Dear teacher's, whats the secret to not sleeping???

Throughout this semester I have had the opportunity to work in two different classrooms. Both classes I am in are 5^th grade classes. In one class I work one on one with a boy named Christian, who is a year older than all the other students because he was held back. His learning skills are night as high as the rest of the kids and he has a lot of trouble comprehending material. Although he is in 5^th grade his reading level is only at a 3^rd grade level and he still struggles there. The other classroom I get to work in which is also 5^th grade, I work with the whole class. The teacher basically uses me as a teacher’s assistant or has me be the teacher. I really enjoy that because I get a lot of experience in front of the classroom. For me that is the only way to learn, I can sit in class and have professors tell me information until my head is about to explode, but until I’m in front of the classroom doing it I don’t fully understand it. I’ve learned all about the hard work that goes into being a teacher. The planning in itself takes hours of work. I understand why Dr. S doesn’t sleep now. Planning, then having students do what you planned, then grading it. Where would anyone have time for sleep?

I have definitely learned that situations may not always go as you have planned for them to because each student learns differently. So what you have planned for your students may work for some and not for others. As a teacher you have to be compassionate to all students needs to have them learn to the best of their ability.

            For Methods I observe the whole 5^th grade class at George Fischer Middle School in Carmel. When I did my lesson on angles and presented it to my teacher, she absolutely loved it. She loved the specifics that went into it. She said she hasn’t made a lesson plan like this in so long because after teaching for 25 years you basically know what you are doing. The teacher said I hit every part of the criteria that goes into teaching a good lesson and also the children had a lot of fun learning all about angles. I began my lesson with a grabber of doing a little clap rhythm that the children repeated back to me.  After I had all their attention I asked them if anyone knew anything about angles. They gave me some answers like you measure them with a protractor and that a line is 180 degrees. These students were very smart and entertaining. I next went on to ask them if there was anything they would like to know about angles to make sure I covered it in that lesson. They said they weren’t sure so we just went on with the lesson. I followed my lesson exactly how I wrote it for the class and it worked out great. The students loved it and the teacher loved it. Teaching the lesson of angles was a great success to the students.

            I couldn’t have done this without google doc’s. Before this semester had begun I had no idea about google doc’s and I don’t know if many people do, but it is a life savior.Angle lesson plan! I’ve learned that doing presentations is much easier than using powerpoint. It is also very interactive because you can have a group of people sharing one document and adding their comments and feedback, it is wonderful to use in the classroom.