Junior Field--First Day

Today was my first day at Conackamack Middle School in Piscataway. I was nervous but also felt somewhat comfortable at the same time because I met with my cooperating teacher twice prior to this day. My cooperating teacher is very helpful and very informative which definitely helps ease my nerves. Today went pretty smoothly. The classes I am working with are all seventh grade English classes. I helped my cooperating teacher file her students' paper work early this morning and then interacted with the second block students as they were preparing for "Poetry Slam". The students write seven of their own poems (three of which are to be different forms of poetry) and they will present them later on in the week. I walked around helping them figure out what to write about and answered questions about different forms of poetry. I enjoyed helping the students out with their poetry because I enjoy reading and writing poetry myself. After that I had a two hour break!!! That was great! At this time, teachers get together for "Shared Planning". During this time, teachers share ideas on different subject matter as well as share lesson plans. We also eat lunch during this time frame. The last two periods of the day went by quickly. I basically reviewed my cooperating teacher's lesson plans for the next week, looked through textbooks, and thought about my own lesson plans. Overall, I had a pretty good day. I didn't notice any ELL students in any of the classes yet. The
students were well-behaved for the most part and most importantly, I didn't go home with a headache :)