Day 4 of Teaching!

So I have been a bit busy this week for blogging. Teaching is going quite well and I have learned a lot. Here are some things I have learned:
1) Students are always good on your first day. Treasure it.
2) Students are always bad with a supply teacher. They will be completely insane and the student teacher will lose her voice trying to keep control of the class. It will take unbelievable amounts of energy, but they will get their work done in the end.
3) Students will choose the Hollywood version over the documentary EVERY TIME. They still prefer documentaries to lectures, group work, and most other things, though.
4) Group work does not really work in a grade ten immersion class. The work only gets done by one or two people in each group, and the others get out of control. They don't really even enjoy it.
5) Students hate doing questions out of the textbook just on principle. They will gladly write a paragraph for you based on a question you write on the board, but if it's written in the textbook they get upset. Tough cookies for them.
6) No matter what certain seminar teachers would have you believe, students respect you WAY more when you are honest and real with them. Sharing a little bit about yourself, especially when asked directly, can go a long way with some of the more difficult students.
7) Nicknames can be fun as long as they are appropriate. My students even ASKED me if they could call me "Lack-attack". I said sure. They really enjoy it and it isn't offensive, so who cares?
8) Students LOVE celebrating birthdays and other non-class-related events. We talked about Terry Fox the other day since it was the anniversary of the beginning of the Marathon of Hope. I also bought a birthday card for S and got them all to sign it for his birthday that is coming up next week. He will be so surprised, and they had a great time.
9) There is no such thing as a lost cause. You just haven't gotten through to them yet. I have one student that has completely turned around since I took over, only because he likes WW2 and he relates to me. S still can't believe it.
10) Other teachers will do just about anything for you, from sharing their lunch to touring you around to offering to come to your aid at any time. I feel so fortunate to have such great colleagues :)

That is all I can think of or have the time for at the moment. Sadly, most of these websites are blocked on the school computers (youtube, facebook, twitter, most blog sites, etc.) so I cannot update often.

Today we have the supply teacher again. I am giving in a little and letting them watch a movie (Saving Private Ryan, which they requested) and they can work on their homework questions and study for the quiz tomorrow. Let's hope it goes well!