Tuesday 30 March 2010

There's a First for Everything

Something funny happened to me today.

I teach chilren from 9 to 14 years of age. They go from one classoom to another as their timetable tells them. I don't really look at my timetable a lot. It is full and I know which classes I have and it doesn't really bother me when I have them. Things often change, you see, because of some extra events or some teachers missing due to ilness - either their own or of their kids at home.

Anyway, I took a glimpse at the timetable in the staff room after the second lesson today and noticed something weird: I was supposed to teach not one class, but two, in the third lesson.

I tried to find our pincipal assistant, but she was not available. I tried to think of something, but there wasn't enough time. Of course it was an error and I should have seen it earlier, but I hadn't even looked at the timetable, as I mentioned above.

Little choice did I have. I saw no solution to the problem, so I went upstairs, opened the door to the eighth-graders, opened the next door to our 5-th graders and taught them all.

I gave the older ones a text and a task. A few instructions and I left for a while.
We discussed animals with the younger ones. Some textbook exercises, workbook exercises, oral exercises and a written text to put together. Not a long one: they had to write 4 sentences each to describe an animal and we tried to guess which animal it was.

I went here and there and everyone did everything. My only concern really was that it was against regulations - the children shouldn't be left alone... Well, what can you do.

The lesson went by, I met the principal assistant, she showed me how I could have easily switched classes with another teacher (but nobody saw it then), but everything was fine.

In the end there was another result of this kinda funny situation: For the next lesson I didn't have class - I had a free lesson, which I never do. I relaxed, had a coffee and gathered some energy for the two lessons that followed.

10 comments:

  1. Everyone did everything? That's probably the most surprising thing. :P

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  2. Well of course the eighth-graders found a way around it, but they didn't really avoid doing what they were told to do. And it's their homework to finish wha they didn't fnish at school.

    I must admit it would be more difficult to do it this way with any other grous. For such an error these two were really ideal.

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  3. Teaching two classes at once is brilliant. Maybe you should be employed to teach all classes at once. You just need to learn to self-replicate.

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  4. Nope, I wouldn't go there. One of me is enough. But I would be willing to do two lessons at the same time as I did today from time to time. Now that I'm thinking - the older ones were probably behaving better than usually... what if I AM THE BAD INFLUENCE there ? Hmmmm...

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  5. Aw man, I would have been so stressed out. It sounds like you did a great job though, teaching on the fly.

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  6. It was my fault anyway (ort of). And as I said, they really are two very nice groups.

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  7. Can you imagine teaching in a one-room schoolhouse like the pioneers...all grades at once...

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  8. It must have been hard. On the other hand, the children were different. But again, not too different.

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  9. I think you must be a very skilled teacher to keep everyone calm and happily productive when these unexpected situations arise - good for you!

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  10. Naaah, it was nothing... :))

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