This morning I woke up and I felt a lot better than I did yesterday. However, I did not feel one hundred per cent better. I debated on whether or not that I would go in, and my ultimate answer was that if I could go in yesterday; I could go to school today. The only thing was that I was not that enthusiastic about leaving this morning. I will admit that I left later than I usually would to get to school at six forty-five.

Once I got to school, I started to feel even better. In first hour, I went over the content of the day, two step equations. The students that remembered what to do with single step equations had no problems. However, it was the students that struggled. If they struggled with the easier content obviously they were going to struggle with the more complex content, and they did. Just like the last couple of days, I stopped teaching before I should have to ensure that this class had time for homework. I personally believe that this class will succeed as long as they have some time to get started on their homework.

In fifth hour I sort of had a spitting match with a student. This particular student did not want to utilize the methods that I was teaching. This student thought that their method of solving for the variable in their head was going to work for all equations. However, the moment that I showed the student an equation that would not fit their strategy, the student thought that the content was now difficult. I just do not understand why a student thinks that they know more than the person teaching the content. All I wanted to say to the student when the student did not copy the steps down in their notes and then proceeded to tell me how hard the content was for that student was, “Seriously?”

I had a lunch detention today, and today was a full house. I believe that I had ten students in for lunch detention. However, I do have to comment that some students were there to get a better understanding of the content that they had missed. I was impressed by both of these students, especially since one of the students is one of the trouble makers in the fifth hour.

In ninth hour, I went over the same content. However, I have been bribing ninth hour with a reduced amount of homework, if they are willing to be respectful to those students that are learning. Today, I had a few students that messed everything up for the entire class. So, instead of getting ten problems this class received nineteen. After class, I had a chat with the eight individuals that added extra problems for the entire class. I honestly believe that singling these students will allow them to see that I am keeping a good eye on the students.

In the end, I made it through the entire day, and I feel so much better now. I still do not feel perfectly healthy, but I am getting there. Mrs. D. and I have decided that I will be teaching all day for the next two weeks. I know that the university would like me to teach full time for about six weeks, but I am getting plenty of teaching hours, as I have been teaching all of the pre-algebra classes for quite a few weeks. After teaching both classes for two weeks, I will finally have enough teaching hours to quit full time teaching December 4. That is now my new magic number – 12/4.

This morning, I woke up at two in the morning, and I really wanted to text Mrs. D. to let her know that I was not going to be at school this morning. I felt so miserable that I did not think that I should be in front of students. I weighed my options, and the students are the one that truly lost. I decided that I would not have enough student teaching hours at my current pace, if I called in sick. I also thought about how I have lessons created, but I do not have any real sub plans. I know that this would basically mean that Mrs. D. would teach, but I felt that she should have sub plans, just like anyone else that would be covering for me.

So today when I arrived at school, I instantly knew that it was going to be a rough day. When I got out of the car, my throat felt like sand paper, and I felt congested. So, I continued on in to the class room to prepare myself to teach. I got all of things ready that I needed for the day ready, and started the day off the best that I could. The problem with this strategy was that I was short of breath, and I was completely out of patience. Since I knew that I would be short, I just kept remembering that I was not going to let anything get to me. However, this strategy just led to me being a push over in the class. I stopped the class several times alerting them that they are being disrespectful to me, but that only worked for a few moments. In first hour, I could not handle any more of the pain. So, I stopped teaching the direct instruction, and I had them start their homework without proficiency on the content. I know that this is not a preferred ideal, but honestly, that was all of the energy that I had.

In fifth hour, I stopped the class to talk about how the students were going to be respectful to Mrs. D. and me. I got a few people to offer suggestions, and then Mrs. D. chimed in to explain what she would like to see. I completely agreed with her, and I added that I would like the students to better specify what they do not understand. I really hate when they say, “I do not get it!” Other than that, this class was not that much different than the first hour. The only exception was that they became really unruly and did not appreciate the time they were being given for homework. So, this class received additional homework that the other class did not.

In ninth hour, I had negative patience and I was still feeling like dirt. So, I told the class that if they were well behaved and respectful, they would get less homework. I told them that they were going to start at six problems, and work their way up from there. This class was almost perfect after that. They made it through the whole class, and they only needed to be stopped once. In the end, they received seven homework problems, which most of the students completed.

