Sept 28
I visitied Mr. Borton's second hour today. It is interesting for me to notice differences in each class. Second hour seems to be a really good group. Today we worked on viewing slides of paramecium, ameoba, bread mold and diatoms and drawing them, complementary to some book work. The kids seems to really like viewing the slides. They are pretty much getting into the routine of things by now and know roughly what to expect. There are less questions, but still a lot of questions. Mr. Borton had prepared slides all set up for good viewing and this really decreased the time the kids needed to use. He said that he used to make them himself but eventually he just bought them so he wouldn't have to make them over and over again. Little things like this seem to make life for a teacher a lot easier. The most frustrating thing was that the kids kept moving the slides and this was bothering Mr. Borton. We both kept having to go and find again what the kids were supposed to draw. Most of the kids are starting to understand better how to use the fine adjustment of the microscope but I still had to help some of them.
Some of the kids appreciate it when I try to help them and then they feel comfortable to ask me for help. It is still weird when I see a waving child saying "Mr. Madsen," but I am beginning to like it. Other kids are 'hands off' and they would just assume keep a ten foot pole between me and them. This doesn't really bother me because I enjoy so much helping the kids which like or need my help. I really enjoy the excitement I see in the kids when they see something new, like the diatoms. I also like to see when the kids are really working the book hard and trying to be thorough in their work. It isn't hard to see which kids know how to work and which don't care. I try to look for weak spots in the class to try and mitigate what I can. If some boy has his pencil up his mouth slobbering for a while then I try to involve him by getting him on a microscope to draw or reminding him of his bookwork or asking him if he has a question which I can help him with to get him started. I feel it unfortunate that almost none of my time gets dedicated to the good students, because they are being well, good! For these I hope that the content and assignments help them learn something fun or useful to them.
The most challenging thing for me is sorting out what to do next and trying to keep some form of order in what I do. I feel a little like there is so much to be done that I have to prioritize and hope that it will be ok. Do I help this kid, or that kid or that kid or that kid or that kid. Do I bring something to the attention of the class or forget about it. Do I let this kid or that kid use the microscope next. That kid is goofing off - what do I do? It seems that when it is all done that the last thing I have thought about is how to help the best students excel even more. I must admit that I am very uncomfortable lecturing at this point and I love the labs! I feel ok at giving directions on how to do things, such as I did in making the paper helicopters, but I feel inadequate in lecturing.
I visitied Mr. Borton's second hour today. It is interesting for me to notice differences in each class. Second hour seems to be a really good group. Today we worked on viewing slides of paramecium, ameoba, bread mold and diatoms and drawing them, complementary to some book work. The kids seems to really like viewing the slides. They are pretty much getting into the routine of things by now and know roughly what to expect. There are less questions, but still a lot of questions. Mr. Borton had prepared slides all set up for good viewing and this really decreased the time the kids needed to use. He said that he used to make them himself but eventually he just bought them so he wouldn't have to make them over and over again. Little things like this seem to make life for a teacher a lot easier. The most frustrating thing was that the kids kept moving the slides and this was bothering Mr. Borton. We both kept having to go and find again what the kids were supposed to draw. Most of the kids are starting to understand better how to use the fine adjustment of the microscope but I still had to help some of them.
Some of the kids appreciate it when I try to help them and then they feel comfortable to ask me for help. It is still weird when I see a waving child saying "Mr. Madsen," but I am beginning to like it. Other kids are 'hands off' and they would just assume keep a ten foot pole between me and them. This doesn't really bother me because I enjoy so much helping the kids which like or need my help. I really enjoy the excitement I see in the kids when they see something new, like the diatoms. I also like to see when the kids are really working the book hard and trying to be thorough in their work. It isn't hard to see which kids know how to work and which don't care. I try to look for weak spots in the class to try and mitigate what I can. If some boy has his pencil up his mouth slobbering for a while then I try to involve him by getting him on a microscope to draw or reminding him of his bookwork or asking him if he has a question which I can help him with to get him started. I feel it unfortunate that almost none of my time gets dedicated to the good students, because they are being well, good! For these I hope that the content and assignments help them learn something fun or useful to them.
The most challenging thing for me is sorting out what to do next and trying to keep some form of order in what I do. I feel a little like there is so much to be done that I have to prioritize and hope that it will be ok. Do I help this kid, or that kid or that kid or that kid or that kid. Do I bring something to the attention of the class or forget about it. Do I let this kid or that kid use the microscope next. That kid is goofing off - what do I do? It seems that when it is all done that the last thing I have thought about is how to help the best students excel even more. I must admit that I am very uncomfortable lecturing at this point and I love the labs! I feel ok at giving directions on how to do things, such as I did in making the paper helicopters, but I feel inadequate in lecturing.
posted by James Madsen | 7:13 PM
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