This week has gotten off to a good start. I feel like I'm more into a routine now, I know my students and classes better, and now we're just off and running! All my Biology classes are watching a video that took up most of the class period. I can't begin to explain my gratitude for whoever invented educational videos. The time I have while my students are watching the film, I get to use to plan and create Powerpoints & class activities. It's a pretty long video, so I had my students stand up in the middle and touch a wall (not close to them). Who says you can't incorporate basketball camp drills into a science classroom?
Chemistry has also gone well. Chem is my lesser familiar subject I'm teaching, so I started with scientific notation, significant figures and dimensional analysis.... basically all the geeky math stuff that I was good at in high school. My goal is to build confidence now, and hopefully not struggle too much later! We did a mass lab both days and that's always fun to facilitate. Even when I make announcements, I still have to repeat myself almost 15 times, because the kids are very caught up in getting it done right (that's what I tell myself when they're not paying attention!).
I was actually thinking the other day how much I'm learning from ALL my students. It's so easy as an instructor to get frustrated with students for various things, but when I really think about it, as an adult I make a lot of the same learning mistakes as them. For example, even though instructions are written out on a piece of paper and I've made numerous announcements, many of my students will ask me questions based off something I just said, or something they can find themselves. It's so easy for me to complain about how kids don't just read, or how they need to be hand-held.... but I'm so like that too. How many times do I ask store clerks where something is because I just don't feel like working too hard to look? Or how many times does my husband say something to me, and I just blank out and need him to repeat, sometimes multiple times? I guess this teaching gig is really showing me how we are all lifelong students, and no matter what, we will have our successes and failures; no matter what we will need help and guidance along the way!
I honestly feel incredibly blessed to have so many of these kids with vastly different personalities to share my day with. It's truly remarkable how many of them are willing to share about their lives, tell a joke, or even ask me questions to get to know me better. My days have been filled with youthful smiles, with all these little people (some of them not so little) that are so full of potential. They're on their way to changing the world with or without me, and I'm just so grateful God has allowed me to be apart of their journey.
Chemistry has also gone well. Chem is my lesser familiar subject I'm teaching, so I started with scientific notation, significant figures and dimensional analysis.... basically all the geeky math stuff that I was good at in high school. My goal is to build confidence now, and hopefully not struggle too much later! We did a mass lab both days and that's always fun to facilitate. Even when I make announcements, I still have to repeat myself almost 15 times, because the kids are very caught up in getting it done right (that's what I tell myself when they're not paying attention!).
I was actually thinking the other day how much I'm learning from ALL my students. It's so easy as an instructor to get frustrated with students for various things, but when I really think about it, as an adult I make a lot of the same learning mistakes as them. For example, even though instructions are written out on a piece of paper and I've made numerous announcements, many of my students will ask me questions based off something I just said, or something they can find themselves. It's so easy for me to complain about how kids don't just read, or how they need to be hand-held.... but I'm so like that too. How many times do I ask store clerks where something is because I just don't feel like working too hard to look? Or how many times does my husband say something to me, and I just blank out and need him to repeat, sometimes multiple times? I guess this teaching gig is really showing me how we are all lifelong students, and no matter what, we will have our successes and failures; no matter what we will need help and guidance along the way!
I honestly feel incredibly blessed to have so many of these kids with vastly different personalities to share my day with. It's truly remarkable how many of them are willing to share about their lives, tell a joke, or even ask me questions to get to know me better. My days have been filled with youthful smiles, with all these little people (some of them not so little) that are so full of potential. They're on their way to changing the world with or without me, and I'm just so grateful God has allowed me to be apart of their journey.
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