First Week

I feel pretty accomplished right now - I just finished my first week of teaching!  On top of that, my last class of the day, Algebra, felt really good.  I had the kids excited to do math, shouting out answers, and laughing about their mistakes.  One kid was excited to give the next term in a pattern and said that 2(3)-1 was 6.  Instead of lamenting his mistake, he shared in a laugh with the class.  I reminded them that the brain can only focus on so much at one time, and it is ok to have a brain fart every once in a while.  When you are so focused on discovering a pattern, sometimes we forget how to multiply and subtract.  That doesn't mean you are dumb, it means you are learning.

This first week was a lot of expectations, rules, and procedures, and by the end of it, I was as sick of talking about rules as the kids were about hearing me talk about them.  I cannot wait to dive into the content and to have more student-centered lessons.  While the sound of my voice is nice (some might say mellifluous), it isn't the best environment for students to learn.  My goal is to design lessons that require less than 10 minutes of talking on my end.  The less I have to stand in front of the class and give directions and explain concepts, the better.  When I stand in front and drone on about a subject, I can see the kids checking out, and behavior problems begin to creep up.  Middle schoolers need to socialize - it is just part of their make up.  If I can have them socialize about math or science, that's a win-win.

Next week we are getting into chemistry with my science kids, and I need to prepare some demonstrations or labs for them to do.  They loved watching sodium explode when we dropped it into water yesterday, and many of them asked excitedly "Are we blowing up anything today?!"  Unfortunately, I'm not able to blow things up every day, but we had a good conversation about why the sodium explosion happened.  I think that the explosion grabbed their attention enough for them to learn a little basic chemistry.  I'll use whatever trick or gimmick it takes to get the kids interested in science for the day.

I feel that after one week, I can say that I have done a good job.  I have had a chance to talk to my kids individually, I know all their names, and I have set the tone for a fun and productive year.  I'm finding my stride as a teacher, and I hope I can hit the ground running next week.

For now, it's the weekend.  I'm out.