Week 6

This week's been a big week for "wrapping up" some things and beginning new units.

In reading, the students took their final assessment for the short story "The Lottery." I was really very excited to teach this story; earlier this year was the first time I'd read it! In my placement at the high school last year, my mentor teacher mentioned that she frequently uses this story in class. This made me wonder whether a younger group of students would really understand the meaning and social implications of the story; would they be so engrossed by the final outcome that they lose sight of the message? In all honesty, though, I think the kids handled it much better than I expected! Those who took the story seriously,participated in discussions, and got into the mock "lottery" held in class did well on their final assessments.

We've begun a major unit now that we're through with "The Lottery." We're now completing pre-reading and anticipation exercises and guides for the novel Tears of a Tiger. Mr. Stallings came in to observe one of my reading classes this week; I had a great lesson written up with technology, discussion, reviews, you name it! We were silly to think that the technology/Internet would work--of course I had a backup plan, which was quickly put into use. Thankfully Mrs. Smith had helped me think of a Plan B; she's great at showing me tricks to cover myself, so that I don't have to learn the hard way. I'm excited to begin this unit because I think it will be an incredibly valuable learning experience. It's a huge unit, and the first novel I've really gotten a chance to be involved in teaching.

In English, we're also beginning a new assignment. In Grafton every year, the Veterans hold a writing contest for the county. They provide a patriotic prompt, and the students compete at various levels for prizes and recognition. Since Taylor Co. Middle is the only middle school in the county, the winner at this level has to come from one of our classrooms! The students have been given the prompt just this week: Does patriotism still matter? Why or why not? Some of them, I've noticed, have some difficulty understanding and expressing the word "patriotism." We're also continuing to work on the Digital Story PowerPoints. At this point, the students are having to learn to juggle two assignments at once; I don't think many of them are handling it well.

It's easy for me to look now and think: "They should know how to balance all of these things. They need to focus." What was it like when I was their age? Did I have the same problems and difficulties? I always thought I would be the teacher who still understands, but now I feel like my purpose is to help and guide. Even if I no longer remember exactly what it feels like, I can still try my best to help the students do as well as they can.