Back in January I found it exceedingly difficult to get on the computer. It’s hardly a bad thing but I thought some explaining was due since the same thing is likely to happen again later this month.
As part of my teacher training we’re doing practicums at various schools, with a different grade each time. So far, my two practicums have meant little time at home when I’m not taking care of myself or preparing for a lesson. Coming into the training I knew teachers spent a great deal of non-instructional hours on prep but I didn’t realize *quite* how many. It’s certainly significant.
My last practicum was with a class of grade eights who were working on geometry. Because the students came to the class over a number of years and the teacher was fairly new to them it took a while to figure out where they were at and try to meet them while still getting to the big ideas. It was quite a dance trying to keep things interesting yet having a wide enough spectrum of knowledge to bring what they needed each day. There was no way a class like what I remember from my grade school days would have worked for that group.
What I knew coming into this block was so abstract and taken as fact. It was quite a twist to actually do goemetric constructions and learn about the golden section and platonic solids. I so enjoyed the reading, the constructions, and where all those things lead. Kevin’s a bit of a math nut and so we had quite a number of great conversations on the subject and I was actually able to share new things too! I’m really happy with what I learned about geometry and teaching but my biggest surprise of all is that I enjoyed working with adolescents!
My next assignment is in grade four…. I have a lot to do to catch up on Norse mythology and storytelling!