Today was a day that I think was a great day for professional growth. I learned that the students will strive for something if they are bribed with the right things. I learned that I cannot teach when I am sick. I also learned about changing lesson plans based off my current state of health. In the end, I believe that today was a great day for me to come to school. However, if I feel like this tomorrow, I am calling in sick.

When I arrived at school, I immediately thought to myself, “Why am I here?” That should have been my first sign, but I decided that I would be strong and stay at school. I also remembered that today was going to be a nice day for teaching, as I was giving a homework quiz in the pre-algebra classes. The only thing that I had to worry about was what I was going to be doing after those homework quizzes. I decided that since I had already used the paper, I was going to continue with the activities. I wanted my good planning efforts to be utilized, and in the end, I am pleased with the results of the activities.

In first hour, the students and I went over the homework from the previous night. I wanted to ensure that the students were going to perform well. I know that this may seem a little biased, but I wanted my first quiz to have stellar results. So, I handed out the homework quiz, and the students really seemed to have no real difficulty with them. For the students that were having troubles, their main troubles lied in the fact that they did not do the homework. When the students were done, I had them complete the worksheet that they would have worked on yesterday. I was amazed at how well this class was able to read directions and follow them. However, after the class was done with the homework quizzes, I began the class on the same principal, but with a different operation. No matter what I tried to do, they just did not bother reading the directions. I even had one students tell me, “I do not get it,” and when I asked if the student had read the directions, the student said, “No.” Once I got the class focused on what the directions were, they were diligent to work on the activity. I can honestly say that this was my most well behaved class of the day.

Fifth and ninth hours were pretty much the same as first hour. However, I took the time to explain the directions to the entire class. I still need to practice on giving directions. The only real difference between the fifth and the ninth hour was that the fifth hour did not get any time for homework review. However, after grading their quizzes, they did not really need the time. The other advantage for fifth hour was that they worked on the after quiz worksheet yesterday. This basically meant that they had very little to do. When I moved on to the multiplication and division worksheet, they flew right through it with about fifteen minutes left in the class. All I can say is that it is a good thing that I tend to over plan. This class got a homework assignment for the weekend, as they were difficult to keep on track.

As for ninth hour, I gave them extra time for the homework review, and for the worksheet on addition and subtraction. I think that even though the time was short for their multiplication and division worksheet, they seemed to comprehend the material that was being asked of them. I really believe that I am going to have to figure out some way that I can calm the ninth hour. They are all over the place.

I wanted to see the results of the quizzes, as a judge of my teaching. After grading the first hour’s class, I noticed slightly better results since I have started using more hands on activities. The ones that had the most difficult time on the quiz were the ones that did not do their homework. It was really frustrating, but I cannot go home with the students to ensure that their homework is being completed. As for the other class that I graded, the fifth hour’s results were quite stellar. I will admit that there were some scores that I wish would have been higher, but those would have also been the students that could have done their homework. The only that I can definitely notice is that the reduced amount of homework correlates to the higher amount of students completing the homework. (Yes, I tried to work in statistics.)

Over the past weekend, I decided that it would be awesome if the students could not only problem solve using drawing but also with manipulatives. I truly felt that it would cement all of the content for the student. I spent about three hours planning a series of lessons that all revolved around solving equations. However, it was one of those lessons that just went to the way side.

In the first period, I got the students situated, and I had them finish up with the activity from the previous day. I wanted the students to be able to work with the manipulatives. I tried so hard to get through everything. However, the time slipped away from me, and the bell rang. I made it through all of my content, but the class just did not have the time for the activity. It did appear that the class was going to have no difficulty mastering the content that we were covering.

Before the fifth hour, I decided that I was going to do my absolute best to be able to use the manipulatives. I made it through SWL with about five minutes to spare. So, I started working on finishing up the previous day’s activity. The class made it through the activity, and I started on the content. I made it through the content, and it really seemed that the class grasped the material. So, I rushed to the activity. The class had no problem drawing the equations, but they just did not understand using the manipulatives for another visual representation. I felt really frustrated because I did not get to use my planned activity as I had planned. I guess that it just part of teaching.

Between fifth and lunch, Mrs. D. and I talked about the activity. She really liked the activity, but she felt that it was too much, since we did not get to finish the previous day’s activity. So, I decided that I would just have to scrap the activity for the day.

