Before I actually get to the post for today I must clear up a little comment I made yesterday about how the lessons went yesterday. What Kristin did was come in and do what any good teacher would do, take a struggling classroom and right the ship. She saw a need, her students were not understanding the lesson, and she jumped right in. Putting aside whether that was "right" or not, she did what was natural instinct. I have no problem with that, what I had a problem with was me being frustrated at not jumping in sooner and fixing the problem at hand. Kristin is a great teacher and she did what any mother bird would do in that situation and I do not hold any bad feelings about the situation. As one of the people that posted on the blog entry yesterday wrote, "that there are so many factors that influence a lesson's effectiveness." That statement is completely true. There was the factor of the students not ever learning that concept before, the fact that it is overall a hard concept to grasp, and that they have a student teacher teaching them all came together for that one lesson.
In the end, while I thought at the time it was a "failed lesson," it retrospect it was not. Instead, it was a learning experience. I learned that it's hard to give up your classroom to a new teacher half way through the year. I can't even imagine what Anne and Kristin have to do on a daily basis just to not jump in and add their thoughts to the class. They have been amazing cooperating teachers and I want to thank them for having the trust and confidence in me to sit in the back and let me run the class. Thank you and I won't be upset when you jump in next time, as these are your students after all.
Finally, I want to close with a quote that a good friend sent me yesterday after reading my blog post: "If you're NOT failing every now and again, it's probably a sign you're not doing anything very innovative." I did not fail yesterday, according to my updated definition, but I am trying new things and learning a lot at AHS.
