Tuesday and Wednesday - week 2

One of the lecturers from uni came and observed me today. She said she would probably give me an A, which made me really happy and somewhat cocky for the rest of the day.

I was glad I had gone to the extra effort of making a copy of my lesson plan, printouts of this reflective journal for the first week, and a neat stack of all my lesson plans and documentation. It gave her the impression I was organised. I am. She also commented on my professional attire. Lol. Funny how that 10 mins of extras preparation can make all the difference. Or not.

I just had year 9 and I wasn't so happy with how that lesson went. It missed something; when the discussion wasn't as animated as I had hoped, I went to the video and I felt like I lost them in the middle of Zefirelli. I don't like this 1960s version with men prancing around in "venetian" costume (or venonian) and perhaps the kids picked up on that.

Yesterday we had a debate that went really well, but perhaps it was just a question of flogging the proverbial dead horse - find a good trick and change it quickly next time before it gets old.

But with this lesson I thought I was well prepared, but maybe I should have gone over stuff immediately before walking into class, because in truth, I didn't feel fully confident of my material. I also tried to follow an apparent brainwave about the text I had in the middle of class, but I think I completely lost them then. despite ability they are still a year 9 class and I momentarily confused it with my old uni tutorials where anything goes.

In the afternoon I had a chat with Fred, my supervisor, and he said I was being too hard on myself. Yes there were parts where I dug myself in and should have extricated myself annd the class a little earlier from the confusion. But Fred said that leading complex discussions is always a tricky balancing act and he reckons if he has 4 or 5 REALLY good lessons then he's happy.

I guess this is all part of learning the mystical art of teaching.