January 26-30

The third week of student teaching was another adjustment for me. However, my co-op made this adjustment seem effortlessly for both of us. I felt as if she was a good friend of mine after only one day of observing her and asking her questions. She answered every one of my questions directly and without hesitation. This, of course, is leading to what I found most valuable this week. It was said many times in the past, "Don't become friends with your students". I believed this to be true, but if I should not become friends with them should I act like I do not want to be friends with them? Of course not, so the answer is somewhere in the middle. My co-op, always ready with wisdom and advise, answered this question for me through the course of our conversations. She told me connections in the classroom are better when you show your students you "like" them. This was great advise! Although I always knew this, I never thought of it in this way because "liking" them falls between being friends with them and not being friends with them. This connection is now clearer for me. I did not pursue this career simply for a job. I already have a great job. I did pursue this because of the passion I have for business eduation. I want to excite my students about "real" business and not to look at it as an elective. So, in order for me to continue my dream as a business educator, the first thing I am going to do is to show I "like" them and I am half way there!

This past week was only an observation week for me. However, starting on Monday I will pick up two of my co-op's classes and will be on track with everyone else. So, in other words, since I did not teach in class this week, I do not have much to regret. The regrets will begin when I begin to speak. I did, however, begin to grade homework and pass the papers back out to the students. If I had to choose one thing I would change, I would have asked my co-op if I could take attendance. If I had taken attendance, both the students and I would have felt I was part of the class and I would become familiar with their names and faces.

There is one area I am concerned about. How do I become a different teacher for different students? Let me explain. Of the seven classes my co-op teaches, the students in six of these classes do exactly what they are supposed to do and my co-op is a happy teacher. But period eight is where the problems arise. In this class I see my co-op transform into a different teacher. Most of the students are disruptive and many refuse to work. My co-op becomes very frusterated. This is the only class she yells. I am not sure how I will react to period eight. When I begin teaching this class, should I change my attitude the first day and be more firm with period eight than the other classes? Or should I be the same teacher I was in the previous classes and react appropriately?

Week of January 19-23

My second week of student teaching was very eventful. Teaching became much easier after the first day and the students became more interested. The most important thing I learned this week is the importance of the plan. Without a detailed plan I reaized I would have not delivered a good lesson. I also realized changes sometimes have to be made not only to my plan but to my schedule.
When this week started I was ready. I knew I had nervousness to overcome and I did. I feel as if I had changed dramatically since last semester when delivering my lesson plan seemed difficult for me. Everything fell into place nicely. I knew the content, the plan and I was able to connect the content more confidently. I did this without the help of a co-op. Its is unfortunate for my co-op whom had health complications at the start of this week and with the exception of a substitute I was alone. I am happy to say that as I look back I feel the week of teaching was a success for both me and the students I taught for a breif week.
The next thing i realized is the class periods are very short. I remember giving my lesson plan to our class wondering how I am going to fill the forty minutes. But during this week of teaching I realized forty minutes is not a lot of time and every minute counts so I have to make my lessons count.
I really enjoyed the experience at Crestwood and I know the students did also because when I told them on Friday this was my last day, most of them said, "no way, why"? You just started and you are leaving us? Well that made my two weeks a success for me and I am sure that will help make my transfer to another school much easier.
Although I think the first week was much more successful than I thought it was going to be I would have changed some things. I would have tried to remember the student's names and use their names when calling on them. Instead I just pointed to one of them. I was more interested in the Bell Ringer and getting the class started. When I took role I did so using a seating chart. I was counting bodies and did not get to know them by name. As I transfer to Pine Grove I will remember to get to know their names.

I found time management and planning to be the most important aspects of the week. Time is valuable but very limited. During each day of observing I encountered many interuptions from office phone calls and the students themselves. Because of these interuptions my days were condensed even more. So, in order to be prepared as a teacher I will have to make the best use of every minute of the day.
Planning is essential to make great connections. After observing this week it is even more obvious that each and every lesson has to be structured to make the proper connections with the students for learning to occur.
This past week was mainly observing so i did not get much of a chance to want to change a specific part of the week. If i had to choose something to change I would have liked to have met and spoke with more of the teachers at this school.