Day 5- The Real "Day 1"

Woohoo! We made it! We survived our first 100 minutes as teachers! We introduced the students to Westward Expansion in the latter half of the 1800s, covering the very basics. The lesson probably could have been infinitely more exciting, but it was definitely informative. It wasn't perfect and there is a lot of room for improvement, but it was largely successful. First period is going to be the more difficult of the three classes we are working with in terms of behavior problems and classroom management challenges, so I am going to have to work on my sternness and become more firm about my expectations. I also need to not be afraid to tell students to stop talking and get back to work.

However, at the same time, I also need to make my lessons engaging and active. Today's lesson was based off of the typical lesson structure to which these students are accustomed: introductory lecture, book work, worksheet. I do not think I will be relying on this structure ever again, but Carrie and I didn't want to rock the boat too quickly, so to speak. Our students like to talk and they like to work in groups. The key is going to be harnessing their energy so that they are actually productive while they are in groups, instead of talking about the latest high school drama.

In the area of changing and improving, we rearranged the desks in the classroom so that they in more of an arc shape, which will hopefully help focus the students' attention towards the front of the room and be more conducive to discussions. We also plan to re-seat the students alphabetically by their first names, anticipating that this will break up some of the chatty sections of the class. I will also be enhancing the presentation I gave today, hoping that tomorrow will be better than today (always striving for improvement!)

Here's how I looked after my first real day:

I look pretty sane and put together, eh? Let's hope it lasts!