Week 3

This week was a busy (but short) one! Labor Day was Monday, so we didn't have class!

In reading, we finished up the story "The Ransom of Red Chief." The students were able to view the video of the short story; there were many differences among the similarities, so they were asked to take note of them. Once they had finished watching the video (which took a few class periods), they collected their notes and sorted through them. They were given a Venn diagram and asked to fill it out according to the notes they took from the book and the movie. I'd never seen the movie version before, but it was very entertaining! It was fun to listen to the students laughing at the comic parts.

In English classes, we spent the week reading "The Most Dangerous Game." I've read this story many times in various high school and college courses. It's a story I really enjoy and I feel as though boys can relate very easily to the main character and his survival challenge. This proved to be true with my two English classes; all of the students seemed to be very involved in the story, almost hanging on the words as we read to them. The students got very excited when they discovered that the General in the story hunts human beings (hence the name "The Most Dangerous Game"). The last day of the week, the students took the comprehension assessment.

Friday was also different due to the fact that my mentor teacher was absent. The substitute was not used to being in a middle school setting, but was used to elementary aged children. In the end, I was basically left to manage the six classes on my own. I had some difficulty with keeping control of the last class of the day; this particular class is always a difficult one, regardless of who is teaching. I learned a lot about classroom management, and I think I will feel more comfortable the next time there's a substitute for the day.