This week was a challenge from beginning to end. Because of parent-teacher conferences, there were only two days that I went to the Mix.
Monday started normally. We were told that Wednesday was an early dismissal day, meaning we would be getting students at 12:30 instead of 3:30. Thursday there was no school, and thus no programming.
Group Six began the planned lesson, assembling their notebooks and decorating the covers. They got large pieces of paper to fold and cut down into pages and fasteners to hold their books together. Some of them didn't want to participate, so I gave them the choice to either put their heads down or worked quietly on a worksheet. It worked, for the most part. Most of them decided to color on coloring pages instead of decorating their covers more. Partway into class, my partner got a call about a family emergency and had to step out for most of the first group and part of the second group. Another teacher checked in on me every so often, but I was left in control of the classroom by myself unexpectedly. The students were concerned about what was going on, and where my partner went and didn't want to do the project anymore. I reassured them that everything would be okay and got them focused on their tasks again. They talked at a reasonable level and those that had other activities such as photography or dance left to go participate in those.
Group one enjoyed coloring on coloring sheets for most of the class. I didn't have too much trouble engaging them in conversation and keeping them at a reasonable noise level. My partner came back partway through this block, so that helped.
On Wednesday, there was an early dismissal for the schools because of parent-teacher conferences. Since we had a smaller amount of staff instead of the normal amount, we decided to do a "fun day," where the students switched between four different stations instead of having the normal classes. This allowed us to have two staff for each group of students still. I was placed with a staff member that I hadn't worked with before and given supplies to make simple tic-tac-toe boards. The day required an incredible amount of flexibility. I adapted how I taught the lesson for each group, improving as I went. I learned that the person I was working with had a much lower tolerance for talking and "funny business," like getting up to get water or choosing to not do the craft. It was interesting to see someone who was more direct and authoritarian to a degree in the way they handled certain behaviors. They required respect, even and especially from the younger students. It was different than how my typical partner handles things. One took more of a friend or an older sister approach, and the other took more of an authority-figure kind of approach. It was definitely a good experience. Since we saw all the students that day instead of just two, it was necessary to change gears quickly and assess how to give the instructions better even while I was passing out materials and greeting them.
Even though this week was only two days, there was an incredible amount of learning happening for me. I practiced being more flexible, thinking on my feet, and quickly reflecting on what I had just done. I saw another style of classroom management. Even better than all of that, I got to see all the students in class in one day.
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