Teaching Days

Yesterday, I had a horrible, awful day.  It was not really the whole day, mainly just the last hour of the day.  I was teaching a math game (multiplication baseball), and it was a whole class activity.  I knew that the students would get excited about the game, and they were already a lot more chatty than any class I have dealt with.  Therefore, I had no idea what to expect, and I should have been prepared for it to get out of hand.  The class was all screaming and laughing, and even I couldn't get the game straight because of the noise and chaos.  I did a few things to try to adjust the noise level and the way that things had gotten out of hand, but it was very difficult.  I should have pulled two girls out and given them refocus forms (a disciplinary act that my teacher does in her classroom), but I didn't remember that as an option (I haven’t had to take this measure before with this class).  Thankfully, she stepped in and did this.  In the chaos of the moment, I was trying to figure out how to make the game work and was letting a lot of classroom management techniques fly out the window.  After school, I was very upset and just felt so overwhelmed and like a horrible teacher.  I had NO hard feelings against my class, but I just knew that I had done it all wrong.  (Thankfully my teacher was VERY understanding and supportive.)  I honestly fought back tears in talking the situation out with my teacher, but she made some very good points and gave me good advice with how I could've handled the situation better.

Today, I came into the classroom with a whole new attitude.  I was well prepared.  I knew that I needed to have all of the structure ready before I started my lesson.  The less transition time there was, the better focused and behaved the class would be.  I worked specifically on showing my personality and excitement in my teaching and on maintaining classroom control.  This took saying a few different things that I have not yet tried like, “All eyes on me!” or “Give me five!”  Even some of these little rhymes that I have begun trying out worked very well.  I had the class’s attention, and I felt that students understood the lesson well.  I felt so relieved to have the day go so smoothly and to have maintained classroom control.  I am very aware that this is a work in progress, but I am very happy with the things that I am learning.  I am very confident that at the end of this placement I will truly be a much better teacher.