Wow, what a great week i taught 18 lessons this week as my AT was away, so had relievers in the back of the room and i got to teach, had the full use of a room, laptop desk and got given a key so all went well.
So how would i rate this experience, i will start with the teaching that was good for the most part i tried a few things some went OK others flopped but i learnt that sometimes no matter what you do some lessons just are not going to be your lesson (for a variety of reasons).
The Highlights for me was getting that feeling of being a first year teacher as i had the classroom to myself and my AT was away so it felt like a first job with an HOD watching, which was a very useful insight. Also getting to start a course with the Year Tens they can be challenging but i got to lay down my expectations and see what i could do, i must admit that there is still work required there but it was good experience, and my year 12 class was a great one to teach they are a good bunch of students who have a willingness to learn which made my task that much easier.
And what would i like to improve classroom management, being firm and fair, not being afraid to say what i mean and mean what i say, currently i have an annoying habit of letting students off the hook this is no good for them and also not for me, i am still working on this and i am sure in time and with experience i will nail it, also another area for improvement is flexibility and not assuming each class is the same and will run the same way for the most part my lessons where water tight and i often ended with plenty left for the next day, but there were times when i had finished what i wanted to teach and i was left with a gap as the class didn't spend as much time doing certain activities as i thought they would, this is something that i am working on and i am currently happy with my progress.
all in all it was a good week, and i enjoyed it being a teacher is busy but its a load of fun and very rewarding its great when students say things like "Wow you know my Name" and "thanks that really helped" im sure you all are having great experiences. Im looking forward to hearing from you when we meet again.
This sounds great Andrew! How fantastic to have the class like that. Great feedback from the students. Great job, aye. Keep working hard on the classroom management. Remember, the students respect teachers for being firm. They like the boundaries. It's like learning to be assertive...have a few goes, and you gain confidence each time you see the people respond positively. Two good phrases in your reflections...firm and fair and say what you mean, mean what you say. Basic....but sooo important. If you end up with free time at the end...don't forget good old Bingo, or Economics hangman, or Term/Definition/Term - use their own paper. No preparation needed.
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PS Love the cartoon. Must cover that in our next class.
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