I'm more than half way done! This is so weird. Technically I have seven more weeks but that includes a week off for Spring Break, so that doesn't really count. :) Only six more weeks of teaching.
So far, it's been great. The hardest part is the talking. I'm trying really hard to get students to listen and not talk to their neighbors while I'm giving instructions. It's really difficult for some of them to stay quiet during class. I've switched up seating charts twice now and have learned how hard it is to split up the chatty ones. You probably don't believe me but it is hard to move students around. Two or more of the chatty ones always end up sitting next to each other, or they make their new neighbors who weren't chatty before all the sudden become chatty. I feel bad for those good, quiet students who do work hard and get stuck sitting next to those that can't be quiet in order to get them to stop talking. But what else am I supposed to do?
I recently switched up the seating in my math classes, but haven't really been able to see how they are working because we haven't had a regular day since with two group review days and a test. This coming week should give me a better idea of how it's going to work. My history classes will be switching tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how that works. I'm probably going to have a chat with them about how I expect them to act in class, mostly about not talking while I'm giving instruction. We'll have to see how it goes. That's what I did with my math kids and it really seemed to work in one and kind of in another. (Seventh hour really seems to struggle in this way... but we're working on it.) But like I said, last week didn't really help me see what changes helped and hopefully this coming week will be give me a better idea.
Now for a thought on what they teach in my teacher classes: In the classes I've taken, they tell you things that students do or ways that students act. You believe them, but if you're anything like me, you don't really believe them because you didn't really act like that and can't see how other students can act that way. However, one day, something happens and then you really believe them. I have two examples of this. I was told that students believe the world revolves around them and that when they miss a day, they think you just sit around and don't do anything. False!!! We do stuff. One day, one girl was going to be gone for the next three days and we were going to be doing in class activities that she would have to make up what she could when she came back. When I told her this, she seriously asked me if I could move the activities to a different day so she didn't have to make them up. I couldn't believe it!! Who asks something like that?! Oh well, eventually they learn that the world does not revolve around them. Another thing I've been taught is that students get so excited when you come to their games/performances/whatever outside of school. Again, I sort of believed this but not really. Then, this last week, my school was putting on Peter Pan, so I went to see it. I saw a few of my students afterwards and they were so excited/surprised that I was really there. It was crazy, but I was glad they were excited that I came. Moral of the story: these kids are crazy and unpredictable and they do things that are crazy and unpredictable. You might not believe it when you hear about it, but it really does happen. I think it's something that can help teacher keep going. I never quite know what to expect. Every day and every class period is so different, even when teaching the exact same lesson.
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