Last weekend, I spent hours planning the lessons for this week’s English 8 inclusion classes. On Saturday, I lost track of how long I had been planning, and it was almost midnight when I called it quits for the night. Sunday, Valentine’s Day, my husband and I committed to serving on the production team, and then the afternoon looked like more hours of lesson planning. Yes, we did celebrate, but it ended up being the weekend prior. The point is, I spent a LONG time planning the lessons for this week.
My CT (cooperating teacher) encourages me to wait to plan for the week until closer to each day and only planning a couple days at a time, but I have found that it helps my sanity to have everything planned at the beginning of the week, including resources, even if I have to adjust based on where the classes are at. With both of my classes being inclusion classes, these kids need to work at a slower pace, so it can be a challenge trying to work at their pace but keeping up with the pacing guide for the school. After we had school off for President’s Day on Monday, Tuesday finally arrived. When the class began, I had the students complete a comma rules #1-3 quiz on NoRedInk. My CT wanted the kids to take this assessment, but I did not have access to the actual quiz. As a result, when I was planning, I had no idea how long the quiz would take. With only having this class for a couple weeks now, I still have a difficult time wrapping my head around how much time they need to complete notes, assessments, assignments, etc. Working pace aside, I had students who did not even start the quiz 20 minutes into class. With teaching virtually, it can sometimes be frustrating with how few students actually participate in the class and complete their work. By the time we reached a stopping point on the quiz, only 30 minutes of this 1 hour 15 minute class remained. Because of this, my plans somewhat went awry, and I had to adjust during class. Collaborating with my CT, I asked her if she thought it would be wise to cut the video I had planned along with some other items, and I adjusted that class and the rest of the week accordingly. Whilst some teachers may get annoyed at the slower pace of the classes, I actually appreciate taking more time to teach my kids material. I will admit, however, that sometimes it can be frustrating how long it takes these students to type notes or type anything on their computers. The reality is, though, that a lot of these kids were probably not taught how to type using the “home row” like I was as a kid. Virtual teaching is challenging, but the life I have lived moving from state to state has more than prepared me for the day-to-day adjustments of teaching.
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AuthorKelsey Hayes is a student teacher finishing up her Senior year at Regent University. Through this blog, Kelsey Hayes will share the raw, honest truth about teaching and how both its joys and challenges motivate her to continue pursuing teaching. Archives
April 2021
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