Winter Term - Week 7

My week started out with no school on Monday as it was Presidents Day so school reconvened on Tuesday. I was honestly surprised with how well my lesson went as well as my second formal observation. I had been battling a bad cold and Tuesday it had gotten much worse which really brought down my energy level. I feel I am pretty upbeat and energetic in my classes (especially my morning classes for students that are not morning people) and being sick was a challenge. My lesson involved a lot of writing on the student’s part, but they were all up and moving around the classroom for a good portion of the class period. Every student was engaged the entire class period and worked efficiently. 

I felt my reflection with my professors went really well. They realized I was sick and still had helpful feedback and advice for me. I really appreciated this. I have since been working on implementing this feedback into my lessons and conversations with my cooperating teacher.

Wednesday we headed to EOU in La Grande for sectionals which gave me an opportunity to visit with my cooperating teacher before picking up our one student who was competing. I wanted to take advantage of this time to share about my observation reflections, components of my teaching and lesson plans to work on, as well as how to get the most out of my last few weeks of student teaching. I really appreciated and valued this time with my cooperating teacher. I think this was a huge stepping stone for me and helped me refocus on different pieces of my experience. While at sectionals, I had the opportunity to judge Extemporaneous Speaking along with a fellow student teacher and my cooperating teacher from my Early Field Experience. This was my first time judging and even listening to extemporaneous speeches so I really valued this learning experience. I feel I could adequately train students for public speaking next year.  

Thursday as well as all days after having a substitute teacher, felt like a catch up day. I needed to get all of my classes back on track and on the same page. This was a challenge as my lesson plans for the sub did not go quite as I had hoped they would. After reflecting with my cooperating teacher, I learned it’s best to keep sub plans as simple and easy to understand as possible including the student activities. I have found that I struggle with sub plans as far as deciding what students should work on while I am gone. Certain classes such as shop or greenhouse, may not be able to progress. Giving students a free day is not the answer either. I need to develop multiple ideas for student activities for future classes that are curricular yet simple.