Intership Teaching #3

As I begin to settle myself into the daily routines of school and each of my place settings, I am starting to see how teaching really works. What I mean by this is how the students perceive me as their teacher, and friend. Since the third week of school is over, I have had been able to start teaching all on my own. This has been an exciting and scary thing at the same time. The reason why is because I am getting my feet wet, but the students are also pushing their limits with me because they think I will allow them to get away with things that my mentor teacher does not. This is where I am learning the most because I realize now that it is all about being consistent. What I yell at one student for, I must do to every other student. Believe me, if you don’t do this, the students will pick up on it and shout you out (Especially in the middle school). I have also figured out what I will be doing for my action research with my 2 placements. I will be doing a study on meaningful learning with my 8th grade students as I try to incorporate distance, speed, and acceleration into both Math and Science class. The students will practice using the formulas for distance speed etc. in Math class. Then during Science, they will create a race car of some sort (Leaving this open ended) and will then race them down the hallways. The students will then measure their distance and time to calculate their speed and acceleration. The team that builds to best car will win! I think overall, my semester is going very well so far. The students all seem to be treating me like each of their other teachers and are showing equal respect towards me. My hope is that they will enjoy the project I will be working with them on and they will soon understand how each of their course are related to one another.