This week flowed pretty smoothly. I am still working through kinks in regards to lesson planning and adapting during the lesson. I find that sometimes I do not react well enough to what is happening in the room. Sometimes I still get stuck in my sequence, and perhaps need to move at a different pace. For example, I will plan a lesson that I think should move quickly. However, in the classroom it moves at a much slower pace and loses the attention of the class. I am practicing how to adjust for the pace and attitude of the room.
As we reach a midpoint, it seemed appropriate to have a self/coop evaluation. Today my cooperating teacher and I discussed my strengths, progress, and aspects of my teaching I need to work on. It was really encouraging and enlightening to hear her comments. We decided that I need more work with the choirs. For whatever reason, I am least comfortable when leading a choral rehearsal. So, in the upcoming weeks I will be doing more work preparing the choirs with concert repertoire.
On Thursday I began really digging into my Fourth Grade project. The fourth grade is putting together a story/play/performance called The Stonecutter. It is a Japanese folk tale that has narration, singing, and instrumentation. Usually all 3 Fourth grade classes work on the same material. However, for this play they each have separate assignments. This makes it easier for the students, but requires much more lesson planning on my part. Wednesday I worked very hard putting together lesson plans that were engaging, effective, and flowing. On Thursday I came to school very anxious. Even though I had spent so much time meticulously planning these lessons, I was afraid I wouldn't remember my sequence and the lessons would crash and burn. Surprisingly, they were some of the best lessons I have taught so far. The students seemed to be right with me during the lessons and really were successful by the end of their classes.
As we reach a midpoint, it seemed appropriate to have a self/coop evaluation. Today my cooperating teacher and I discussed my strengths, progress, and aspects of my teaching I need to work on. It was really encouraging and enlightening to hear her comments. We decided that I need more work with the choirs. For whatever reason, I am least comfortable when leading a choral rehearsal. So, in the upcoming weeks I will be doing more work preparing the choirs with concert repertoire.
On Thursday I began really digging into my Fourth Grade project. The fourth grade is putting together a story/play/performance called The Stonecutter. It is a Japanese folk tale that has narration, singing, and instrumentation. Usually all 3 Fourth grade classes work on the same material. However, for this play they each have separate assignments. This makes it easier for the students, but requires much more lesson planning on my part. Wednesday I worked very hard putting together lesson plans that were engaging, effective, and flowing. On Thursday I came to school very anxious. Even though I had spent so much time meticulously planning these lessons, I was afraid I wouldn't remember my sequence and the lessons would crash and burn. Surprisingly, they were some of the best lessons I have taught so far. The students seemed to be right with me during the lessons and really were successful by the end of their classes.