end of week one

So I have survived one week of being a teacher at a summer program for smartypants kids. Yay for me! It was not 100% successful, but that would be boring, right? My snakes and dissection classes are going well. My co-teachers have complimented me on my ability to keep 34 kids on task while dissecting earthworms and crayfish. One of my other classes has been a disappointment. The kids are disinterested and not making much of an effort. I'm not doing a great job of motivating them or helping them explore, I think partly because when I offer an idea they don't give me much in return. They don't offer their own thoughts. This class is all about learning to be great, work with others, not be obnoxious, fit in with others without sacrificing individuality. There are lots of great topics but we can barely get to them because some of the kids are fighting me the whole way. I'm going to try some other tactics this week and see if things improve. Overall, I am getting a lot out of this experience. The other teachers have accepted me and my fellow newbies with open arms and when I ask for support (one of the rules of the program for students and teachers alike), they are forthcoming with all kinds of "hey, that happened to me too" remarks as well as suggestions for different approaches. One thing I realized almost immediately was that I came to this program for a reason I didn't even suspect, but that is the subject for a later post.