Evolving

Yesterday was my first day I lead a lesson on my own in my sixth grade ELA class. I was really nervous, mostly because not only was this my first time leading, but my fieldwork advisor was also observing me, but I think it went pretty well. I had the advantage of working with the students in this class over the past two months (where the biggest “behavioral” issue we have is that they won’t stop reading independently when we ask them to put their books away), so I at least felt comfortable with them. Now that I think about it, I think I would feel most comfortable if it could ever be just them and me, so I wonder if my cooperating teacher will eventually have me try that out.

Anyway, I was pleased that my students responded to me pretty well. I think it has helped that I have been there from the first day of school, so while they know I’m not a head teacher, I have had a consistent presence in their classroom. They already feel comfortable asking me questions or conferencing with me during class, so taking it to the next step of leading seemed like a natural progression. Maybe I’ll ask one of my students how they think I did though. I know many of them really like me, but that does not always keep sixth graders from being honest.

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