Teaching a class full of Middle School students when you are sick and exhausted. Your lesson will be choppy and the kids will not get a full understanding of the content.
I experienced this recently and had to re-teach the lesson the next day. It also happened to be the day that my university supervisor dropped in to do an observation. Double whammy! Things were going well, the lesson was planned out and homework was given, but the next day we had the math class, every student was unclear on some of the aspects of graphing lines with the slope-intercept form equations.
When people are sick, you just cannot think as straight and on top of your toes as you think you are, and it will show if you are trying to teach somebody something. My university supervisor and cooperating teacher had suggested after the lesson was over, to have things efficiently planned out so that you do not have to think so much off the top of your head. My cooperating teacher recommended doing worksheets or student-led activities that were relevant to the content that we were studying as to not totally waste a day.
I learned a valuable lesson if I must come to school a little sick and out of it. If you get sick either stay home or print out some activities that are relevant to your content.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Probably every one of us have suffered from what they are calling new teacher syndrome - getting every bug that goes through your school. I know I have been sick more this year than in the last ten years. In art, I can always throw out some objects and have them do a still life, but the timing of being sick usually coincides with end of term or a competition deadline, when they have a lot of questions and need a lot of help with materials and methods. Teaching is not for sissies! But I like the idea of having things prepared in advance, as you mentioned about the activites. Overplanning, you have things left over, for days when you just are not feeling on top of it.
ReplyDeleteI think that you and i did this at about the same time, but i was lucky it wad debate day! that worked well because i led it, but they did all of the work. plus they had to be quieter and take turns to hear me and so that i could hear them!
ReplyDelete