Zinzer - Week 2

Confidence is the willingness to try.

Week two was a week of building confidence as I stepped more into the teacher role.  This was a breath of fresh air for me.  A sigh of relief.  That's exactly what was missing last week when I felt like a fish out of water.  But I understand that my observation during last week was needed and I enjoyed it too.  I feel balanced now that I'm beginning to teach and take over class periods here and there depending on the content.  This is where I need to be.  Before student teaching, I left my position at an elementary school where teaching felt right, rewarding and comfortable.  So I am elated to be in the front of students again. I'm trusting the process and my students are now trusting me.  I'm feeling more comfortable with my cooperating teacher too.  He is an expert in the English Language Arts field and his knowledge on the curriculum is wide-spread.  

I taught my first lesson this week to the Advanced Honors Sophomore English class (Living in a Global Society).  I couldn't have been happier with the outcome.  The work that the students created (they had to write a poem with parameters which was modeled by me) was inspirational and impressive.  There was collaboration and sharing of ideas happening all over the classroom.  Standard 6 - Reading, Writing, and Oral Communication was heavily incorporated into this lesson.

I also attended my first department meeting.  I was able to meet some teachers that I had not had an opportunity to cross paths with yet.  The main focus was on the curriculum for Sophomores.  It was a collaborative and positive working environment.  I felt Standard 8 - Collaborative Relationships was evident here.

For the upcoming week, I will be diving into The Book of Job and various essays written by Henry D. Thoreau in order to teach these literary works next week.  We just finished up analyzing a poem entitled "The Imperfect Paradise" as well as rhetorical questions in Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance" and "Nature".

~Kirsten