my second week at middle school

Well my second full week of middle school was a little better. I started teaching this week but I had to teach strictly from my supervising teacher’s lesson plans. This included lecture, notes and worksheets for most of the week. We are studying the early statehood of WV and we have spent a good bit of time talking about what WV did to punish the ex-Confederates. I wanted to try a four corners exercise and ask the students how they felt about denying an entire group of people the right to vote. My idea was completely shot down. I was told that the kids were too rambunctious and that the students would not be able to handle the situation. I thought to myself, “Of course they are stir crazy. If I had to sit in my seat and take notes and work on worksheets everyday all day, I would be insane as well.” I think that my supervising teacher is completely afraid of losing control of her classroom. As I gave the notes that I was supposed to, I just wanted to tell every student how sorry I was. I could see the complete boredom in their eyes. I left out of the school that day feeling defeated and resigned to four more weeks of torturing these poor students. I am even having a hard time with my unit. My supervising teacher does not even want me teaching a ten day unit. Seven days is the maximum amount of time that she wanted to spend. I don’t really know what to do on that front. I suppose that somehow I will figure it out and it will work out the way it is supposed to.
Later on in the week I did notice a change in my supervising teacher’s attitude however. She did a graphic organizer exercise with the students using scissors and construction paper. It was something different and she the kids did it in groups. It is supposed to be used as a study aid and I hope that they use it as such. I noticed that one day she went around the room and told her students what she thought would be good career choices for them. She was careful in her thoughts and I saw the students light up. They really do want her approval. One of the many things that I have noticed about my supervising teacher is that she does not make her students read. She takes the chapter she is working on and gives them a detailed summary. I think that this is a hindrance to their learning. Marzano talks about summarizing and note taking as ways to increase comprehension. It is almost as though she thinks that they are not capable of doing it on their own. Yesterday I heard her say that she needs to teach her students study skills because she wants them to do well in high school. My heart smiled. Perhaps I judged her a little too harshly. I suppose that if I had been teaching for twenty plus years it might become hard for me to be as eager as I am right now. She even told me today that I can increase my unit to eight days! Could there be light at the end of the tunnel? There usually is.
Until next time,
Anisa Dye-Hale