Another Lesson Learned

 

 

Someone once said, “You learn something new everyday.” If anyone thinks differently, I’d beg to differ. I realize I have much to learn when it comes to teaching, but it is the little things that separate an experienced teacher from an inexperienced one. Today I was observing my co-op. I thought I had mastered most of the “little things” that mattered. So, when she asked me to read a few chapters from a novel, I thought, “yeah no biggy,” but I was wrong. I had only a few minutes to review the text before reading it. Those few minutes helped, but not quite enough. I began reading while sitting on a stool in front of the class. I have a little tickle in my throat, so before I started, I put a cough drop in. When I began reading, I instantly realized that this was a bad idea. I ended up drooling on myself half way through the first page. On top of that, I was wearing a skirt! Now, this skirt was long enough, but to sit comfortably on a stool in front of class, while drooling, I instantly regretted my decision.

After a few pages of trying to get comfortable, I decided I should stand up and walk around. I didn’t think this would be so difficult. I don’t know if it was because I’m not use to reading and walking, or if it was because I was trying to keep an eye on the clock, or if it was because I was distracted by the little things going on in the classroom, but I ended up stumbling a few times. I quickly decided that the stool was my best friend.

By this time, my cough drop had finally dissolved, and I had finally found a perfect place on my stool, but I noticed my students’ were not as involved in the reading as I had hoped. I couldn’t blame them. I never was a big fan of listening to a teacher read out loud. I had to do something. Before continuing on to the next chapter, I decided to review the material that I had just read. Success at last! I asked a few questions that somehow refocused my students. I also became a bit more confident and comfortable with reading and I could put more emotion into the story. By the end of the next chapter I was reading much better. But, I had no idea that is would take so much practice.

After the reading lesson, I started working on an english lesson. I outlined my ideas and shared them with my co-op. I told her that I planned on writing sentences on the board and having students underline the adjectives in each. She then pointed out a small, but crucial point. She told me to write the sentences before the class began, or to have them already written on sentence strips. This small suggestion will make a huge difference during a lesson, and I hadn’t even thought about it!

After completing an outline of my lesson, I began really observing her room. Sure, I noticed the posters on the walls before, the alphabet above the chalkboard, and the students’ names on the back of their seats, but this woman had it all! I mean, there were bulletin boards that are created weekly, new themes in her classroom every time I came in, and a library full of books, magazines, and dictionaries. This made me realize how much time, effort, and money my co-op put into the appearance of her classroom alone! I am impressed to say the least.

After today, I learned yet again, another important lesson… PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE… and of course… BE CREATIVE!