A Successful Friday

I cannot believe I have already been out here three weeks; the time is going by really quickly! It is also really strange knowing that everyone else is just starting their student teaching and summer is just now ending for other Cornellians.

At any rate, week three of student teaching was very interesting. The week started off a little rough, but turned out great by the end. Monday and Tuesday felt a little overwhelming and terrifying. Since last Friday was not a highly successful lesson, I started feeling really nervous about teaching again. Jodi had more meetings Tuesday and Wednesday so I was again left to lead teach by myself. Tuesday was not a complete failure, but it could have been more successful. We went over their vocabulary words and I was trying to get them to give me example sentences using their words. However, they pretty much just stared at me instead of participating. I realized later that I should have used puppy biscuits to help with participating. No, not actual dog treats. Jodi uses candy as a reward regularly and calls them puppy biscuits, as inspired from the behavior she gets from her dog when she gives him a puppy biscuit. I don't necessarily believe in using extrinsic rewards because the ideal is that students will be intrinsically motivated. Using extrinsic rewards goes against much of what Jill Heinrich taught me. However, you cannot deny the effectiveness of candy on 8th graders.

Wednesday, Jodi managed to get out of her meeting so she could be in the classroom with me. We did a little bit of team teaching and it was good. Also, Kerry Bostwick, my education advisor at Cornell, arrived in Arizona. That night, we had a dinner with all of the Cornell alums (seven) and Kerry. It was a really great dinner! Katie cooked really great fajitas and it was really fun having a group of Cornellians together. It also made me feel really great about the education I have received and what my future could be like. They are all highly successful teachers and it is fun to think that I might join them out here next year. At several points, they were all talking about certain classes they had to take in order to be certified in Arizona. A large part of their class they took was about writing objectives and effective teaching strategies. They all complained that it was a waste of time because they had been learning these sorts of things since their 200 level education classes at Cornell. Apparently, not all schools prepare their students to be teacher as well as Cornell does.

Cornellians (sitting on Katie's really great couch)

 

On Friday, Kerry came to visit me at my school and observe me teach. I, of course, was very nervous to teach in front of her. However, the day was fantastic! It was actually the best day I have had out here yet. The lesson (pronouns) went really well. The kids were engaged and participated. Kerry and Jodi had only positive things about my teaching. Kerry was really impressed with me and with my entire school. She told me multiple times how lucky I am to be out here and to be getting such a great experience. I felt pretty lucky before, but Kerry just reinforced that feeling a hundred times over. I am so glad she got to come out here, see me, and meet Jodi. The beginning of the week may have felt a little rough, but it definitely ended on a high note.

Next week, I will probably start picking up a few of the afternoon classes. Jodi has more meetings to attend so I will be lead teaching a lot. I am feeling good about lead teaching right now since Friday went so well, but I also know that there will be days in the future when things do not go well. I have to be able to accept the good and the bad, learn from both, and change accordingly. Each day is new and different and I am looking forward to what next week holds.