Journal 1

This first week of cadet teaching was in no way what I expected. Rather than fumbling awkwardly through clerical work, day in and day out, I found myself incredibly intriuged by how different my classroom was from any other I had been in before. After inquiring about this my second day, Mr. Conklin informed me that with special education, it isn't a matter of teaching a group, but teaching a group of individuals. Later on in the week I began helping the students with their homework, and realized fully what he was talking about. While on student's problem was getting frustrated and confused when she didn't imediately know the answer to her problem, another was dealing with the issue of simply rushing through her work and forgetting minor steps. At first, I tried to help them in the same exact way, by having them fill in the blanks of the instructions I was giving them, but only the former responded positively to that.

I realize now that I am going to learn a lot from this year, and I can not wait. Onward to more cadet teaching!