Slow Down, You're Moving Too Fast, You've Got to Make the Good Times Last!

This week had numerous valuable aspects but for the purpose of this blog, I will focus on what was the most valuable for me. And that was the lesson that I video taped and the results of the Student Survey. I found out that the students really like me and would go out of their way to help me. Before I videotaped the lesson, I explained to the students what I was doing and why, asked for a volunteer to videotape, and asked for their support. The response was remarkable. There were many comments but the one particular comment that stuck out was, "Of course I'll help you, I like you." It warmed my heart. I smiled and said, "Thank you, I like you too!" It made the lesson feel really good because I know the students were pulling for me to do well. But one of the best things was when I told them I was going to videotape the lesson, they got very concerned and asked if it was my last day or if I was leaving soon. I reassured them that I was going to be around until the end of April and asked them why they would asked that. They said that other student teachers only videotaped before they were leaving and they didn't want me to leave yet! In the past, I've heard different professors say that you'll always remember your student teaching experience. Up until this point, I was thinking that I was going to remember the school and/or the diversity; now I know that I'll always remember my 7th period class. They're great kids that have challenged me and are teaching me more than I hoped in this short amount of time. I look forward to that class everyday. I never thought that teachers may find it difficult at the end of a school year when they've had a group of students that they really enjoy. But then there's always another group coming up that will bring new challenges, new joys, and a new learning experience for the teacher!

If I could change anything about this week it would be to slow down a bit when teaching. I have a class in which more than 50% of the students have IEP's and the reasons are very varied. Some are for learning disabilities, some visual impairments, some are emotional support. I've been teaching Excel and try to demonstrate everything on the overhead while explaining it. I think I've been going slowly but I find myself running around the classroom giving individual instructions because many of these students can't follow. I've come to realize that I have to slow down the lessons even more and make sure that the students that need assistance get it and not worry about the more advanced students. I will have additional work that they can do for extra credit on hand. My co-op has been trying to tell me for weeks to slow down and show the students everything. Well it finally sunk in this week after a class when all I heard was my name over and over. The realization then set in, if I go slower maybe more of the students will get it the first time or at least with a little less assistance. I've been concerned that the more advanced students will get bored but they'll just have to be patient too. I've also recognized that some of the students just want or need my attention and I'm still not quite sure what to do with that. I've told them to ask their friends before me and it's worked a bit, but not really much. I'm open for ideas.