This second week at Willmar Middle School seemed to pass by so fast. I had a lot of fun getting to know the students. I probably learned 100 names or so, and hopefully I will remember them all. Mrs. Valdez teaches four different sections of 6th grade and one section of 7th grade. The same lessons are taught for all 6th graders.
This week was the last week of observation and I got a much better "feel" of the classroom, students, and the teaching style of Mrs. Valdez. The middle school students are harmless, but it is important to maintain an atmosphere of discipline in the classroom. They all like to have fun, but that fun can only come through discipline otherwise it can easily and rapidly become chaotic.
Mrs. Valdez does a great job when it comes to classroom discipline. She gives up to four participation points to each student every day. If a student misbehaves, she takes one point off and so on. Since participation is a significant part of the grade, students do not want to loose those points. She gives one to two warning to students if they are not behaving. After that, they are out of the classroom and loose all their participation points. It's been a week of learning how to be fair and fun at the same time. I am thankful!
Another interesting activity that is helping me grow, is to do lunch supervision during the 8th grade lunch period. Many teachers (around 4-5, including the principal and a police officer that works in the school) are also doing lunch supervision during that time. I am getting to know the 8th grade students as well and I always have a chance to talk with some of them for a while . They are starting to get to know me too and most of them want to talk. I enjoy this social time.
This coming week I will be shadowing what the teacher does. She will teach the 1st and 2nd period (6th grade) and I will do the same for the 3rd and 4th period. I am excited!
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