Before my first day out in the field my tummy was wrought with the same nervous tension I feel before every new semester at school. Would I get lost on my way there? Would my cooperating teacher be cold or disappointed when we met? Would the students take one look at me and see a person they would want nothing to do with or worse would they see a young girl playing teacher whom they would take more seriously as a peer than a person of authority I'm meant to become?
After picking out two different outfits and going over my game plan for the next day in my head several dozen times I finally forced myself to go to sleep. I arrived at the high school five minutes later than I had calculated but had found it without ending up in another state so I counted it as a victory. My clearances copied, I went out to find the teacher I'll be placed with and learning from this semester. When I walked into the room a smile met mine and as I was shaking Mrs. Eshleman's kind voice offered me some coffee. Then we went over her different classes and what they had been working on, and since all of her classes had either reading sessions or were finishing papers in the school's computer lab It created the perfect environment for me to settle in an quietly observe without feeling like a creepy lurk in the back corner during class discussions.
The students seemed curious and courteous about my being there and some of the younger students even assumed I was a Mrs. which gave me confidence that they will see me as someone older and somewhat teacher-esque already. very auspiciously, the two ninth grade classes were already working on "I remember..." poems that are meant to depict an important event in their lives and reveal a little bit about who they are. Just in the short time I had to walk around and glance at their poems I could figure out some things about them just by the way they titled and what they were choosing as subject matter and it was a really interesting range.
Although I saw a lot of chatty small groups, sports team members and obvious friends upon my short time with them, I was unable to identify too many students who seemed to be struggling or bored so far. There was one boy in one of the tenth grade classes who stuck out to me however. They were aloud to work in pairs for their current assignment and while several students opted to work alone, most of them still had side conversation or posed questions to their peers. This one guy, though chose to sit in the back with two empty computers on either side of him and he was about three steps ahead of everybody else in the class, by the end he was almost finished his homework assignment that would be due on Monday. I really want to find out a little bit more about this particular student and I'm excited to spend more time with the classes in general as well, all in all I'd say it was a victorious first day!
The student that stood out seems interesting. Have you been able to find out any more about him? What motivated him to work alone? Was it a choice by him or by others? What is his background story? It's so helpful to be aware and observant of students who might need special assistance, guidance, and challenges. So great that you noticed!
ReplyDelete