This blog follows the pace and pattern for my past week. It was only fitting that I reread the email from Cynthia G. and find out that the blog dead line was 12:00 noon Saturday, not 12:00 Midnight Saturday. Oh well, there just isn't enough time in the day and the week to do everything that everyone else wants you to do...............not that I am not trying. First year teaching is very frustrating at times. This past week I found 2 of my prep time periods used up by the administration for other uses. My next 10 Tuesday prep periods are used for a class on Behavioral Management that is being required by the principal for all new teachers. I also had the opportunity to substitute teach on Thursday for the Home Economics teacher during my prep. period.
Now, Home Eco. and Building Construction are not to too close in subject matters and trying to adjust over was not easy. Also considering that no lesson plans were available, nothing was setup for a substitute teacher, and the class has been a discipline problem class (found that out later), I can now appreciate why having emergency lesson plans are so important for a substitute teacher. I am now going to go back and update mine .................as soon as I find a few spare minutes. Anyways, the class went terrible, wrote 3 students up for ISS (in school suspension) and left there frustrated at the end of the period. I have concluded that I do not want to find employment as a substitute teacher. My classes this week went pretty good, but I am still struggling with my one period that has 3 different classes. The struggle is with having lesson plans that keep the students busy and especially "motivated" to do their work. I find them at times not doing what is assigned and just sitting and doing nothing. It seems that if I am not present in participating with them as the instructor, to be left by themselves they see as an invitation to lay back and do nothing. Anyone else experiencing this issue?
When I reflect back on this week, it has been a good learning experience, it has given me more tricks and experiences to add to my bag of teaching tools (no, I'm not adding Home Eco.), I need to get ready for next week and I'm looking forward to it!
Mike,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your contribution to the BLOG. Sounds like your week went a bit like everyone else's--> overload, overload, and more overload. Maybe we need to do an instructional unit on reducing stress and burnout in the teaching profession. Any takers?
Mike,
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it with your post. Sounds like you had an interesting week. And people that are not teachers think teaching is easy--they just don't know. Look forward to visiting your classroom soon. Hang in there!
Mike,
ReplyDeleteAt my school, the same is happening with our subs not having lesson plans or fellow teachers covering for a block or two not having plans to use. It is sad to say, but it seems that it a sign of pure laziness! How hard is it for a teacher leave plans behind or even email something to the school for the sub to use. It seems that I run across a lot of teachers who really don't care and I wonder if it is because they have been teaching for so long that they are just tired or maybe they just never cared in the first place. What can we do to make fellow teachers care more?