D is for Develop

After 2 snow days I was back at West Side today. I was secretly glad to be back at school today. Snow days this early in the game were honestly kind of boring. I did not have much work to do and frankly I would have loved to be able to get to know my students a bit more. Today I finally felt more useful in the classroom. I am beginning to understand my role in the class as well as develop connections with my students. Tuesday after school we had a meeting with our cooperating teacher and afterward I finally felt like I understood what I was supposed to be doing while at West Side. We talked about our assignments as well as our upcoming observations. My first one will be on Monday, kinda soon if you ask me, especially considering our snow days. This first observation doesn't have to be much so I will be going over a homework assignment with one of the sections. 7b to be exact. They are the advanced 7th graders. If all goes as planned this will also be the first class I begin to teach as I work towards assuming all responsibilities. The section recently started a chapter on fractions, decimals, and percents, and converting between the 3 things. Soon after I take that section I will probably add 8a which is the 8th graders that use the same book. I will probably add a class about every week to week and a half. Eventually I will be teaching all 5 sections (4 math, 1 bible). Honestly I am not worried about teaching, but more worried about teaching differently than Mr. O. I am afraid that I will not be liked by the students as I have a different style than he does. I also need to remember that the differences are good and we will all learn from each other during this semester. I hope that I will not try to be like him in my teaching, but rather be myself. I know that this is when I will teach best.

Not to much else happened today. It was a pretty normal day and I got to see more teaching done by Mr. O today. Next week is Spanish week, not exactly sure what that means, but I know there are some special spanish things happening such as dance lessons, a drama group, and a spanish chapel. There is also a middle school skating party. It sounds like the teachers usually stop in, so I probably will for a bit as it is near my house. We shall see what else the week brings. I expect a bit more as it will be a full week of school.