We are more than halfway through week 2 of my student teaching internship experience in Boonsboro, Maryland. I don't know about the rest of you, but this week was definitely not the best. I beat myself up a little, cried a little, but oh did I learn a whole lot!
Monday: Intro to Floriculture CDE and Ms. Stauffer
2 hour delay.
First day with students.
My thoughts: "Complete trainwreck"
Cooperating teachers thoughts: "Hard class given the circumstances, you did well"
Tuesday: How to make a Boutonniere
-Gave up on trying new technology.
-Started addressing students by name, getting to know the class.
-Attempted to explain how to price a boutonniere... not my best moment.
Wednesday: How to make a corsage
-Cried. A lot.
-Was going to not even touch on how to make a bow for a corsage
-Figured out that I needed to add that to the criteria...
-Determined that I have no idea how to make a pinch bow
-Became frustrated with myself and thought I let students down
-Wait time improved
-More names were learned
-Tried to incorporate the ipad again so that I was able to show students on the big screen how to create a corsage.
Thursday: How to make a pinch bow/finishing corsages
-Named every student at the beginning of the class
-Provided time limits
-Addressed students using phones in class
-Planned for lesson to end at 11:36, class ended at 11:32, but was able to adapt and change
-Still need to increase wait time.
Friday: How to create an arrangement on a budge for a customer.
Monday and Tuesday, I was feeling out the class, got to know my students, learned what their strengths and weaknesses were.
Wednesday, I felt like I was falling apart. I had not originally planned to include bow making due to myself not being comfortable with the content as well as having some life skills students in my class.
However, Wednesday afternoon, I stayed at school late to work on lesson plans for the rest of the week and into next week since the semester ends next Friday and we do not have school on Monday and have a 2 1/2 hour early dismissal on Friday. I was able to enjoy some pizza and cinnamon twists with Ms. Cashell and one of our officers. I was also able to participate in my first ever Escape Room with our officer team as well as with Ms. Cashell and Mr. G.
I haven't gotten a chance to sit down and debrief with Ms. Cashell on how my lesson went today, but my gems and opps are listed above under my Thursday lesson.
Big take aways:
Never miss the opportunity to talk to a student.
Get to know your students.
Interact with them outside of the classroom (sporting events, escape room with officers)
Always be one day ahead of your students.
If you are having a bad day, don't let it show in your teaching because your students will notice.
REMEMBER WHY YOU ARE HERE.
Kayla, teaching is like a rollercoaster and is filled with ups and downs. Don't let the low points eclipse your moments of success, but at the time time, don't allow the positive moments to make you forget to reflect on what needs to be improved upon. You have a great support network in the TeachAgPSU team as well as your virtual mentors, so don't be afraid to ask them for advice on how to navigate the rollercoaster.
ReplyDeleteKayla, I'm sorry you feel the week went so rough. I'm sure it did not. One of the important lessons to learn is that often times the audience that we are in front of (whether it be students or not) does not necessarily know when you are making a mistake or "goofing up". My suggestion to you is to perhaps spend a little more time getting "ahead of the class", watch YouTube videos, etc. to freshen up the skills you plan to demonstrate whenever possible. Also remember, it's not necessarily a bad thing to openly learn with your students. Keep a positive mindset and don't get discouraged.
ReplyDeleteKayla, I'm glad to see that you are listing Gems and not just focusing on the Opps. Even the very best teachers have room for improvement as every class reacts differently. Also, I have found YouTube really helpful for tutorials with flower arranging. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your blog!
ReplyDeleteRemember as we grow through this semester, you can pick ONE topic and really flesh it out in a blog, dont think you have to share everything that happens this week.
For example. This whole blog post could be about appropriate preparation for a material intensive demo!
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