I am really getting to know my students, which is wonderful. However, my goal for this week is to work on my "firm but fair" teaching style. My cooperating teacher models this management strategy really well and it takes practice to perfect. I am now in charge of lining the students up and taking the roll. Additionally, I am now leading our morning team building Circle Time which occurs everyday. Circle Time is made for students to bond and support their classmates socially, emotionally, and academically. My teacher noticed from previous years of teaching Years 7/8 that the students tend to form cliques and socially bully other students. She decided that the best way to end these conflicts is through making her classroom a small, safe community where students are willing to share problems and jubilations with the teachers and classmates. Circle Time is a place where every student must share a "brag" and a "drag" that is occurring in their lives. Also, students share a goal for the day. It is interesting to see what each students' goal is for the day and then have the class support their classmates in reaching those goals.
I have learned that structuring the beginning of the year correctly is essential to a successful school year, which is why we are concentrating on putting procedures in place for the students.
Bre and I had a fantastic weekend in Rotorua. We went whitewater rafting (see the picture above), zorbing (rolling down a grassy hill in a giant plastic ball), luging (without any snow!), and rode a gondola. Saturday and Sunday were filled with daring adventures, but we were ready to get back into the classroom on Monday. We are already planning for the other exciting things that we want to do on the weekend.
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