So, in ninth hour, I had the students finish their illustrations from the day before, and then I started on the content. It was a great feeling to know that I was not rushing in the ninth hour to get to the activity. It was sort of nice to remove things, and allow more time for the students. The students really appreciated it, as they got plenty of time to work on their homework for the evening.

Dropping the activity was something that during day made me feel like I wasted a big chunk of a weekend. However, looking back at it now, I am glad that I did. It relieved a huge stress off me to get as much done in the small amount of time. It also gave the students a reward for finishing the content lesson of starting their homework. Since tomorrow’s lesson plan has been preempted, I think that I will use the second part of today’s activity as the main content for tomorrow. It will mean that I get to teach less, and the student will be learning through exploration. I believe that is going to be a true win-win situation.

I started by referencing my lesson plans to bring up prior knowledge. I had the students recall what we were working on yesterday, as well as had the student recall words that tell them what operation to use. From there, I went forth with the lesson, educating the students about the difference between expressions and equations. I felt that the lesson was going very well. I felt like the students were not having any real difficulty with the content. So, I moved on to the after activity. My activity consisted of the students writing an expression based off a word problem, and then they were to illustrate that expression. However, this idea that I thought was wonderful all of the classes had difficulty with today. The first hour did not know that they were just looking for an expression. They kept looking for equations, and once they found one, they wanted to solve it. It was just an absolute disaster. For once, I was thrilled when the bell rang.

So, after this class, Mrs. D. and I discussed how to fix this project, as I was completely ready to toss it out and try something new. Mrs. D. helped me fix it, and I thought about how I was going to be able to fix some of my mistakes for the fifth hour.

Speaking of the fifth hour, today, I was going to be observed by my university supervisor. This does not normally bother me, but since the last lesson went down in flames, I was concerned that she would not like what she saw. I made it through the content portion of the lesson, just like first hour, and I started to work on the word problem expressions. The students seemed to understand what to do, as I emphasized that we only needed an expression. However, some still wanted to find an equation. Some students did not have much difficulty when they were re-focused to the directions. However, some students just did not want to even try. This really made me realize that students give up way too easily, and I think that I should set a minimum time before asking for assistance. One student looked at the words on the slip and immediately stated, “This is hard.” I do not think that fifteen seconds had passed after I handed the student the slip.

The observation went really well. My supervisor thought that I was doing a great job. As I usually do, I was over critical, and she did not see on which I was criticizing myself. So, I fixed the lesson to get through my observation without looking bad. I was pretty pleased by those results.

In ninth hour, the teaching of the content did not take very long. I really feel that all of the classes grasped the content. However, just like the other classes, they had difficulty with the activity. This class also had the problem of being too chatty. This class took the longest to get through the content because I had to frequently stop. When the activity came up, I had barely five minutes to get through an activity that the other classes could not do in fifteen. I attempted to start it, and for most groups, they barely understood what they were supposed to be doing. I just want students to pay attention to directions the first time that I give them. Is that just WAY too much to ask?

After I waited for the incredibly long announcements, I started with my lesson. It took a few minutes to get the students to understand what I was talking about. However after a few minutes and visual instructions, the class really seemed to grasp the concept, and they were following along. I used the sticks that I had created, and they were giving the correct answers. I really felt that the class was learning from each other, and not from just me. I pass out the worksheet, and all of a sudden this class started to fall apart. I do not think that this class was falling apart because of lack of understand, but because lack of direction. I created a worksheet that should have been used for the mastery level of the lesson, and not the introduction class work. The students in first hour just did not know what to color, and what to add together. I just found this funny, as they were able to tell me when I was in front of the class. When they left, I believed that I was successful with first hour.

For fifth hour, I did the same lesson, but I got to tweak my few mistakes that I made in the first hour. This class seemed to be having a more difficult time grasping the concept. I did not mind that, but I did have a real problem with particular students telling me that this student just did not get it. I sort of had a little melt down in front of the student. I let this student know that I would not be able to help the student, unless the student told me with what the student was having the difficulty. I finally understood the student’s confusion, and it had nothing to do with my lesson. However, it had everything to do with a lesson that was taught in the past. As much as this student frustrated me today, I did some valuable information about the classes. I need to have some review on integers. The students are really struggling on those.

