Learning to take it!

This week was an interesting one, especially as far as professional development goes. I got to go observe some other math teachers at other schools & have already adopted a few math review games I really enjoyed watching. I introduced my ECAP comprehension goal to the kids & we practiced the different comprehension skills with a passage on winter this Friday. I'm thankful we only have 2 days  this next week, & that I get those 2 days to go back over what we started practicing & learning Friday. The only sad part is that when the kids got to choose free seating (from a class reward they'd earned the day before), some students were kind of left to themselves, & others were very particular about who came & sat by them. (The new class president had quite a gathering around him; he's kind of a goofball though anyway, & I believe the boys' intention by sitting by him was to goof off during the lesson!)  Two girls were even arguing about who got to sit by this cute boy they both like......this is not junior high, people! :/ And one little guy didn't get to sit by his friend ("the cute boy") because of all the girl drama, so he promptly began crying. He's only cried twice this year, but when he cries, he really cries! But the activity itself turned out good & they were mostly all engaged.
On Wednesday this week I got observed, as part of the formal observation process for provisional teachers, & while the lesson & instruction went well, my students' behavior really didn't. And while I noticed some things during the lesson, I wasn't aware of all the distractions & blurting out that took place (probably because I was so nervous to have the assistant principal in the back of the room, scribbling away on her paper.) So, this is a chance for a fresh start on a few things! After visiting with her (the post-conference) on Friday, we have pinpointed a few areas for improvement; cleanliness of the classroom & a tighter management system. I am going to implement this after Thanksgiving Break, & hopefully I will come up with a very effective way to teach it; my kids are wonderful, but they sure like to talk & squirm a lot throughout the entire day....it can really get to ya!