Week 4

We started off the week with Tutor Orientation on Sunday. I can't believe we were actually the interns at orientation. It seems like we were just in the tutors' shoes--nervous as can be with no idea what to expect of the program and Rivesville. Now, we're supposed to be the wise and experienced ones. I hope that they cohorts below us will come to us whenever they need to because I think that asking people who have been in the same situation has helped me out the most in this program.

I also started teaching the seventh graders this week. They seemed to have been enjoying the writing. The telephone writing activity was a success, and the students are getting really creative with their narratives. I've used the Whiteboard just about everyday and am so thankful that we have so much technology in the classroom! I think that using the Whiteboard makes the lessons more interesting and keeps the students involved. I have used it a lot this week with the workbook pages for language. Doing the workbook pages in this manner is a good way to keep the students interested. However, I am excited to start the second part of my action research where I start to deviate from using the language book and workbook pages. I took an interest survey today with the students, which I will be administering every Friday, and most of the students rated grammar as their least favorite lesson. I think that my action research will be successful and that the students will learn better and be more interested when they are studying language in a different manner. I also taught spelling this week and was really excited that the students did really well on their spelling tests today! I hope that spelling always goes so well.

Next week, I will begin teaching the novel Nothing But the Truth. I am really excited to teach a novel. I read the book myself this week, and I really think the students are going to enjoy it. I have already found a lot of great lessons to accompany the book and think that this will be a great experience!

Neal, as for those sixth graders, it's not really poor behavior that is a problem so much as the variety of learning styles and abilities in the class. The off-task behavior stems from the frustration that comes with not understanding the material. One of the lower students is transferring schools next week. Mrs. McCutchan and I have learned that another one is best helped by using praise and staying in contact with his mother. You are right; understanding why these students act out and knowing the best way to deal with the behavior can really help the students. I believe that the more we get to know the students, the better we are going to be as teachers!