The only other difficulty I had was being corrected on how to teach a concept. I did not mind being corrected, as I appreciate knowing how I could make something better. However, I had a real struggle after being told to use a specific mnemonic for subtracting integers. I had gone through the entire first period teaching the way that I planned, but after being stopped to use the other mnemonic threw me off my track. I am not complaining about learning other ways to teach something, but all it did was confuse the students. I felt that the students got so hung up on subtracting integers that they were starting to lose the point of my lesson. Again, I am not angry about this, but I just lost my place after this, and I had a long struggle to come back from this.

In ninth hour, I just used the mnemonic, again, and the students again struggled with the integer process of the lesson. After I redirected the students and spent some time on integers, I made it through my lesson. However, there was little time left at the end of class. The class did not get the opportunity to get any of their homework done in class. So, I just assigned the worksheet on which all of the other classes were working. Looking at the homework assignment in hindsight, I would have assigned the full homework for this class, as they got a review and the full lesson. They probably will be the most successful. The student that I have the most difficulty with in ninth hour has been warming up to me. This student has been giving me their attention, and this student is actively participating. Hopefully, I can keep their attention.

I will just keep doing what I am doing, and at the end of this unit, I will find out if they are actually learning. I could also find out that everything I am doing to making things worse, but I will stay hopeful that they understand.

When I got to school, I instantly tried to make my copies, but as usual, the copier was broken. So, I was stressed that I would not be able to get to do my follow up activity. I found a copier that was working, but I had to steal paper just to print for one class. I figured that I would get enough copies over the prep period.

I got to class after being rushed and a little stressed about making copies, and I felt like I completely fell apart. I became instantly nervous, and I just did not feel like I knew what I was about to teach. I was profusely sweating, and I just could not calm down. I got my act together, and started to just get the lesson back on track. I got to do my after activity, and the students really seemed to enjoy it. I think that if I had not been so frantic in the morning, I believe that this lesson would have gone smoother.

For the fifth hour, I tried to fix all of the mistakes that I had in the first hour. However, the biggest problem that I had was that the lesson jumped all over the place. I did not follow the order in the book, and I believe that would have made this class run more smoothly. Even as I say that, this was the class that had the most time to work on their homework. The one little problem with the class, today, was that it was especially chatty.

In ninth hour, I had the class that just wanted to go home. They were hard to focus, but I just continued with the lesson. I conducted the lesson in the proper order. I was relaxed, and the students really enjoyed the calculator activity. I just wanted this class to get more time to work on their homework.

Overall, once I figured out what I was doing wrong, I tried to bring the train back to the rail. Mrs. D. really helped me focus my lesson to where it should be. It was one of those days that I just want Mrs. D. to know that I appreciate her.

So, the copier was broken all day. I needed to get the rest of the copies done for the next two weeks. On the way out, I stopped at the restroom, and on the way out of the break room, I noticed that the copier was working. Not only was it working, but it had an abundance of paper. I got all of my copies for the next two weeks done. I will not have to stress over the next two weeks, and I just hope that it will help make my lessons run more efficiently. If I still have more complications over the week, I will just work out my kinks, any way I can.

It was not only a half day, but it was the celebration of learning day within the team. Basically, that meant that the succeeding students would be watching a movie all day, and they were going to be getting out of actual content work. So, the good students basically watched a movie all day. The real work was for the teachers. They had to create a lesson plan, and teach it to the students that were receiving D’s or less in their classes. One would think that there would be some behavior problems that would come up in the not so good group. However, they were very well behaved. I would not have guessed that this group of students would focus and pay attention as much as they did. I will say that both of the classes were small classes, and I would like to think that the smaller class size led to better participation of the students.

Since I had created a problem solving worksheet for the eighth grade students, who were not attending the movie, Mrs. D. and I used that worksheet for the not so good students. I designed this worksheet for students in pre-algebra, but this was the worksheet that we were going to use for all of the students. As we were working out the problems, I noticed that one of the problems had about ten steps that were required to arrive at the answer. I sort of felt bad for those students that were not even in Mrs. D.’s seventh grade math.

After I taught my three classes in a row, Mrs. D. and I supervised the movie in a different room. I had never seen Remember the Titans, but after watching the bits that I did, I understand the significance of the movie. For the last section of the movie, Mrs. D. and I ended up in her room to be a helper, which we did absolutely nothing. For the most part, I felt like I had wasted an entire day by coming to school. I know that I saved Mrs. D. some time, but I wish that the activity would have had greater structure. After Mrs. D. and I had our lunches, we then finished everything up for the quarter. When we left for the day, the room looked like it was a brand new school year. Quarter one is over and I do not return to school until October nineteenth. As I am listening to Nelly Furtado, I must quote her, “All good things come to an end.”

