Yesterday morning I woke up with the scratchy throat, runny nose, and all of that good stuff. I considered calling in sick until I remembered that I told Anne* she could write her in-class essay at lunch. I needed to collect parent signature forms. I wanted to meet with my university supervisor and get some feedback on a lesson she observed the previous week. It didn't take me long to realize that there was no way I would be calling in sick.
To make matters worse (or better), my cooperating teacher told me I was teaching all of her periods. In fact, she told me this as the 1st period students were sitting right before me, rubbing their eyes and waking up from the weekend. I took a deep breath and said good morning in a cracked and throaty way. The show must still go on, right?
Yesterday became an experiment of sorts; until yesterday I had always been energetic and happy while teaching and I know my students appreciate the positive attitude. However, I had 5 classes to teach, 2 meetings to attend, an informal get together with other student teachers, a brief meeting with a student, and a 2 and 1/2 hour class at night. I wasn't sure if I would keep my cool.
But keeping cool wasn't really a problem. Once again, I underestimated these kids. The same kids who constantly talk over me to make weekend plans, text when they should be reading, and get excited over stickers behaved like some pretty mature adults yesterday. I told them from the get-go that I didn't feel well and that I was losing my voice. I asked them to not make me yell and stay on task. Even though it was the day before a holiday, they held each other accountable and stayed focused during the lesson. My most troublesome twosome were suddenly policing the rest of the class!
If you give a little you can get a lot. I have tried to treat my students as adults while maintaining a childlike-meaning fun, creative, and sometimes a bit silly-environment. Yesterday it really paid off. I could have hugged every last one of them.
*Name has been changed
2 comments:
Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
'cause you are the wind beneath my wings.
sounds great. glad you got through it.
by the way, i didn't find out that class was cancelled last night until AFTER i was greeted by an empty room in university hall!
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