The First (and Most Important!) Day of School

The first day of school is very important, especially for a new teacher. Not only does the first day give your students a glimpse into what your class is all about, but it is also sets the basis for the rest of the year; your expectations, your procedures and your consequences. Because of its importance to your classroom management, I totally understand why we had to complete a “First Day of School” scenario in AEE412 Lab this week and I am thankful that I now have a foundation to work from for my actual first day in the future.

To be honest, I think that my lab presentation went really well, given the amount of time I had to prepare for it, and given the ‘rambunctiousness’ of my students (for this lab, each of my ‘students’ were given a role to play… I had a complainer, one who loved his cell phone and a talker, along with others!). I am typically not one to put my foot down, because I absolutely hate confrontation. However, I surprised myself by shutting down student misbehavior quickly and in a manner that still exemplified kindness. I also liked how I asked Jenna to talk about personal issues outside of class, because I thought that this was a good way to handle that. These are a few of the things that made me most proud in this lab, and I hope that I am able to continue with them.

Despite my success in reprimanding my students, I did notice some things that I need to work on. Like last time, I used filler words, like um and uh, too often. I also got a little lost on some of my points, but failed to use my notes/lesson plan… which I was holding in my hand the whole time! Perhaps my biggest downfall in this lab was the lesson itself. Because of the short ten minutes that we were given, I didn’t get to create as detailed of a lesson as I would have liked. Naturally, everything felt a little incomplete and rushed, especially the introduction activities.

I also really did not like the method that I used to communicate my expectations, procedures and consequences. I wish that I had done something that was more engaging. Originally, I intended to ask students what each of the expectations meant to help engage them. I did this for the first expectation, but I had no volunteers. I am beginning to notice that when this happens, I simply answer my own question and move to the next thing. Instead, I need to work on calling on someone or presenting the material in such a way that will make students want to answer the questions.

I also need to work on transitions, which is something that Ms. Rice and some of my peers also noticed. I think though, that the more that I teach, the easier this will get. Overall, I think that my lesson went well. Although I do have some things to work on, I do see some improvement in my teaching from the first lab!