Feb. 26-28
Feb. 26-28First week. I spend the first 4 hours of the day in biology, & then go to chemistry with Ms. Smith. Mr. Jones has let me do some of the paperwork--I never had any idea how many records must be kept, and I'm afraid that taking roll is less than exciting. All classrooms ought to be equipped with computers and scanners hooked up to the attendance office. Then students could just scan themselves in at the beginning of the period without any hassle to the teacher. Students could use their scan cards to check out library books, keep track of pre-paid lunches, etc. It'd be a wonderful system... or perhaps I'm too much the product of OBU.
Besides my lack of enthusiasm for counting tardies, all else is going well. First hour (Gen. Bio) only has about 11 students in it though it appears that at least 1 or 2 of them are perpetually in [detention] or night school. I'm worried about Tim; he has a vicious evil eye, & it seems frequently directed towards me--wonder what I've done to offend him at this early stage?
Second hour (Honors Bio) only has about 10 students, all of whom are extremely bright and creative. Third hour is relatively large--22 students--Mr. Jones tells me this is his least favorite class. 4th hour is his favorite.
The biology room is set up well--we've got a sink, eyewash station, and shower on the north side of the room. Sinks are also located at each of the three benches (each bench seats 8), though the drains are clogged. There are 2 windows in the room--good for when we're dissecting. There's an overhead projector and a wipe board--markers for each are supplied in the office.
Ms. Smith's class (5th hour honors general chem.) is made up of 16 sophomores to seniors. They seem like fun people. Teaching them should be interesting.
March 3-7It's boring just sitting there watching someone teach, so I asked Mr. Jones if I could teach one of the muscle lessons. I figured I'd start out with one hour, kind of ease my way into it, but I plunged in with all 4 hours on Wednesday. It seems to be going pretty well. I've tried to move away from the straight lecture style status quo and do some more hands on projects that require some thought and creativity. Most of the students have responded well--esp. 3rd hr., but fourth hour is perplexing. They're very uncomfortable with speaking out, participating in discussion--it's like teaching a class full of mushrooms.
Tim in first hour is still rather menacing. I've tried to greet him with a "Good Morning!" and a smile when he walks in, sometimes it helps, but not always.
I'm grading papers in chem. I'll start teaching after spring break.
March 10-14Wretched week! I thought everything was coming up roses, but apparently not. I gave my first test this week, and most people failed (though some did really well). Is it bad instruction? was the test too hard? did they not study? How do you handle situations like this? Do you curve? What kind of curve do you use? Do you curve each class the same? They never taught us how to deal with this during the block classes. As a novice, I'm more inclined to doubt myself and my abilities than the students--if it's in any way my fault that they performed so poorly. I have to account for that in grading them, right? Such a headache!!
Tim has dropped out of school to get his GED. In some respects I'm sorry to see him go, but part of me (I'm ashamed to admit) revels in his departure.
March 24-28I started teaching chemistry this week. Ms. Smith is encouraging, but it is evident to me that despite my love of the subject, I cannot teach it well--the students see that, too.
I'd rather not remember the week I had in biology. It was bad, very bad. I provide comic relief for a lot of teachers in the building--apparently asking students how to best serve their needs is not to be done, rather to be laughed at (in my absence) in the teacher's lounge. Magruder was right, too, in pointing out that any analysis I ask of students should be anonymous. My heart sinks in remembering it all. We all make mistakes, I guess. What a wonderful tribute to my humanity. It will get better--it must...
March 31 - April 4I've given them what they said they wanted, and all week they've complained about how bored they are. Giving notes, though, is certainly much easier than actually planning out elaborate lessons. It's easy to see how teachers might get caught in this kind of mode--it's a survival technique for a while, but then, for me anyway, it is just boring. I've decided, though, that I'm not going to kill myself in doing lesson plans anymore--no more staying up at 4 to type overheads or worksheets--if it doesn't get done, it doesn't get done, & I can't lose sleep over it. I cannot save the world as a student teacher--that's the bottom line.
Chemistry for my students continues to be an exercise in confusion, not illumination.
April 7-11A week of cloudy skies. I had to write a referral--I never thought I'd have to do this. It's horrible. We've been having some problems with talking in my third hour class and some students have mentioned that it's distracting, so I changed the seating chart. There was a reaction, to say the least, and one of the students challenged my authority and then told me to "Be quiet." Now, I'm a fairly pacific person. I don't like to raise my voice or become involved in verbal duels, and so I didn't. But I was rather bothered when she told me to "Be quiet." Ms. Smith recommended I write a referral on her, and so I did. She has in-school suspension for 3 days, and I'm thrilled at the chance for peace during her absence. I hope there won't be horrible repercussions when she returns. Some of the students did tell me after class that day that I handled the situation well and they gave me a hug. On occasion, I wonder if all the effort is worth all the garbage that teachers sometimes have to put up with, and then I think of students like Elisha, Nan, Chris, and the others, and the answer is a resounding "yes!"
April 14-18Sammy, in 2nd hr, has just now told me that he can't see the overhead from his seat. I told him I wouldn't mind if he moved closer to the front of the room, but he said he can't see from there, either. He's presently failing the class, so to help him out, now I'm giving him a typed copy of my notes that will eventually be on the overhead during his class. That way he can copy them during the lesson. Unfortunately he normally doesn't take any measures to copy them. He normally puts his head down and sleeps. We've had a few talks about not settling for less than what he's capable of and using all his talents to the fullest potential, and on occasion I'll see a light in his eye and an "I can" expression will flicker across his face, but nothing has changed. I'll keep trying to reach him & that's all I can do.
Stacy returned to class from in-school-suspension on Wednesday. Despite some annoyingly loud sighs during the lesson and the group work, she's been peaches and cream since her arrival. She has to make up the earthworm lab Friday afternoon. Hopefully some one on one time will improve our relationship.
The ability to teach chemistry effectively is a great gift.
May 12-16It was cat lab week! I thrive on dissections--it's not only wonderful to uncover the mysteries of the world within an organism, but it's also delightful to watch as students who were at first repulsed are now mesmerized. We had a small problem yesterday during fourth hour--apparently a bit of pepper spray traveled into the room (we had at first thought the odor was spewing from one of the cats). It was kind of like DeLilo's "toxic plume." Everyone was coughing and choking (I couldn't understand what they were experiencing--it didn't affect me). Looking back, I can see now 1,000 ways in which I could have had a better response, but it's a learning process. I'm sure I'll look back one day--or next week--and laugh!
May 19-23Finals week! All went well. Most of the students performed with flying colors on their practical and written exams. I'll miss them all. Some of them brought small gifts; Elisha brought me a beautiful copy of Twain's Mississippi writings--a few of them have left notes on my car or have come by the apartment. When I started student teaching, I decided I would be successful if I could impact just one life. Perhaps my brief career as a teacher has been successful, after all.
by Jennifer Jinkins
Class of 1997
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