Week 9

WEEK 9?!? Student teaching has flown by! I cannot believe that next week is my last at my placement, especially since I was there all last semester as well. I have gotten choked up more than once thinking about leaving my students there and the community in which I have come to feel so comfortable and seen myself grow in so much. Although I am sad, I am also excited to enter into my special education student teaching placement. This past week was exaushting. It was edTPA "boot camp" week so I spent 15 hours working on the edTPA in addition to teaching, being observed by the principal, and acting as 'sub' for Friday. Although I feel like I got a lot accomplished this week, I know that I have a lot more to do before I am finished.

On Wednesday this week, all of the fifth grade students went on a field trip to Robert Crown. While at Robert Crown, the students are educated on the ways in which their bodies will change during puberty, as well as some sex education and the birthing process. I was completely impressed with how maturely my students handled these delicate and somewhat awkward subjects and words they may have never heard of before. I really enjoyed this day because I remember going to Robert Crown as a fifth grader and it neat to see how far I have come from that day and to be in the teacher position after all those years.

On Friday, my principal observed me teach a Social Studies lesson on slavery. This was one of my favorite lessons! We talked a lot about dilemmas and making tough choices and how finding out the outcome could make us want to go back and choose a different option. This day, we were learning about what life was like for enslaved Africans living on plantations. We had already gone over how West Africans were captured and sold into slavery as trade for guns and other goods, the Middle Passage, and slave auctions. After learning about plantations they students were faced with the dilemma of how they would respond to the unfair treatment. Would they protest by breaking tools, faking sick, and passing secret messages through song? Would they run away even though they may get caught and severely punished? Or would they try their best to earn favor with the overseer in hopes of becoming a house servant?

As they were discussing the dilemma with their groups, I had them stand and pretend to be plowing a field and whisper quietly to their group so that the overseer wouldn't hear their plan. I think that this helped them sympathize with the slaves and imagine what it would be like to stand in that position for 16 hours a day. I also was able to show them pictures of my trip to Tanzania in which I was able to see a slave auction building and where they kept Africans before the auctions. The students were deeply moved by these pictures and I think that it helped them visualize what it was really like for these people. Overall, I thought the lesson fostered deep discussions and I was proud of the students for making connections to other things we have discussed like the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement.

Friday was also interesting because my cooperating teacher was not their. She will also be absent on Monday. This was an awesome opportunity for me to see what it would be like to be completely on my own with the students. (The substitute was in the back of the room for any emergencies and to help me when needed). I am looking forward to Monday as well as the rest of this last week!!