My Week

My week was great! I began solo teaching which went a lot more smoothly than I thought. I have noticed that a large majority of the students are already comfortable with me. There a very small handful that are on the cusp, but are holding back for whatever reason. I have to say that I am extremely satisfied with the way lessons have gone. I made sure to over plan for every lesson, but never needed it. I am amazed at how fast a 55 minute period can go!

I have made sure to incorporate writer’s notebooks into every lesson. I ask students to share, but do not require it. At the beginning of the week students were apprehensive to share. As the week went on fifteen out of eighteen students shared!! I found this amazing and did not expect it to happen so quickly. My thoughts are that they are feeling more comfortable as a classroom community and more comfortable with me as their teacher.

The only hiccup I am having with this one particular class is that two students (a boy and girl) are constantly having side conversations. It becomes disruptive when other students are sharing or when I am addressing the class with prompts or activities. I have stopped class and waited for them to notice, and I have also called them out on it in class. I have spoken with both students privately to inform them of the behavior and that I will move seats if necessary. At this point there are not assigned seats and I really wanted to avoid assigning seats.  I have informed both students that they have had two strikes and upon the third strike I will be moving their seats. Today is a new day and I’m waiting to see how it turns out.