Today’s pre-algebra’s classes were slightly weird today. I hate to say it, but one of the best classes that I had today was the first hour with those eighth graders. They seemed to grasp the concept of simple interest. I truly felt that they were walking away with the ability to compute simple interest using the formula. In fifth hour, the students also seemed to comprehend the content. The only unfortunate thing was that I had a student tell me that the student does not get what the class is doing. I quickly find out it is not with the formula that this student is having difficulty. This student is having some major difficulty multiplying. I remember that I am teaching how to use the formula; not how to multiply. So, I tell the student that the student is going to have to practice on their own. In the last hour, I do not know if the students were ready for fall break or not. However, they were the most difficult students with to work. I had to re-explain directions several times, and I still do not know if I got the pertinent information through to the students.

As for the lesson, I think that the idea of having the student interact was a great aspect. However, I do not know if I would actually use money in the future. It was just one of those things that I thought would make the lesson more interesting. However, all it did was further confuse the students. The students understood my explaining of simple interest, and they had no problem calculating the interest. The real problem was with the directions with the activity. I will make sure that in the future, I will explicitly write the directions on every handout.

Today was the day that I got to meet with the HR person for the district. I think that I was expecting more out of this meeting. In the meeting, it was explained to me that I am going to have a really hard time finding a job, especially graduating in December. I knew that it would be difficult, but the HR person has me concerned that I will just not have enough money to last. I am really concerned that getting my bachelor’s degree is going to leave me poor and unemployed. As of this moment, I feel that all of my time spent to graduate is going to be a big waste. I try my hardest to be successful, but in the end, it appears that I am getting nothing out of this. I wonder if I should make my “Will work for food” signs, now. Would you be willing to donate the markers?

I started the lesson with the most obvious part of the day; the first hour. I knew what I had expected from the students. I gave the students specific directions, and I assumed that they would be able to follow these directions. However, the first hour acted like I did not give them any directions. While I was walking around, I found out that almost all of the students had no real clue what they were doing. I started explaining on a group by group basis. Once I got to the third group, I stopped the class, and I re-explained the instructions. I tried to be effective by pointing things out on the sheet. However, it was just not working. I finally got about two groups to figure out what they were supposed to be doing. I had one of the students educate their peers on how that student arrived at their answers. I do not know if it was a different voice than mine, but a light went off in their heads that caused the students to understand. I had the students do the second part of the activity, which was the exact same as the first. However, all of a sudden, the students knew what they were doing. I was blown away. I was speechless, and I just did not know what to think. The same students that just were not listening to proper instruction just “got it.” I do not like the expression, “I do not get it,” and I think that the next time that I hear that expression, I am going to respond, “You should have been listening to the directions.”

Fifth and ninth hours were better than the first. I learn about the mistakes that I make, and I get to correct them. I think that is a horrible thing for the class that needs the most work; first hour. In the latter two hours, I got to use the document cam. It really helped, as we went through the directions. I walked through the worksheet, step by step. I could tell that some students were not paying attention, again. Part of me just wanted to let them fail, but another part of me wanted my first lesson to be successful. So, I went over the instructions twice in the fifth hour, just like the first hour. The fifth hour struggled to get through the first round, and it was just frustrating. I tried to explicitly detail the steps that the students needed to go through, one at a time. However, some chose not to listen. I will not lie when I say that the students’ lack of attention made me want to scream.

In ninth hour, I went over the directions one line at a time. I pointed things out on the over head. I used the words individual and group about fifty times each. Mrs. D. made a wonderful suggestion that the students repeat the directions back to me. I had the students say them back to me, line by line. I was certain that the students knew what they were going to be doing, when they started the activity, and with the exception of one student, they proved themselves. They knew what to do, and they were working. The only thing was that they were a little louder than I would have liked them to interact. The last class got the farthest through the lesson.

In the end, my lesson was successful, once the students knew what they were supposed to be doing. I think that the students were having fun, and most of the students showed mastery of the concept. I wish that the students would just stay quiet long enough to listen to all of the directions. One student, I had to cut off to ask them to let me finish explaining before they interrupt me. Once I completely explained the steps, the student saw their mistake. However, I had a difficult time engaging the student for the future rounds. It was not my finest hour, but the student was willing to listen after my comment.