This week was full of ups and downs for me. The most valuable part of this week by far was the midterm review. I got feedback from the students which is very valuable to see what their perception of my teaching is and I know what to improve upon. Also, getting feedback from my coop and Mrs. Wiscount has allowed me to reflect and focus on things that I need to improve upon throughout the rest of the semester. Wednesday was not a good day for me though. It happened to be one of my worst lessons, but I feel that this was very valuable to me because I think I was getting into a comfort zone with the kids. It was a huge wake up call that I need to reevaluate some of my lessons. Wednesday in my Accounting class everything just did not go right and I feel that it is my fault because of the planning. I now know that I need to try different things to really explain the content to the students and connect it in more ways so they can better understand it. I really feel that this was valuable because I know that I have to try so much harder to connect to the students with some material. Another valuable aspect of this week was that EVERY day is a new day. After Wednesday, I was down driving home but Thursday I came in with a totally new attitude and it seemed to be reflective in my lessons. Thursday and Friday were totally different days as I gained a new outlook and got a new energy to create more dynamic lessons for my students. Everyone has bad days, but keep them in the past because every day is new!
If I would change anything about this week, it would be my Accounting lessons at the beginning of the week. By posting to ledgers, I felt it was important to get the students to understand the steps, however I was not teaching them much of the content and WHY they should know how to do this. So what I did on Thursday was explain the entire cycle of a transaction from the beginning sale so they could visualize the entire process again and they seemed to be more understanding of the concepts. Overall, it was a very valuable week and I got a wakeup call. I learned so much this week that I can use and work on throughout the rest of the semester.
If there is anything that can be taken from my week it is that every day is different. Everyone has bad days, no matter how long they have been teaching, but it is important to just forget about it and every day is new! Hope everyone has had a good week but remember to connect to your students and come up with great activities to engage them. Every day is a NEW day!!!
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We're out there student teaching to learn and it sounds like this week was a very valuable learning experience for you. From your comment about driving home on Wednesday and being down to having a new attitude on Thursday, the best part is that you picked yourself right back up and made the changes. That's fantastic! You're right, every day is a new day and while we are quick to give the students a new chance, sometimes we have to remember to do the same for ourselves. It sounds like you had a very good week!
ReplyDeleteEvery day is a new day. We do give our students a new chance, but we need that ourselves. I am sorry that you were down on Wednesday, but so glad that you were able to pick yourself up again on Thursday and make the changes. That is great! It sounds like you had a very valuable learning experience. Have a great week nine!
ReplyDeleteI agree that some of your worst lessons can help you out the most. The ability to see what you need to improve on and being able to work on that is a great feeling. At first you are disappointed in yourself but eventually you know what you need to do to improve. Keep improving that is what this experience is all about.
ReplyDeleteThe learning experience will never cease. I too had better days than Wednesday, but it provided me the opportunity to learn and more importantly the ability to respond to my shortfalls. I have responded to the areas of concern and I know you have too. Keep up the good work and reflect on the shortfalls. These help create our charater as better teachers.
ReplyDeleteI still have bad lessons as well. It is a given for teachers that we are not always at are best. What is important is the reflection piece and knowing when things have to be changed/revised/tweaked to engage our students. That is the best part about long drives home. It gives me a lot of time to reflect about today's classes and tomorrow's classes.
ReplyDeleteWe also have to keep this in mind for our students. Not everyday is a great day for them and when things are not going great for us or our students, the next day or even the next period always gets better. :)