Weekly Reflection #3: Realizations

So last week was generally not disastrous! I know I have a lot of room for improvement, but that improvement seems fairly manageable.

Highlights from last week:

I glanced down at a student's desk and saw a date at the top of her notebook page and the word "Um" and about 20 tally marks. I cocked my head in thought for about 3 seconds and realized she had been counting my "ums."

I make eye contact with students sometimes during quiet times. Usually I smile or, if I know the student pretty well, I wink or something. I guess subconsciously I had been thinking that they were looking at me for some kind of teacher-student connection, a kind look of encouragement, for example. Last week I realized that most of them want to know if I'm watching them because they want to pull out a cell phone or work on other homework. By no means am I allowing myself to become jaded after my first week of teaching -- but I am going to try to cut down on my naivety.

I was officially observed in 6th period by Mr. Conrad this week. The lesson went pretty bad, even though I had made modifications between 3rd and 6th periods. We had a great debrief session about it though, and what seemed like a big problem (poor lesson design) turned out to be more of a management problem (make the kids quiet and listen before you expect them to listen to and execute directions). So, that was really productive and helpful.
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Week Three, Three Words: Here we go!
Things I'm excited about: I received good feedback on my Action Research proposal, which taking shape nicely. The question is going to be something like, "How can I integrate technology into the secondary ELA classroom to support 21st Century Learning Skills?" And if all goes well, my professor mentioned that I should expand my research into the spring semester and turn it into a professional development project.
Things I want to work on: clarity of directions/class time.