Before my 4th week of CSL, my AT informed me that he wouldn’t be there that week or the one after. I took this opportunity to check out some other classes, but also spent time in his classes to help out the supply teacher. For the morning I spent some time in the high school drama class. In one class, the students were preparing skits for the Remembrance Day assembly, while another class was preparing scenes of Hamlet to be acted out in mime to music. I helped the students with bouncing around ideas and guiding their work. The drama teacher also gave me lots of tips based on her experience in controlling a class in an uncontrolled environment.
At lunch, the CHOICES group (social awareness group run by students with the help of teachers and a social worker) was meeting again. At the last meeting, which I missed because I was at the hockey tournament, the students had chosen to focus on raising awareness for the issue of dating violence. We played a jeopardy game to see what the members already knew with regard to dating violence, and also to learn about and discuss any questions that they didn’t know the answer to. It was a good meeting, members of the group got to know each other better. Following the lead of the teachers in charge, we introduced ourselves to the members on a first name basis. I thought this was pretty cool and a good idea because it shows that we are all equal members of the group. There is a conference at the end of the month, ‘In Love and in Danger” that the group is attending and I hope to be able to join them.
For my time spent in my AT’s class, I helped a science class with defining some key terms and then reading a section of the text book followed by answering a few questions. I really enjoyed this because science is my teachable and they were studying ecosystems, one of my favourite topics! I worked closely with one student during this activity, too. I haven’t had a chance to speak with my AT about him, but based on what I’ve seen I believe he has some trouble with writing because he works on a laptop at all times. The student also told me that he has ADD. His laptop had died and he was without the cord, so he began being disruptive. I went over and offered to scribe for him as we talked about the key terms. He was very engaged in our discussion and we were able to get the work done. He seemed genuinely interested and grateful, it felt great!
A funny moment happened with the students in another class of his, too. While working, the students were chatting, and Charlie Brown came up. Students started to talk about the show and somehow we got to the point where one student was yelling at another for disrespecting Snoop Dogg for having compared his looks to Snoopy. I interrupted the conversation to point out that Snoop Dogg actually named himself that because he used to watch the show all the time. His mother said he watched it so much that he started to look like Snoopy, and the nickname was born. Although I showed my age, it ended an argument and helped me to connect with the students. In a less funny moment, one student was reading aloud and fumbled on a word. Some of the other students proceeded to laugh. I allowed the supply teacher to handle it since it was her class, but I was really disappointed. I hope the subject gets revisited by my AT.
I finished my 4th day of CSL by staying to help with the ‘ND after 3’ program. It is a program where student sign up for one or two afternoons of activities (cooking, aesthetics, science, etc.) each week, which must be matched with the same number of tutoring sessions attended in the library. None of the students were in need of much help so another candidate and I were just supervising and making sure they stayed on task. It was nice to get started with the program and I look forward to continuing with it.
At lunch, the CHOICES group (social awareness group run by students with the help of teachers and a social worker) was meeting again. At the last meeting, which I missed because I was at the hockey tournament, the students had chosen to focus on raising awareness for the issue of dating violence. We played a jeopardy game to see what the members already knew with regard to dating violence, and also to learn about and discuss any questions that they didn’t know the answer to. It was a good meeting, members of the group got to know each other better. Following the lead of the teachers in charge, we introduced ourselves to the members on a first name basis. I thought this was pretty cool and a good idea because it shows that we are all equal members of the group. There is a conference at the end of the month, ‘In Love and in Danger” that the group is attending and I hope to be able to join them.
For my time spent in my AT’s class, I helped a science class with defining some key terms and then reading a section of the text book followed by answering a few questions. I really enjoyed this because science is my teachable and they were studying ecosystems, one of my favourite topics! I worked closely with one student during this activity, too. I haven’t had a chance to speak with my AT about him, but based on what I’ve seen I believe he has some trouble with writing because he works on a laptop at all times. The student also told me that he has ADD. His laptop had died and he was without the cord, so he began being disruptive. I went over and offered to scribe for him as we talked about the key terms. He was very engaged in our discussion and we were able to get the work done. He seemed genuinely interested and grateful, it felt great!
A funny moment happened with the students in another class of his, too. While working, the students were chatting, and Charlie Brown came up. Students started to talk about the show and somehow we got to the point where one student was yelling at another for disrespecting Snoop Dogg for having compared his looks to Snoopy. I interrupted the conversation to point out that Snoop Dogg actually named himself that because he used to watch the show all the time. His mother said he watched it so much that he started to look like Snoopy, and the nickname was born. Although I showed my age, it ended an argument and helped me to connect with the students. In a less funny moment, one student was reading aloud and fumbled on a word. Some of the other students proceeded to laugh. I allowed the supply teacher to handle it since it was her class, but I was really disappointed. I hope the subject gets revisited by my AT.
I finished my 4th day of CSL by staying to help with the ‘ND after 3’ program. It is a program where student sign up for one or two afternoons of activities (cooking, aesthetics, science, etc.) each week, which must be matched with the same number of tutoring sessions attended in the library. None of the students were in need of much help so another candidate and I were just supervising and making sure they stayed on task. It was nice to get started with the program and I look forward to continuing with it.