Day 5 :: Friday

Today things went somewhat downhill. In the morning I had the same guided reading group as yesterday, doing the same book. They weren't at all impressed about doing the same book again, said it was boring and generally resisted all attempts at engagement. We recapped the plot summary and reread the description of the eccentric Professor Prong, but then I lost their focus. The lesson objective was to understand the difference between statements and ideas i.e. from a description of Professor Prong we might be told that his walk is odd and his hair sticks out at crazy angles and these statements may give us the idea that he is eccentric. It was always going to be a hard idea to get across, and I should have probably scaffolded it better. I think I got complacent because the day before they had handled the story prediction really well and seemed to have a firm grasp of the comprehension.

Two of the louder, smarter students wouldn't pay attention and this pulled the focus of the rest of the group off track. One student however, came up with a really good point that he thought Professor Prong was kind because he always said "good morning" and offered to help Jack, the central protagonist. I tried to bring in others at this point and elicit more examples but by this stage had lost the group and didn't know how to get them back.

They had a written sheet to do, first write a description of Professor Prong in their own words and then, decide whether certain statements were statements or ideas. Some weren't focccussed and then complained they didn't have enough time. Few of the group actually got the concept very well and the lesson ended with me feeling somewhat frustrated. I think a large part of the problem was discipline; I still don'[t have that middle ground worked out between slight and major infractions and I think this is compounded by me being a student teacher: I have neither the authority of a 'real' teacher nor the relationships.

In the afternoon I had to teach sport and this was a headache and a half! The time seemed to g really slowly, although I had expected it would go really fast as often I tend to run out of time when conducting learning centred games in the classroom. I got a little bit confused with the rules of one of the games, which was a tad awkward and then I changed games because the class wasn't really into it. I'm not sure how much the students' engagement has to do with the game of the way it is presented. As they didn't seem to like any of the games i had prepared I asked the students what they wanted to play and then they seemed much happier and more engaged.

Afterwards Rebecca said I needed to inject a "buzz" into the activities to encourage student excitement. i think I was initially more worried about them running out of control. This week seems to have been a big long lesson in mistaken expectations. perhaps the trick is to have none!

Its been a really long exhausting week and my phone keeps ringing with invites to go have a wind-down drink, but right now a bath and an early night is all I can manage!