Weekly Conferences
My first week in having a few classes to do the Bellringer with my cooperating teacher suggested that I slow down when talking. He said I should listen to students because there was one student who said I was going way to fast while talking. My cooperating teacher’s suggestions were to actually count down seconds before I move on to the next one.
My second week of having all the classes for a Bellringer my cooperating teacher suggested I move around the room more rather than staying in the same place (at the front of room). My cooperating teacher also suggested that I learn the students name better, because if I know their name they will respect me more than just calling them “hey you” or pointing.
My third week we did not have too much of a conversation because I still was giving only the Bellringer. My cooperating teacher felt I had did much improvement towards walking round the class, learning names, and giving out stamps to correct answers. The only suggestion that my cooperating teacher gave me was that I should try to lead the students to the right answer rather than calling it wrong and moving on
The fourth week was of teaching was my first official week of teaching a whole lesson. My cooperating teacher really enjoyed my lesson, and thought using the think map was a great way to introduce the lesson. My cooperating teacher thought I could have used less words when doing the lesson, because many of the students have no higher than a 5th grade reading level, and having to comprehend all of the words on the assignment might be too difficult.
The fifth week of teaching was a really fun week for me. My cooperating enjoyed my lessons this week, and thought they flowed very well with the Civil Rights Movement. The only suggestion he had with me teaching the lessons was that I needed to manage my time a little better because many times I ran out of time and did not have the chance to complete the lessons.
The sixth week of teaching I was starting to get the hang of how the classroom flowed. My cooperating teacher had no suggestions for me this week, and thought I did very well.
The seventh week of teaching was another really good week for me and my cooperating teacher did not have any suggestions for me.
The eighth week of teaching- No suggestions
The ninth week of teaching- No suggestions
The ninth week of teaching- No suggestions
The tenth week of teaching my cooperating teacher had only one suggestion and that was to break all of my lessons into chunks. My cooperating teacher said everything would run more smoothly if I take the lessons I am doing, and break it up to chunks. 5 minutes for the Bellringer, 10-15 min for some explain and help with work, 10-15 min for some group/independent work, and then 10-15 min for going over the work.
The eleventh week of teaching-No suggestions
The eleventh week of teaching-No suggestions
The twelfth week of teaching- my cooperating teacher commended my on how well I was doing. My cooperating teacher did not have suggestions for me, but rather had a word of advice on teaching. I told him that at one point of time I was tired and that I was kind of re-thinking the teaching idea. He said that teaching was like a marriage, or long relationship. The first few years you are happy and not bored. Towards the 4th or 5th year everything starts to drag, and you feel you know everything about it. He suggested that to get over that hump you have to keep trying to fight through it and last a little longer. My cooperating teacher said if you can get past that 5th year that from there it will be great, and teaching will truly become a lifelong career.