Student Teaching update

I had my first student teaching evaluation with my university supervisor yesterday. Wow, was I nervous! I gave myself a serious stomach ache and headache because I was so tense. The evaluation went well, though, so I think it may have been worth it. Hopefully I will start calming down when I know there is a formal evaluation. In reality I am being graded every day because my mentor teacher will give me an overall grade at the end of student teaching. I'm very comfortable for the most part, though.

The lesson I had planned for my evaluation was perfect. It was just enough of a blend of fun and education that it kept the kids engaged, and they couldn't wait to participate. I saw more hands raised than usual, so I knew I had picked my lesson well. Since it was fun, it was easy for me to smile throughout.

For this evaluation I was teaching guided reading groups. That means I had a group of 6 or so students at a time, so my instructor got to see my teach the lesson twice in 30 minutes. I taught the groups about onomatopoeias, or words that represent sounds. It was great, because the kids were able to make noise and have fun coming up with sentences using onomatopoeias.

The only negative comment my instructor had after I was done teaching was to watch how many times I say ok. I didn't realize I was repeating that word often, but I was extremely nervous so I don't doubt it. I think I was looking for understanding from the children as well as substituting ok for um. I'll be more aware of that now and in the future. I've really done a great job of cutting out the um and uh, so I'm sure I can get this ok out, too.

My instructor asked for a copy of my lesson plan and asked for permission to use it as an excellent example. She is going to share it with some others in our group who are having a hard time writing lesson plans, and she is going to use it for this semesters students who will be learning to write them. Awesome! This is definitely one to put into my portfolio. I used to wonder why I would spend hours writing a unique lesson plan for my classes when some of my classmates would simply find one on the internet and re-write it for the same grade, and now I know. I am truly proud of my work!

The next evaluation will be in about two weeks, and my instructor will be watching me teach math. I'm not thrilled she picked that subject next, but it will all work out. I have to get good at math some time, anyway!

Well, I'm off to start the last day of the week. I have been exhausted by Fridays, and I didn't sleep well last night. I think we'll hit the gym right after I get home tomorrow, then we'll come home and have a movie night. The chores and errands can wait until tomorrow.