I have been thinking of asking him what he likes to do and if possible incorporate it into a lesson or assignment. This could be a possible solution for avoiding class disruption.