Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Junior Field--First Day

Today was my first day at Conackamack Middle School in Piscataway. I was nervous but also felt somewhat comfortable at the same time because I met with my cooperating teacher twice prior to this day. My cooperating teacher is very helpful and very informative which definitely helps ease my nerves. Today went pretty smoothly. The classes I am working with are all seventh grade English classes. I helped my cooperating teacher file her students' paper work early this morning and then interacted with the second block students as they were preparing for "Poetry Slam". The students write seven of their own poems (three of which are to be different forms of poetry) and they will present them later on in the week. I walked around helping them figure out what to write about and answered questions about different forms of poetry. I enjoyed helping the students out with their poetry because I enjoy reading and writing poetry myself. After that I had a two hour break!!! That was great! At this time, teachers get together for "Shared Planning". During this time, teachers share ideas on different subject matter as well as share lesson plans. We also eat lunch during this time frame. The last two periods of the day went by quickly. I basically reviewed my cooperating teacher's lesson plans for the next week, looked through textbooks, and thought about my own lesson plans. Overall, I had a pretty good day. I didn't notice any ELL students in any of the classes yet. The
students were well-behaved for the most part and most importantly, I didn't go home with a headache :)

2 comments:

Lissette said...

Junior field experience is supposed to be a time in which you learn and enjoy yourself as a teacher. I had a wonderful time last semester during my Junior field, the key is to work together with you cooperating teacher, always bringing in your own ideas and tecniques but first consulting your cooperating teacher, he/she will guide you and help you and you'll soon be friends! Good Luck and you might even cry a few tears when it is all done and over with.

Kristen said...

It sounds like you are doing your junior field in a great school. I took a lot of advantage of the shared planning time at the school where I did my junior field. It is very helpful to talk to an experienced teacher about your lessons.