P.E. Update - 100th post!

Subbing for P.E. was, as predicted, quite different from a standard classroom yet not any more difficult. I was lucky enough to be subbing with another teacher for each class. She was very nice and really took charge of everything except for my classes' attendance. I helped keep an eye on the students and keep them organized and on task.

As this is a "connections" class (i.e., elective) the schedule is a little different. We did not have a homeroom; however, we had six classes and an hour for planning/lunch rather than the four classes with two planning periods which the core classes have. We saw 7th grade, then 6th, then 8th, had lunch and then repeated with different students. The 6th graders were actually a health class in a classroom instead of the gym.

The P.E. students were doing a P.A.C.E.R. test which counted how many times they could run across the gym in timed increments. They had to stop and wait for the bell each time they ran to ensure that they "paced" themselves. They will repeat this test throughout the nine weeks to measure their improvement. The health class students were making warning posters for either hot or cold weather safety.

By the end of the day I was quite tired as I am really not used to being on my feet all day anymore, and there was no chance to sit for a few minutes here or there in the gym. It was nice to do something new and I was able to meet new people. We actually ate lunch in the room of the teacher who I will be long-term subbing for and I was able to meet all of my future lunch mates. It's interesting the connections I make in different ways and meet new people.

Repetitive

Some days start to feel very repetitive. These are also the most tiring days.

Yesterday the classes finished  up their presentations on the words they defined, and then started watching a 20 minute video about economics and consumption. Today they finished the video and started on a PowerPoint about economics.
Any time key words came up the video was paused and the students talked about it and wrote it down. Same for the PowerPoint.

I wouldn't say that the information was boring, however, seeing the same thing over and over again is boring and somehow really tiring.

But, not a bad day.

Worn Out

Today was my observation. It didn't go as well as I would have liked.

The first two classes were great! They seemed to like my activity, and participated fairly well. Unfortunately, the third class did not go as well, and that was the one that was observed. The activity went well, it wasn't until after the activity that I had problems. The students didn't want to sit down at first. Then they just wouldn't stop talking. I had to ask them repeatedly to stop talking. I had to call students out by name. And, on top of talking too much, they were not participating in the discussion. So, it looked like they were bored or not understanding. Mr. Dorray wasn't in the room, and they don't have the same respect for me as they do for him.

I wasn't able to get feedback from my advisor because he was moving on to observe someone else, but he did say that the biggest thing that needed improvement was: "obviously discipline." The obviously part is discouraging.

I wanted to yell at the kids near the end of the class, to tell them that their behavior was affecting my grade. I am sure they didn't realize that the person in the back was going to grade me. But, it probably wouldn't have mattered to them anyways. Sigh. I was so frustrated when Mr. Dorray came back and asked me how it went.

These kids are pretty good when he is in the room, but it is entirely different when he leaves. So, I asked him to start stepping out of the room more often when I am teaching, so that I can get more practice with it.

Now I just want to take a nap.

****Update****

I received my observation form from my advisor. Everything was scored on a scale of 1-4, and I didn't manage to do better than a 3, even if he noted that something was "great". I got a 2 on my classroom management. Also, he didn't give any suggestions for anything other than classroom management. 

So, although I got 3/4 on all but one thing, there were no suggestions on how to improve. I got 38/52 points.

My Schedule

I have a very full schedule. I am at Sweetwater every weekday from 9:00am - 1:30pm. Tuesdays I go to class afterwards and am downtown until 10:00pm, Wednesdays I also have class but only until 7:00pm. Thursdays I have mandatory volunteering (a requirement of one of my classes) for two hours. Fridays I go straight to work after Sweetwater, and work from 2:30pm - 2:30 am. Saturdays I usually work from about 4pm - 2:30am. Sunday is my day off, so I try to catch up on any studying or homework that I am behind on. So, I have a lot going on and very little free time.

The point of the post is: the best part of my week is my time at Sweetwater, which I take as a sign that my hard work is going to pay off when I am able to get a job teaching.