Busy, busy, busy!

We’ve been playing “catch-up” these past two days with social studies and science, due to testing last week. Both mornings, we began with two hours of social studies followed by two hours of science. You would think that the students would be bored listening to their teachers talk for so long… they weren’t! The social studies and science teachers made both days so much fun! In social studies, the students began learning about World War I. The 8^th graders at Belding have a wonderful social studies teacher; she kept them engaged and made the topic enjoyable by incorporating videos and visuals. I was reminded of my 8^th grade social studies class with Mr. Bonk, one of the most intense and memorable classes I have ever had in my entire time in school. I’ve been so grateful for Mr. Bonk these past two days because everything I learned about WWI in his class came back to me, which made it so much easier for me to work with my students individually.

In science, the students have been doing tons of hands-on activities. They are currently learning about different types of energy and how energy transfers from different objects. On Monday, the students worked on building water wheels that could lift different amounts of weight. It was really cool to watch the students apply the concepts they learned from their textbooks to what they were experiencing with their water wheels. I’ve been learning a lot from the science teacher, about science and about how to interact with students. She has been giving me advice about how to work with certain students, which has really helped me to keep them on-task and focused.

Food!

Last night, Alexis, Gabe, Bekah, and I decided to eat dinner at a local BBQ place called Pitchfork. We had a great time updating each other about our placements. We’re all being exposed to different grade levels, cultures, teaching strategies, and most importantly, students. We’ve already shared funny stories that have happened to us in class, as well as stories about things that have shocked us since our arrival. We love our placements and students and are soaking in this experience the best we can.

What have I been up to?

Today, things began picking up for me. I led two discussions with my students during social studies about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and how that was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” and marked the start of WWI. Update: Because of the conversations I had with my girls last week, they’ve been more responsive to me. They participated in the activities today and enjoyed sharing their ideas. I’m really glad I took the time to listen to them last week, because it has definitely helped me get through to them and gain their respect. Besides leading discussions in social studies, I created a reading guide for a few students to use to prepare for their reading quiz tomorrow. The rest of my prep period was spent preparing for my math lesson on Coordinate Points tomorrow. I’ll be teaching the math lessons for the next three days, so I’m pretty excited about that! I’m starting to feel a little less nervous to teach tomorrow because I’m beginning to get along with most of the students and they feel comfortable with me. My teacher is supporting me with all the decisions I am making with this lesson and will be there to help me tomorrow if I get stuck. I’m looking forward to flying solo!