2nd week of takeover brought it’s own set of challenges and lessons to learn from. Monday not only brought a new a week, but also a new student. It was hard. Needless to say, I have never before dealt with that situation before. He arrived late, during morning work so it was a balance of trying to get him accustomed to the classroom and show him daily routines, etc while trying to keep the other students under control and engaged.
We finally finished the sun flip charts, which was a big accomplishment. I am excited to finally move on to something else in the solar system! It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be for students to learn how to take notes, translate the main ideas the author is communicating in a text to their own words (and even grasp that concept in the first place), to ensuring the notes on each student’s note-taking template met the expectations, and then begin the process of transferring the notes from the template on to the final product of the flip chart. This week in writing, Lauren, the special education student teacher, and I collaborated, planned, and taught lessons on 5 Sense Poems. We had the students write them about Spring. They did a great job!
It is a lot harder than I thought to initially plan units and even trying to fit the desired content within a certain time frame. Trying to do this and then finding a balance in between wanting to cover the material while ensuring you are being flexible, adapting/adjusting to the diverse needs of the students. It is also crazy how literally every ounce of time during the day as a teacher is filled. I am constantly in awe how my brain is always rushing and thinking of things to do, or what I need to do next, going through mental check lists to ensure I am planned and ready.