Head Teacher

For this semester of classes, I am placed six hours per week at a preschool placement. Throughout the semester we had to be "head teacher" two times. This means we had to watch over the classroom, discipline children and instruct other teachers as needed. The first time I did this, I was paired with another teacher and we shared the responsibility. The second time, I had all the responsibilities while also having to plan a unit-type lesson. I was in a group with four other people that planned the other four days of the week. Our theme was health and body and my day was concerning food. I read a story called "The Donut Chef" by Bob Staake and talked about what is unhealthy about donuts. I brought fruits and vegetables cut in half for students to paint with along with a sorting activity with healthy and unhealthy foods. I also brought some fried potatoes and baked potatoes and allowed students to feel, smell and look and decide which was healthier.

Overall, the lesson went really well and the day went smoothly. I found it surprising how much time was involved in preparing for four hours of teaching. It struck me suddenly that I would be doing this on the daily soon, but preparing for a full day of teaching. I know that in the future it will become second nature to create lessons and there will be less stress involved. I understand now why we have to write so many lesson plans for classes and even from the beginning of the semester to now I have become more comfortable with lesson planning. I know that in the future it will only become easier.