Reflection 1

Monday morning, my first day, started terrible because of traffic. I was in time for school but not for the staff meeting scheduled at 07:25. However,  as the day proceeded I fell enough with the fact that Learners can have such an enormous trust in their teachers and believe what they tell them is true. It took me back to my school days, even the class arrangements. Learners are seated alphabetically and  a not change seats as this is a precaution to disruptive behaviour. Tuesday was my first staff meeting. I was surprised by how tranquil the environment was. It was so different from the school I attended as the teachers at my school sat around a big table. At my practice school, there were couches and coffee tables which brought forth an environment that contributed to feeling home. The teachers are amiable and always greet you no matter how many times they saw you in the hall way. I observed lessons for grade 8 until grade 12. The grade 12 learners are so focused on passing the year that they have so much concentration during class. The grade 8 learners are the total opposite. This is not  bad thing as they think out of the box. They are always asking questions. No matter how silly it may seem. We doing forces and in the electrostatic force lesson, he kept asking questions based in what he did at home.  He enquired why the car did not want to start when he connected the jumper cables to the homes electrical supply. He even asked if one will be able to get in  oven to feel the temperature. It so fun being in the grade 8 class. There is never a dull moment. However some of the grade 8 learners have the tenancy to be disruptive to towards student teachers in the other classes as there were complains this week bout the grade 8 learners. I'm  teaching grade 9 and grade 10, Natural Sciences and Life Sciences respectively. I did my first lesson on Friday for the grade 9 class. It went well however learners starred getting out of hand.  I learnt that one should set clear rules before starting a lesson. When jokes are made learners think that it is an opportunity to talk and it is a great challenge to calm them down. My mentor got so angry that she gave them a lesson on respect. We punished them by keeping them in during break for a few minutes. I had to stay with them in order for them to see that the punishment did not only come from my mentor, their actual teacher but me as well. My mentor also told my colleague and I that we should not show  friendly side when we strt teaching. Be assertive and and strict so they know not to take chances.

I decided to take part of the netball team but then had a change of heart and tried something I never did...Hockey! I'm excited to see what is awaiting as my first experience was just observing.
I also made new friend in a colleague that is studying B.Ed at CPUT. He is very funny and gives us great advice about teaching practice as it is his last year. We have great talks during lunch, my colleague nd the new friend nd I, even though the breaks are so short.

I'm soo excited about next week. I am teaching my first grade 10 Life Sciences lesson on Blood vessels.
I hope everyone had a great experience as me,  no matter the challenges. The challenges are what will be make us great future teachers.
Good luck to all!