Thursday. Seventh grade Spanish I for Spanish Speakers. Eighth period.
They had a student teacher, so the class went on as normal. For this day, the students were doing oral presentations on various Central and South American countries. In Spanish.
The student teacher taught the class in Spanish.
I may have mentioned before that the language I took in school was French.
So, yeah, I wasn't understanding a whole lot of what was going on. I mean, I got the gist, but I definitely didn't get the specifics.
I may have also mentioned that I write about what happened last week, so this happened on April 30th. As it was the last day of the A to Z Challenge, I had distracted myself all day by reading blogs. But by eighth period I had completed that.
And there's just something about sitting there while the kiddos were going through slides about Cuba, speaking in Spanish way better than I could ever attempt, that did not help my drowsiness.
Sometimes, before bed, I'll play on my phone or I'll read. And there's that point where I kind of blank out, and when I go back and try to continue what I was doing, I'll realize I'm not comprehending anything I'm doing, and it's time to put that all aside and go to sleep. This is what I was feeling while in that eighth period class.
Not good.
While I was not actively teaching, I was still there as an observer. (It's a legal thing. Since the student teacher isn't employed by the district, a district employee needs to be present.) And I was fading, fast.
I needed something to wake me up. I checked my email. I flipped through some catalogs. I worked on the note to the teacher (which was largely unneeded because the student teacher would see her the next day).
Even the fidgety seventh graders couldn't keep my attention. (And they were not behaving well.)
Did I fall asleep? No. Well... I took a lot of micro naps. I definitely blanked out, many times, but not for long at all each time.
Not ideal, but somehow I managed to stay mostly awake.
(I did not stay up too late the night before, and I had gotten a good night's sleep. I should not have been that tired. But some days...)
I can see why, it would be hard to stay engaged if you can't understand anything.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I understood enough. The presentations had slides. With pictures. And 7th graders talking in front of their peers is always a trip. But it was not enough.
DeleteThis feeling is so familiar to me. I’ve probably done that a few times at meetings at my job over the years .
ReplyDeleteI can easily imagine it happening in meetings.
DeleteI have definitely been there. lol
ReplyDeleteHaven't we all?
DeleteThat in-between state between awake and sleep is strange. A scary incident is when it happens behind the wheel. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteI’ve had a similar reaction at seminars …
ReplyDeleteI guess we all get that drowsy feeling.
DeleteThat's natural, I guess. If I'm sitting through something that's beyond my comprehension, I'd nod off too.
ReplyDeleteOh, it doesn't have to be beyond my comprehension. It just has to be low key enough that I'm not chasing students.
DeleteI get it--when you can’t follow the language fully, it’s tough to stay engaged.
ReplyDeleteEven with slides and visuals, the details slip by and it’s easy to drift off.
Those kinds of sub classes were the ones I couldn't stand, when they bored me so. I still admire you for doing this.
ReplyDelete