Student Teaching - Week #6

by Victoria Johnston - Mitchell Elementary



Joffrey Ballet - American Legends

As a Chicago resident I have the opportunity to become a cultured individual. I am taking full advantage of my fine arts pass and attending the weekly events. The Joffrey Ballet was on the agenda this week. Before Thursday I had seen one other professional ballet and that was The Nutcracker years ago. This ballet was an exquisite performance with great variety in every piece. It began with a more classical piece in four movements and moved to a piece that took place under the sea. I think the second was my favorite. I was continually astonished with the fluidity and grace the dancers exhibited and how flexible the human body can be. It was followed by another more classical piece and ended with Frank Sinatra songs broken into nine different sections. I enjoyed the variation of music and costumes, as well as the beautiful theater where it all took place. Thursday we will be attending the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where Yo-Yo Ma will be playing. I think everyone is looking forward to hearing a world renowned cellist.

This coming week I will begin full-time teaching. I am nervous going into this week. Teaching a subject for the first time is always the hardest, but once I move past the starting line, planning and instruction come more easily. I greatly enjoyed teaching science for the first time this week, mostly because I had a great aha! moment in the midst of my lesson. I used The Lorax to introduce a unit on ecology and while reading the book I was able to teach reading strategies as well as briefly show students’ poetry to kick start their poetry unit next week. Another joy has been seeing the admiration from students for me grow. They are quicker to give me hugs and say hello in the hallways. I am greatly blessed to be in this classroom.

While I am nowhere near a master teacher, I can see great progress in my strategies and instruction since day one. My class appears to be learning, but either cabin fever is setting in or they are specifically attempting to test the student teacher. I have been shaping my classroom management and enjoying the relationships I am building with students, but some have been particularly disrespectful lately. It is frustrating at times, and as the teacher, I must be careful to not allow it to affect my teaching in a negative manner.

Last week I wrote about West Town and its changing face with gentrification. I experienced firsthand the wealthier part of the neighborhood today in my volunteer work. Today, I offered my time at a place near Mitchell that has after school programs and throws parties for kids on weekends. I did not realize until today it was more of a business than an organization. While it is a great resource and owned by wonderful people, it allowed me to see the split in resident life styles. It is interesting to see the drastic shift in such a small area.