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| My homeroom classroom (2nd, 3rd and 4th Grade) |
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| First day of classes. Right before the kids get here.... |
08/23/12
Today was my third day of classes. My first day went great! My second day was pretty terrible. I am not sure what made it so hard. My science lesson was an epic
fail. The first twenty minutes
went really well! And then I ran
out of things to talk about.
Figuring out the timing for classes has to be one of the hardest parts of
teaching. Sometimes a lesson goes
a lot faster than you want it to and other times things take a lot longer than
you would think it should. It is
far better to be over prepared then to be caught off guard not having enough to
do. I have done a lot of making
things up as I go, and now I wonder how much my teachers did that with me when I
was in school. Teaching my second graders sometimes I feel like I am talking to
a brick wall. Nothing I say is
sinking in. I think that reading
class is going to be one of my biggest challenges. I am teaching 2nd, 3rd and 4th
grade all together for both Science and English. The second graders are starting with “Frog and Toad are
Friends” and the fourth graders are starting with “Lisa and the Drainpipe
Prayer”. It is difficult to figure
out how to balance my time in between the two different grades because they are
all on such different levels. The
second graders can read the words on the pages, but their comprehension is
seriously lacking. The third and
fourth graders can whip right through their reading and seem to understand the
majority of it. I have the 5th
and 6th graders for Social Studies and Math. I think that I like teaching the older
grades a little better than the really little ones. It is a little
easier because you do not have to simplify things quite as much. I have the 7th and 8th
graders for Bible class. There are
17 of them.. I am really excited
and also really nervous about this class.
They are a little more intimidating then the younger kids and they are
not very responsive yet. I was
really starting to get discouraged in class. They were all very good at sitting quietly in their
seats. The problem is getting them
to speak was like pulling teeth. I
feel like Bible class is the most important class that we are teaching in this
school because of all of the classes, it will have the most lasting impact on
their lives and it is the only thing that will really matter in the end. I was encouraged by the writing that I
got from them though. At the
beginning of class I asked three questions. 1) How do you feel about God? 2) How do you feel about
religion/Christianity? 3) What do
you think that a Bible class should be like? Some of the kids gave me very
generic or vague answers. However,
some of the kids gave me some very real answers. They admitted to questioning God or being angry at Him for
things that have happened in their lives.
I was shocked at the things that they were willing to write to me
considering how guarded they are when I try to talk to them. Overall, my third day of teaching went
really well. I have learned so
much this week. One of the things
that I have learned is that I have a lot to learn! It can be a little discouraging when I have a rough day or a
difficult lesson because I want so badly to be a good teacher. The thing that I need to remember is
that you have to start somewhere.
That not all of my lessons are going to be amazing and that we are going
to have lessons that are somewhat boring or where it takes a lot more work to
master the skill we are working on. I am getting used to introducing myself as Ms. McCauley instead of Melissa, but often I get called Ms. Teacher. I have to say it is pretty endearing to have little second graders running up to me all the time yelling "Ms. Teacher, Ms. Teacher". Right now I am sitting in the living room of one of the staff here at Maxwell working on more lesson planning and listening to some of the other SMs playing their violin, ukulele, and violin together. It is a very peaceful and relaxing way to end a long, but productive day.
