February 16, 2011
This has been a week of firsts! Starting with administering a test on Monday and Tuesday. The administering part was not a big deal, but grading two parts (writing and chapter test) in just a few days was slightly overwhelming. Luckily, John and I shared and we each graded two class periods. Even having two periods to grade felt like a lot. On Monday I also went to a Webinar with a few other staff members. We listened to a pre-recorded webinar by Ken O’Connor about grading and assessment in the schools. It was interesting; he has some different ideas and suggestions. To continue my week of new “firsts” John and I ate lunch in the teacher’s lounge on Wednesday. We usually eat in our room and continue working or planning. It was nice to meet some other teachers, because I have been kind of isolated in our foreign language area and only know the teachers that are in our wing of the building. Wednesday evening I also attended my first sporting event. I went to part of the girl’s gymnastics meet. We have four girls in our classes on the team and it was neat to watch them compete! I am hoping to go to a few more extra curricular activities to support the school and students.
February 18, 2011
For the second half of the week I started a new chapter with Spanish II. We started with some vocabulary activities first. I think right now the main areas I need to be working on are giving clear accurate directions in Spanish using words the students are familiar with. I need to remember that with Spanish II the students have a pretty limited vocabulary and I need to be clear and concise. Some of my activities have not gone as well as I had hoped and directions and explanations are part of the problem. I also need to constantly remember who my students are, what interests them, and figure out how I can engage them. Ideally it is better to have multiple short activities so that students do not get bored. If possible, I need to try and get them up and moving around in the classroom as well. These goals are going to take time and experience to feel more comfortable with them, but they are definitely something that I am aware of and trying to work on.
p.s. I cannot believe I am already 6 weeks into this!! Only 10(ish) more left! WOW.
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