Week 11 Reflection (November 1-5)

Another week down; it was fairly interesting due to the fact that it was a really short week. I did not come on Monday because of an eye appointment, Tuesday was Election Day, and Friday was an early release with a pep rally. Ultimately, we really did not do a whole bunch of stuff. My 10th grade U.S. honor classes had a benchmark test, a review on chapter 5 and a test on chapter 5. My 9th grade had benchmark, reviewed some political cartoons, touched upon democracy in Greece, and had some debate/discussion on the elections. So, we may not have done a lot pertaining to the book, but we did do a lot of things dealing with the election.

I am slowly getting better at classroom management. I still have a few problems (e.g. gaining control after we get off topic or a student remark) and am trying to cope with them. After discussing some things with my host teacher, I am trying to work on my comfort level within class. I really feel that I am comfortable with my kids but there are times that I could be more comfortable. On the other hand, I can see myself being more uncomfortable with my 9th graders. I think it may be because of the content and their maturity level. The content is denser; since it is world history, sometimes they have a hard time taking it in and I have a hard time coming up with ways for them to get it. Though, despite the difficulties, I feel that I am doing a good job and my students are learning. After giving a review on the first two sections, I feel that they really have a grasp on it because majority of the class participated and knew the content. One conclusion that I came up with it is that the section notes are actually making them read, thus improving their retention. Additionally, I feel that the more emotion, energy, and enthusiasm thrown into a lesson helps them retain it that much more.

The last big thing of the week was parent-teacher conferences. They went over pretty well, and it was nice to talk to some of my kids’ parents. In fact, I got to hand a few on my own which was nice. The parents had a lot of input and good reviews on me from their kids. However, there was one that kind of downgraded me because they threw around the idea of me not knowing a lot and still learning. Mind you, I am a student and I am still learning but it still belittled me to an extent. I know I should get used to things like this because teachers, at times, can be accused as the problem not the student.