It's FRIDAY! which means my first full-week of student-teaching has come to a close. Also, my first week which involved some actual teaching action! While I worked my first 40-hour week the day after my 16th birthday, there's something to be said about working a 40 hour week that involves interacting with high schoolers and trying to get them engaged in medieval history (ya... it might be more complicated than slicing deli meat...).
I started teaching an honors world history I class full of aspiring, energetic, and sometimes a little goofy freshmen. Though there is still plenty of time for my other two classes to catch up, I have a feeling these students are running confidently to the finish of this marathon to be my favorite class. After 3 days of failed attempts to pronounce my last name (one of which included Bergeron, which I replied would be a great last name thanks to the Bruin's Patrice) and complete refusal to stick to "Mr. B" they have settled with just saying "hey, Mr. Ba, Bi, Ber....?" The actual content and lessons have been good, though fighting with the clock to make sure they don't have too much time at the end of class to "talk quietly among themselves" which always turns into some awkward teenage argument between a boy and a girl who CLEARLY like each other. Overall, I have managed to keep their interest without having to make a complete fool of myself to get their attention (I am not above demeaning myself in front of students to get a point across).
In activity outside the classroom, I attended my first department meeting and realized that nothing too spectacular happens at those secret meetings (though it was pretty informative). I have started to get to know some of the other faculty and staff around the building AND most importantly, experienced my first copier jam! (no seriously, I was pretty excited to take it all apart with the secretary to find the source of the problem)
So, while I'm utterly exhausted today and my neck will NOT be opposed to loose fitting t-shirts all weekend, I have to say I'll be excited and ready to go come Monday morning, and yes, I will be assigning more homework.
-MB
I started teaching an honors world history I class full of aspiring, energetic, and sometimes a little goofy freshmen. Though there is still plenty of time for my other two classes to catch up, I have a feeling these students are running confidently to the finish of this marathon to be my favorite class. After 3 days of failed attempts to pronounce my last name (one of which included Bergeron, which I replied would be a great last name thanks to the Bruin's Patrice) and complete refusal to stick to "Mr. B" they have settled with just saying "hey, Mr. Ba, Bi, Ber....?" The actual content and lessons have been good, though fighting with the clock to make sure they don't have too much time at the end of class to "talk quietly among themselves" which always turns into some awkward teenage argument between a boy and a girl who CLEARLY like each other. Overall, I have managed to keep their interest without having to make a complete fool of myself to get their attention (I am not above demeaning myself in front of students to get a point across).
In activity outside the classroom, I attended my first department meeting and realized that nothing too spectacular happens at those secret meetings (though it was pretty informative). I have started to get to know some of the other faculty and staff around the building AND most importantly, experienced my first copier jam! (no seriously, I was pretty excited to take it all apart with the secretary to find the source of the problem)
So, while I'm utterly exhausted today and my neck will NOT be opposed to loose fitting t-shirts all weekend, I have to say I'll be excited and ready to go come Monday morning, and yes, I will be assigning more homework.
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| Image - mouthandcaptions.com |
