Clay Animation

MY students

I had an interesting experience the other day. On Tuesday (a day I was in my placement) my mentor called in sick. A substitute teacher and I ran the class and everything went smoothly. The students seemed to learn a great deal about the material and I learned a great deal about the students. At the end of the day my mentor called me to see how the day went and to inform me that he was still feeling ill and would not be in the following day. He asked me to put together a cheat sheet for the substitute teacher to follow for tomorrow's lesson and to leave general instructions for tomorrow's daily routines.

The following day I came in just for first hour to make sure that the substitute was able to get into the room and that she knew the events of the day. Soon, the students started streaming in for first hour. As they unpacked their stuff I began getting my things together to leave. However, I found it nearly impossible to leave them. I wanted to stay with them, hear about their evenings, and teach them the lesson for the day. Unfortunately I had other obligations and was forced to leave. The rest of the day I thought of my students. I worried about their days, about what they learned, and how they were feeling about having a substitute.

This was the first time I felt like THE students were MY students. I didn't realize how much the students meant to me. They really have become a central part of my life and I'm sure this feeling will only grow.

My First Day Without My Mentor

Today was the first time my mentor was gone and I was left in charge. My students were taking an exam and I thought today could be nothing but routine. How wrong was I! Let's take for example 5th hour. The students, nervous about the exam, quickly took their seats. They were focused, quiet and ready. The class was off to a good start. However, as soon as I began to hand out the exams a student's glass water bottle fell from her backpack, shattered, and spread water and glass all over the floor. The substitute teacher and I rapidly shuffled the surrounding students to new clean desks and began mopping up the mess. Upon restoring order to the classroom, the fire alarm was set off. Not knowing what to do I found a fellow teacher and asked for instruction. He advised using the method which my mentor often employed: attach the tests to clipboards and have them work on the exam as the vacate the building. Although this technique allowed students to complete the exam on time, it raised several questions about the validity of this resolution. How do you stop cheating? 2000 students left the building at the same time making it impossible to keep track of my class. And although they finished on time, was their quality of time adequate?

Despite these obstacles, today proved to be a great learning experience. It taught me to think on my feet, to adjust to any situation and to make the most of what is given. It also gave me great insight into what teachers do every single day.