Wednesday:
Woo hoo! No
school on Tuesday! Even though I really liked the snow day, it was definitely
hard coming back from a surprise four-day weekend! All day I felt completely
out of it, and I’m sure it showed in my energy and in my teaching. I love snow
days, don’t get me wrong! =) However, today seemed like such a long day and I’m
very thankful that tomorrow is already Thursday. A lot of the things we had
planned for the week seem like they will be pushed to next week because of the
extra long weekend.
Along with
it being an oddly short week, we have a completely different schedule this week
because of the ISAT testing. Fourth grade asked if we could switch specials
with them; and since the teachers are very flexible and willing to help, we
switched times. However that means for the rest of the week, all of the times
we would normally do specific subjects has been changed.
This was
definitely a weird day back, and almost more exhausting than the days before!
I’m hoping tomorrow will go a little bit more smoothly. I felt like I was
running around all day, not knowing what exactly was going on! At least
tomorrow I will know what to expect more than I did today.
Thursday:
Today went
MUCH better than yesterday; in more ways than just adjusting to the weird week
and mixed up schedule. We have been working with subtraction with regrouping,
and tomorrow all of the students will take a test on how well they understand
and know the concept. It’s one of the common core assessments; and I have been
worried that our low group would not be prepared. Today they, all of the
sudden, were completely getting it! I have no idea how, or when this happened;
but I’m so happy that all of that work has at least shown some progress!
We also
started a new unit in social studies, and every first day of a new unit I go
over the vocabulary that we will need to know. So I was going through it like
usual, and then all of the sudden the students started laughing at one of the
vocabulary words. First of all, this class is the only second grade class that
always laughs at but, duty, balls, etc. Andrea and I even asked the other
teachers if they have this problem; nope, just us! So the vocabulary word today
was “tutor”. I didn’t even think beforehand that they would find that funny,
but they never cease to surprise me. It caught me so off guard that I kind of
let out a little smile, because honestly it is a little funny that they are
that entertained!
Other than
the tutor incident, the day went really well! I’m starting to get more
comfortable as the “head teacher”. I have been doing everything except reading
for the past two weeks. I feel like we may have rushed ahead a little too
quickly, but I suppose that the more practice I have, the better off I will be!
Friday:
Today
seemed like a wasted day to me in some ways. We didn’t do our “Howe 2 Read”
program because the aides were gone again. In math, we had the common
assessment. We still did social studies, which went fine. And in writing, they
are working on their autobiographies; so there isn’t much teaching to be done
about that. We had an extra long recess, and then Friday free time. I’m not
sure why I feel like it was so wasted, I guess it just seemed like we didn’t do
anything in the afternoon.
Today
during social studies, I had one of my students correct me when I said
something right. This student is the kind of know-it-all you would expect to
have in every class. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love this girl and she is
very bright! However, she calls out all of the time and is always certain that
she is right in whatever she is saying. I’m not sure what to do about her.
Andrea said that she always struggled with the same thing with her, which makes
me feel a little bit better; but still a little frustrated!
I have her,
and then another little boy that is certain he is always right. However, he
rarely shares information that is actually correct! I don’t want to correct him
after sharing because I almost feel rude; but is it kind of my job to correct
and teach him? I’m not really sure what to do with these two students, especially
because I will be completely on my own in about two weeks.
Snow days, ISAT, schedule changes - it's part of being a teacher. While these "breaks" may seem nice, I always thought too that coming back to normal is extra hard. I'm glad your Thursday went better. Maybe the kids just needed some time to chill too.
ReplyDeleteI think that with students who always think they are right, a good strategy is to let them know that everybody is wrong sometimes, even you. I would suggest letting them see how you handle making mistakes when you do (Don't do it on purpose). I also think that when they point out as wrong something that you said that is actually right, that you show them how you are right without rubbing it in their face.
:) short weeks are definitely sometimes the hardest, I agree. It's hard to get everything done and you just feel like there's so much more you've got to finish, that it's like you're always behind! I hear ya on being corrected; it's a pain in the butt for sure! I like Snoeyink's suggestion on just admitting when you do/say something wrong. Maybe that'd help them realize that they can be wrong too. And I'd rub it in their face when they are ;)
ReplyDeleteI hope you're having a grrrrreat week!!