Week Two Journal Entry

Last week, in my first journal entry, I wrote about how much I’ve enjoyed meeting the students and seeing signs of their individuality. The thing I want to write about this week is also student-centered, with a bit of self-discovery.

Like a lot of people who become teachers, I have always been a good student. As a young student, I hated group work, and I will admit, to my embarrassment, that I never really had enough patience to slow down and help the slower learners around me. If I had had a motto as a student, it would have been, “Every man for himself.”

I find that I am viewing the classroom very differently as a teacher. As I watch Ms. Thaxton teach her lessons and assign group work, I worry that A. never finds a partner. As we go through the Daily Grammar Grams, and the capable volunteers come to the board to correct the sentences, I worry that the students who chose not to volunteer were the students who didn’t get it. As I have begun to plan my lessons and even write my quizzes, I worry about how W. will do. I imagine D. reading my test questions and not understanding my vocabulary. I change the wording of the questions and re-save the document.

I understand that my newfound sensibilities will prove to be a strength and a weakness for me. This was brought to my attention earlier in the week as I meticulously taught a lesson on direct objects. Ms. Thaxton commented that it might have been too low-level. My defense would be that a lot of students had missed a direct object diagnostic question, and apparently this instruction was needed, but I know that she has a point. I can’t forget to keep the advanced students in mind, as well as the low-lever learners, as I plan. Welcome to the world of differentiated instruction. It is certainly a tough puzzle to solve.