Losing it

I'm steering the fourth grade ship all day tomorrow. Since I'm supposed to eventually take over the class in November, this'll be a good warm up.

Shaping up to be a full day, too. I'm kicking things off with a quizzo game to review for Friday's math test. It's tough to write quick questions for line, bar and picto-graphs as well as ordered pairs and median, mode and range. But I like what I came up with. I created a grab box with prizes for the top finishers. I call it the 'count to 5 box' because students have to pull out something by the count of 5 or they miss their chance. The 'count to 5' box is full of pencils and erasers and cool halloween cards and pencil tops- and little boxes of raisins.

Later in the day we'll try to start a math lesson in the computer lab. Tuesday's workshop about the 24 Game should work pretty well. The students will play these mini games, which are actually math drills, in hopes of getting a leg up on their multiplication tables. That's our next math unit.

I'll round out the day with Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Disgusting Sneaker. I used to love Encyclopedia and Bugs Meaney and the whole crew. Most of my lesson revolves around drawing conclusions. It'll go well.

Classroom management. Transitions. Closure. These are the biggest challenges I'm expecting for tomorrow.

Feeling much less inspired this week as compared to the first month. Maybe it's because I'm learning more about the inner workings of the school, meeting more of the staff, getting to know them. Maybe I'm let down because people aren't that nice so far. Maybe it's more a fact of my temporary status at the school. Just a student teacher, no sense being too nice to me.

I want more control and the stuff I really want to do just naturally falls to the backburner. It ain't my show afterall. That might be what's really bothering me.

I want my own class.

I hated the way Mrs. P told M that he wasn't a good student and poor students don't get on student council. M really wants to be one of the student reps for our fourth grade class. I really want him to get it. Not sure if this was the time for tough love, but Mrs. P dished it out.