My first observation.

Today, my university supervisor came out to observe me teaching a lesson plan. She only does three of these during the entire student teaching, so they're a pretty big deal. As some of you know, I realized midway through the day that *I* had scheduled my first observation for a FRIDAY--LAST HOUR on a Friday. You can imagine how kids are right before the weekend like that, so I was sure that classroom management was going to be a nightmare and that I was doomed before I even began.

Well, as it turns out, it actually went very well. I got a lot of good feedback. The lesson went smoothly. The kids behaved REMARKABLY well for a Friday afternoon. (I didn't tell them who she was, so maybe they were nervous because they weren't sure WHO she was there watching.) The classroom discussion following my lesson was a good one; the kids were engaged and involved; and she said they really seemed to be enjoying this unit (on a novel called The Watsons Go to Birmingham, a fictionalized account of the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham--it's a very good book, actually). She said that I seemed "very at ease" with the kids, that I actually had very good classroom management, especially considering that this was my first observation, and that middle school seemed to be a very good fit for me. Of course, she did have "suggestions for improvement," but I expected nothing less (a, I'm still learning and b, she's one of the toughest advisors at the school. So I was extra excited when we were walking out to our cars and I thanked her for coming and she said something like "Nice job," and I said, "Thank you, I'm glad that it went relatively well" and she said "Don't say 'relatively well;' I'd say that it went very well, particularly for a first visit." Yay.).

All in all, I'm quite happy with how this first observation went. It was a very nice way to start the weekend. AND, Saturday night, Anna and I get to have dinner. I actually get to go out and be SOCIAL on a weekend! Whoo hoo!!