Week 10 Reflection

Monday
Today was the beginning of my third week full time teaching. I feel that I am getting in a comfortable routine with what I want to do and implementing my procedures. The one period I still feel I am having difficulty with is the last period of the day. This period consists of 3 different levels of students that vary greatly on ability level. It is also right after their lunch and recess periods. It has proven difficult to all give them a task to work on and try to teach/observe all groups. I have been trying to do more independent activies, as suggested by my host teacher. This has been working. However, Monday did not go as smoothly because my activities were clearly not independent enough. This is something that I am going to have to take greater time addressing.

Tuesday
Today my host teacher was out for the first time. I was ready for the students to try and get away with as much as possible. There were some minor behavioral issues but nothing out of the norm. I did however, have to talk to one student about calling the substitute aide a derogatory name. Overall, today went well, students were engaged and showed a good grasp on counting by 5's to count money. As previously mentioned, the last period of the day has proven difficult but on Tuesday and Wednesday these groups are not the same. However, one particular student came in and immediately decided to refuse to work, rip papers and hit a student. I took the student out into the hallway to try and descalate the situation. The outbursts lasted nearly the entire period. I felt I handled the situation the best I could at the given time. The only problem was that all the other students were not given proper instruction during this time.