First Week Teaching Stories
I can't believe that I haven't been keeping everyone posted on all of my teaching stories. I started teaching by myself Tuesday and ended up giving a test Friday. Here are some of my many stories...
First you must know that 90% of my students are African-American living in low economic area. I'm a white middle-class lady. So some of my adventures are quite cultural.
My schedule for the week was suppose to be very light. I was going to do a warm-up activity with the students for the first few minutes of class, then my cooperating teacher (Coach CT) would teach the actual lesson. Well, first period Tuesday, I do the warm-up activity. When I got done I told the kids Coach CT was coming to finish up, and the kids said, "No, we want you to finish teaching us." So I ended up teaching the whole lesson for all four, 7th grade classes.
Later, I was going around the classroom trying to learn the students' names. After attempting several of the names, one boy said. "What do they call you?" I said, "THEY call me Kimberly, but YOU call me Ms. Rigney." He just kind of looked at me, and the rest of the kids laughed.
I have a student who's last name is Jackson. His first name is so hard, and I can't remember it. So today I asked him what did he want me to call him. He said it didn't matter. I could call him Mr. Jackson, or his nickname, Zero, or just anything. So I was like, ok well I'll stick with Mr. Jackson. Well some of the kids starting laughing, and I heard someone start saying, "Sorry, Ms. Jackson, I am for real." So I stood there a minute, looked up and started singing..."Never meant to make your daughter cry." The whole class fell out laughing. I said, "Uh huh, you think because I'm white that I don't know anything." I surprised them...it was great!
It's a tradition at O'Bannon (the school I'm teaching at) that football players wear their jerseys, give them to their girlfriends, or a favorite teacher. So last Friday, one boy asked me to wear his Jersey. This student was appointed my "bodyguard" by my cooperating teacher. He's a rather large boy, but he's super sweet. Whenever I see him in the hall, he waves and says, "Hey, Ms. Rigney."
Yesterday, my brother and I were walking into wal-mart and we heard, "Hey, Ms. Rigney!!" One of my students was sitting in a car in the parking lot just a waving at me.
My dumb answer for Thursday: What is the coldest continent in the world?? Arcola! (A small town that is about 30 minutes from Greenville!)
Smartest answer for Thursday: Who is the dumbest boy in the class?? The boy who answered the previous question!!
I reviewed with my 7th graders for their test on Friday. We played a game called last man standing. Everyone stands up, I ask questions, and if they get it wrong they have to sit down. The last man standing wins and doesn't have to take the test. In one class, we played boys against girls. It got soo intense. But it was great because you could tell the kids were actually getting into it and participating. It was such a wonderful moment.
My cooperating teacher told me Thursday that he knew I was doing a good job with the students. He said, "Do you want to know how I know that? Because one of the students walked by me and said, 'Hey Mr. Rigney!'" I had a great kick out of that!
Many more stories to follow.......
First you must know that 90% of my students are African-American living in low economic area. I'm a white middle-class lady. So some of my adventures are quite cultural.
My schedule for the week was suppose to be very light. I was going to do a warm-up activity with the students for the first few minutes of class, then my cooperating teacher (Coach CT) would teach the actual lesson. Well, first period Tuesday, I do the warm-up activity. When I got done I told the kids Coach CT was coming to finish up, and the kids said, "No, we want you to finish teaching us." So I ended up teaching the whole lesson for all four, 7th grade classes.
Later, I was going around the classroom trying to learn the students' names. After attempting several of the names, one boy said. "What do they call you?" I said, "THEY call me Kimberly, but YOU call me Ms. Rigney." He just kind of looked at me, and the rest of the kids laughed.
I have a student who's last name is Jackson. His first name is so hard, and I can't remember it. So today I asked him what did he want me to call him. He said it didn't matter. I could call him Mr. Jackson, or his nickname, Zero, or just anything. So I was like, ok well I'll stick with Mr. Jackson. Well some of the kids starting laughing, and I heard someone start saying, "Sorry, Ms. Jackson, I am for real." So I stood there a minute, looked up and started singing..."Never meant to make your daughter cry." The whole class fell out laughing. I said, "Uh huh, you think because I'm white that I don't know anything." I surprised them...it was great!
It's a tradition at O'Bannon (the school I'm teaching at) that football players wear their jerseys, give them to their girlfriends, or a favorite teacher. So last Friday, one boy asked me to wear his Jersey. This student was appointed my "bodyguard" by my cooperating teacher. He's a rather large boy, but he's super sweet. Whenever I see him in the hall, he waves and says, "Hey, Ms. Rigney."
Yesterday, my brother and I were walking into wal-mart and we heard, "Hey, Ms. Rigney!!" One of my students was sitting in a car in the parking lot just a waving at me.
My dumb answer for Thursday: What is the coldest continent in the world?? Arcola! (A small town that is about 30 minutes from Greenville!)
Smartest answer for Thursday: Who is the dumbest boy in the class?? The boy who answered the previous question!!
I reviewed with my 7th graders for their test on Friday. We played a game called last man standing. Everyone stands up, I ask questions, and if they get it wrong they have to sit down. The last man standing wins and doesn't have to take the test. In one class, we played boys against girls. It got soo intense. But it was great because you could tell the kids were actually getting into it and participating. It was such a wonderful moment.
My cooperating teacher told me Thursday that he knew I was doing a good job with the students. He said, "Do you want to know how I know that? Because one of the students walked by me and said, 'Hey Mr. Rigney!'" I had a great kick out of that!
Many more stories to follow.......
Comments
I am so glad that all is going well with student teaching! Oh, the memories. I pray that you will continue to do well. I am thrilled that you have such a good reputation with the kids and that they like you and can identify with you. Keep up the good work, girl!