switch of grade level...and no lesson plans!

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Home : 2005 : May : 4

switch of grade level...and no lesson plans!
By marlena nye

I don't accept middle school or high school jobs...don't need the stress. One day though, I was tricked into it. I accepted a second grade position only to find that the K to 8 school had switched me to a 7th grade classroom
of Math and English periods (hope I didn't mind!). I was apprehensive, until I got to the classroom and found no plans whatsoever. The students told me their teacher had been out for a few days and that the other subs had let them have free days and play "Heads up,Seven up" and "4 corners". Ha! Sounded like chaos to me. Very quickly I devised and impromptu assignment where they had

to write a paper about what they liked and disliked about math, and draw a detailed picture with an explanation about how they might use math in their future. I had some great drawings from skater kids using math to build their ramps, and I allowed them to share their drawings with the class at the end of their day. It was an activity that kept all the students engaged and busy. The teacher also got candid feedback from her students about their math opinions. Sometimes I surprise myself!

By the way, it turns out that the lesson plans were in her computer that was "asleep". She could have left a note to that effect, but at least I wasn't the only one that couldn't find them, just the only one who asked. Too bad the message came from the teacher towards the END of the day.