Thursday. Eighth grade math. Seventh period.
When Ms. M planned these two weeks that she'd be out, she found a unit that would take two weeks to complete (including unit test). She kept the topics similar for the seventh and eighth grades, although they wouldn't be the same.
The seventh graders had learned about circumference and area of circles. The eighth graders had done the volume of cylinders.
As a sub, I don't usually spend a whole period going over notes and problems and examples. (I usually introduce an assignment, answer some questions, and let them work.) So, by the end of the day on Thursday, I was worn out.
I had taught the same lesson all day. They started with questions reviewing what they had done the previous class session. Then I went over the answers, starting by writing down the formula for the volume of a cylinder.
"Shouldn't that be squared?" a student asked.
Instead of writing down the formula for the area of a circle, I had written down the formula for the circumference. (Something the seventh graders had done the previous day, but something none of the eighth grade classes had done on this day.)
I wrote down the formula three different times, only getting it right on the third try.
Yup, I was tired. And loopy.
I had to shake it off and get my brain in the game. This was material that was new to them, so I had to get it right.
I did. Eventually. After a shaky start.
It's a good thing I don't get too flustered when I make mistakes in front of them. I just own that I made an oops and continue on. (And I thanked the student who caught my mistake. What a disaster if I had continued on with the wrong formula.)
By the time I get used to teaching them all day, my two week assignment will be over.
Now I understand your comment on Pam's blog. lol Best wishes!
ReplyDelete- Darla Sands
https://darlamsands.blogspot.com
I don't even recall what I wrote. Uh oh...
DeleteHard keeping your focus like this for an entire day. You can't work within your own rhythms (times of the day you seem sharper than at other times). You handled it just the right day. Life lesson: don't be afraid to be wrong, if you own up to it and move on.
ReplyDeleteI'm wrong in front of them frequently enough that I had to get used to it.
DeleteOops…
ReplyDeleteOh man. Sometimes, your mind just won't focus!
ReplyDeletethecontemplativecat here. You have my condolences. You faced one of the struggles of teaching stuff, and get corrected by a student. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI was actually happy that (1) he caught it (so I didn't tell them how to do it wrong, and (2) that he had been paying attention well enough to realize I was writing the wrong thing down.
DeleteKudos to you, there is no way I could last 7 periods (I guess that's why I'm retired!). Glad you caught your mistake.
ReplyDeletewhen I get loopy like that I have to sleep some extra hours.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I needed the weekend after that.
DeleteIt must be so difficult to do that as a sub, no matter how tired you are.
ReplyDeleteI am teaching a class this year that I have never in over 25 years of teaching taught before, completely outside of the subject areas I am trained in, I straight up told this class on the first day that we are all on this learning journey together! We are 6 weeks into the academic year in my state in Australia, and these kids are great, if I make a mistake, they gently point it out and we all move on (and considering this is a Year 8 class!), and I mean gently, they are kind. Do I really want to be doing this, no, but so far so good!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice when they work with you. Sometimes they do.
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