Student Teaching - Week #7

by Victoria Johnston - Mitchell Elementary

March has come and the weather is finally “warming” up here in Chicago. Four years ago 35 degrees sounded dreadful and now hearing it will be sunny and 35 or 40 is exciting. I have acclimated slightly to winter climates, but I will still take 110 degrees and a sun burn over possibilities of frost bite and wind chill.
           

Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO)

That said, one of the most exciting nights of the semester for me happened this past week. Thursday’s art event was attending the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Yo-Yo Ma was their guest soloist and having the opportunity to see one of the most well known and talented musicians in the world made me feel like a kid in a candy store. We sat behind the orchestra and, in my opinion, had some of the best seats in the house. Their selection of music with Yo-Yo Ma was a modern piece and dissonant at times, but it was melodic in its own way.  

Yo-Yo Ma with CSO

I never thought I would see a day when a twenty-three minute song seemed short. Also, the ease and unity with which the symphony played was astonishing.  The entirety of the performance sounded like one unified instrument. It was the best surround sound anyone could experience.  My inner classical music nerd came out during the performance leaving me wishing to come back weekly to their performances. This memory will remain in my mind as a highlight of the Chicago Semester experience.

Pizzeria Uno

I am becoming a deep dish expert the longer I live here. I tried Pizzeria Uno this weekend which is the home of the first Chicago deep dish pizza. I am torn between there and Giordano’s as my favorite, but since I could eat pizza on a regular basis I simply enjoyed sampling another deep dish pizza. To any visitor in Chicago I would recommend Pizzeria Uno or Giordano’s for a delicious pie.

The classroom was all over the map this week. I had some joyful days and a particularly difficult day. Wednesday was a half day and after the students left I had the opportunity to acquaint myself with other teachers and the school more at professional development. My students continue to bring me joy daily. Earlier in the week I played line-up trivia with the class where their table group can line up first if one person in their group gets the trivia question correct. I asked if any student knew where Kazakhstan is and one boy raised his hand (he often raises his hand only to guess) and said Asia. This is the correct answer, but he was shocked he was right since it was only a guess and the look of surprise on his face when I said, “You’re correct!” was priceless. 

Harlem Renaissance

Another great moment was while grading papers. I assigned students to write a letter to a friend about the Harlem Renaissance to practice their writing skill for the week and solidify their history lesson. One student wrote his letter to Paul Bunyan and it gave me a chuckle when I came across the letter. Friday, though, was a difficult day. The students did not listen well and many drama cases plagued the group throughout the day. I also had the heartbreaking moment of catching a student cheating during the math test. While the situation necessitated action, I wish that such things did not happen in the classroom. Mitchell has low tolerance for actions such as cheating and disrespect in the classroom, but some students still attempt to test the system.

Despite the rough day Friday, I am looking forward to continuing full time teaching and being in the classroom. Teaching is a joy I am glad to experience and while my time at Mitchell Elementary is short, I am greatly enjoying my set of 36 fifth graders and their unique personalities as people and as learners.