Under Pressure

So, my cooperating teacher had a doctor's appointment this afternoon. The school was required to hire a sub for that half of the day, but really, I just did everything...my first taste of taking over the entire day...and it was incredibly stressful. The process of making a million decisions and not having my teacher there when I needed help was almost scary.

But guess what?
I did it.
And all the kids went home alive...happy even.

I still feel stressed, though, like I forgot something...but I think that is just me second-guessing myself. I'm pretty sure they did everything they were supposed to do this afternoon.

One new (to me)thing that I did today was write a note home to a parent because their child was complaiging of chest pain and shortness of breath all afternoon and the nurse was not at the school today (shouldn't a nurse be there everyday?...hmmm). It took me wayyyyyy longer than it probably should have because I was trying to word it perfectly and make sure it looked and sounded professional...but even that turned out ok (for now).

The biggest problem that I had this afternoon was teaching social studies. We were discussing the concept of hemispheres, the different hemispheres, and doing a worksheet about how you could locate which hemisphere the continents were in. Previously, the students had learned about northern and southern hemispheres, then eastern and western, and now today the lesson combined all four. I did several examples using a large ball with tape on it to show the equator and prime meridian (the school has no globes) and then had them put a little figurine on the ball and they located the hemispheres it was in just fine. Then, when I had them do the exact same thing on the worksheet, even the brightest students were having some troubles. So again, I did another example of hemispheres using a student (having the class look at sides of her to show that when you could see one, you could not see the other) and told them about a million times how this page was like the ball laid out flat. We went through the sheet together, and at the end I had them do a fist of five for me...not surprisingly, most of them said "5", that they totally understood this material 100%...and only 2 or 3 admitted to being confused. I could tell that they really were not fully grasping this concept and this is the first time I've had this happen...where the whole class isn't seeming to get it. It was very stressful for me, but it had to have been just as stressful for them too! Hopefully with some more review they will start to get it more.

Needless to say, I am exhausted...but thoroughly enjoying the practice I am getting.
Tomorrow my supervisor from the college comes to observe me again. I did very well on my midterm, and I took all her suggestions to heart, so hopefully she will have some good things to say...and hopefully the kids behave.