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.