Oct.4, 07

I went to school really early today because I had to photocopy the autobiography/biography packages that I prepared for the Language unit. After I finished photocopying, I felt so relieved, because I'm prepared for this 8-week unit. I really appreciate Ms.Lamba's suggestion for putting together a package for the students, otherwise I'll be making worksheets and organizers on a weekly basis. This gets me ready for the unit, and although it was a lot of work, I'll be thankful later on, 'cause I'm all set to go.

I showed Ms.Lamba the packages, and she really likes it. The only problem is that my writing checklists should have more simplied language, because what I did right now might be too abstract for the students. But she said that I can explain it to them, but next time I'll be aware of it.

I find that the bells are very distracting for the students and for me as well. The bell would ring inbetween lessons, because older students are switching to other classes. One solution of this would be to have an alarm clock in each classroom, and the teachers can set it on their own, so it won't disturb other classes.

After lunch, I taught my first lesson at Randall P.S.! I was really nervous two nights before. I dreamed that I did a really boring lesson, and the students started standing up and walking around. It was horrible!! ><" But that's not what happened, of course. ^^" I read an excerpt from "Three Weeks with my Brother", and they loved it~ It seems like they really enjoy read-alouds. I'll make sure that I do some of it every week! We talked and we laughed, so I think it was a pretty good lesson. The only thing is that I think I should prepare for different activities for each lesson, because they would get distracted if I give them too much time to work on one thing. It's different from teaching Gr.1s, because I can assign unfinished work as homework to the Gr.4/5s.

It is difficult to handle all 29 students, but I think I'm doing OK, not so bad. I used my strategies that I tested out last year, such as putting my index finger to my lips and waiting for everyone to be quiet. I even moved one student because they kept on talking and distracting the class. But I believe that they all know my style now. I won't yell, I smile and laugh a lot, but I want them to be aware of their actions and be respectful.

I noticed that Gr.5s are really good at stimulating class discussions, because they have learned some of the things that I'm teaching the Gr.4s. That's a good thing about split class. The students really learn from each other.

When I asked the students to think of a person who they want to know about, and think of some questions that they want to ask him/her, they chose me as the person. They asked questions like "Did you ever get married?", "What colour do you want to dye your hair?", "Did you like someone when you were in school?" They are so different from Gr.1s hahaha~

While they were working, I went around to take pictures of them, so they can use them in their autobiography/biography later on. Most of them enjoyed it, but one girl wouldn't let me take her picture. I told her that it's ok, I'll ask her again next week, but it's fine if she really didn't feel comfortable with it.

Before school ends, two girls came up and asked me do I want to be a teacher. I said yes, and asked them if I did an OK job today or not, and they said yes. ^^" I could feel that some of them have already developed a liking towards me~