Nothing to do

Yesterday, April 29, 2014, was my day off from work.  I was trying to make some plans with friends since it is really hard to find time for my social time but everyone was too busy working or meeting up with their mentors.  I figured, I might as well meet with my mentor since I have been lagging on my hours.  So after getting out of school at 2:01 PM, I walk to the bus stop and took the ECR bus to El Camino High School.  I stopped by Starbucks and bought my mentor some coffee since I was waiting for the clock to hit 3 o'clock.  During my meeting with my mentor, we went through the "Common Core" program once again, but this time, more in depth.  I have realized that the "Common Core" is starting to impact South City because it is required that YEARBOOK should do some sort of reading.  Maybe I would care about it more if I wasn't graduating this year, it's really unfortunate for Juniors and underclassmen though.  But anyways, "Common Core" is pushing for reading in all classes: Math, Electives, History, English (obviously).  I find it really cool how my mentor is a "Common Core" trainer because I can learn first-hand about what "Common Core" really is.

Time logged from this session: 3 hours
Total time logged : 15

Speeding Through the Hours

After school on Monday, April 28, 2014, I took advantage of the last day of Spring Break and scheduled an early morning meeting with my mentor.  From 10 A.M to 3 P.M, we talked and I also created a lesson plan myself.  It actually took a really long time to finish just one lesson plan.  Standing in front of a class is pretty nerve wrecking if you really think about it.  I always thought it was so easy because you got paid for talking all day.  I realized how important it is to prepare the day before so you know what you are going to say, how you're going to say it, and also, how your students are going to learn from whatever you said.  As I spend more hours with my mentor, the more I drift from the idea of becoming a teacher.

Time logged from this session: 5 hours

Total time logged: 12 hours

Time to grade tests!

On Sunday, April 27, 2014, I met with my mentor once again but this time from 4-7 P.M. I corrected some assignments and tests, imputed them on the grade sheets, and learned how to input them onto schoolloop. In this session, I learned that it's a lot of work to be a teacher and there's a lot more to the job than to teach 5 classes a day. While grading the work, I had to be really careful because the grade that I was marking on the papers were the grades that other students would be receiving. I would just remember all the times a teacher would mess up on my grades and I didn't want to do that to someone else. After 3 long hours, all the work was graded and imputed into schoolloop.

Time logged for this session: 3 hours
Total time logged: 7 hours

Starbucks meet with my mentor

Saturday, April 26, 2014, I met with my mentor from 12-2 P.M. and we went over lesson plans. She showed me what was needed to create one and how to prepare for your lesson. I learned how important a lesson plan is to a teacher because it outlines how the day is play out. A lesson plan is needed because a teacher should know what to teach their students that day and also be ready to teach that lesson.

Time logged for this session: 2 hours
Total time logged: 4 hours