Today, as with so many days in my intern experience, had both high and low points. I think I shall begin with the low…causing one of my students to cry. I have tried to be patient about the fact that he does not turn in his homework. I have tried to be understanding of his home situation. Today I had to be straight with him and talk about how serious it is that he get some of his work turned in. It broke my heart to see his eyes well up with tears as he avoided my eye contact. I know that if I can in anyway impress upon him the importance of deadlines and responsibility it will benefit him in the, but for today I can’t help but feel like I have crushed his spirits a bit. I pray that I can be an encouragement to him in the coming weeks.
So..my small victory for the day. I have recently been given the challenge of planning a writing unit, a challenge that terrified me a bit. Yesterday when I introduced the unit and had the students do a small sample and self assessment they seemed less than thrilled about writing. Today I introduced a creative and fun way to come up with ideas for their stories and they loved it! They were enthusiastic and I hardly could believe all the hands in the air as they impatiently waited to be asked to add to the class discussion. I realized quickly that as I am excited about a task they too will follow. I still have much planning and learning to do about how to teach writing, but I feel that today was a wonderful start!
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