Week 2 went by so quickly! We are always keeping busy in the middle school, so time flies by. I am starting to feel more at ease with the students. I have tried to get to know the students better this week, and I definitely think that being able to relate to them will help me when I start to teach.
I feel that the sixth grade class is the most challenging. There are 20 students in the class which is double the amount of students in the seventh and eighth grade classes. Along with the large class size, the sixth graders need the most individualized attention. They are still trying to transition from elementary school to middle school which is a big change for them. The students are learning how to be responsible and accountable for their work. Mrs. McCutchan does well with these students at making sure that they have their logs completed each class period. I will take her lead when I start teaching because this helps the students to stay on task.
Mrs. McCutchan and I talked this week about when I will start teaching. I will start teaching the seventh grade in Week 4, add the sixth grade in Week 6, and be full-time teaching in Week 9. I am really excited to start teaching the seventh graders. They are a wonderful group of students and seem like they like reading. I am planning on teaching a lot of writing with them. I hope that they will enjoy what I have planned for them. Along with writing, I will also start teaching language. Mrs. McCutchan is going to finish the literature unit that they are on, and then I am going to start a novel with them. Next week, we will be doing a Writing Roadmap with the students. I will use this data for my action research since my project will be focused on the seventh grade class.
Next week is a four day week, and I'm sure that it will go by quickly! I am going to start developing my lesson plans next week, so I hope that I can come up with a lot of great ideas!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Kelly, i'm commenting about your last Week 2 posting, last paragraph about lesson plans. You could talk with Mrs. McC on your "plan" for next week and get a sense for how the 4 days or 5 days should unfold. Sounds like there's regular time for the logs/regular activity that fills the beginning of each class. Plus your Roadmap AR is another regular feature for a while, so make sure these are mapped in to your weekly plan.
ReplyDeleteKelly,
ReplyDeleteWhat novel are you using? Will you use the same one for each grade level?
What were the students' comments after watching President Obama's speech?
In your blog, you said that the sixth grade is more challenging? Do you feel that because of the number of the students, their behavior, attitudes, or are their skills low?
I'm glad to see that you and Mrs. McCutchan have already mapped out when you're teaching -- that way you will have more time to develop you lessons.