Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Out of Content Class
Today I decided to get my "out of content" classes done since my cooperating teacher wasn't there and when I was introduced to the substitute teacher he completely blew me off when I said "hi" and "good morning". Anyway, I observed and 8th grade english class and a special education room with 5 autistic boys and 1 autistic girl in it. It was quite an experience just observing their behavior. The mood swings were spontaneous and at times quite funny. The girl said that her stomach hurt and that it felt like a wolf ran into it, which was funny because of how she said it and her facial expressions. I'm glad I obsevred this classroom because I did get a better understanding of what special education teachers have to deal with on a daily bais nad how much patience it requires. I admire them because it's something that I don't think I'd ever be able to do. However, I will be glad to be back into the history classroom on Thursday.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I think this out of content observation thing is a great idea. Last year, I observed an Art class and a Drama class.
I come from an artistic background and have always loved art, so I was surprised when I heard nearly every student groan when they were told they'd have to go to art despite the snow delay. So I followed them to art and found out why.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not ripping on a teacher, I wouldn't pretend to be qualified to do that, but they were doing art history book worksheets. They found this dull, to say the least.
I had in fact considered trying to teach art, but I was frightened by the prospect of finding a job. Some schools districts only hire one teacher for several schools, and the art teacher must travel to different schools on different days, thus there were less job vacancies.
Anyway, back the out of content thing. My next observation was a drama class, in which the class was studying Euripedes. This wasn't something that I thought modern middle schoolers would like, but they were stoked. In fact, when the teacher dished out parts, there were more students wanting to participate than there were parts to play. This amazed me, but I quickly found out at least part of the reason why. The teacher was charismatic and got the kids involved.
Kids are weird, sometimes. Who'd have thought they'd like some Greek playwright from ancient times? Yet they always surprise me. Many kids complain about reading, yet they wait in line for Harry Potter, which are often 700+ pages. Go figure. I guess if it's enjoyable, and I know JK Rowling's books are, they'll get into it.
I'm with you on the special education teachers. I don't think I could do it - they are a true life saver sometimes. The classes outside of core-content classes were always my favorite in school- I guess it's harder for a teacher to lecture about gym...
Post a Comment