I was slightly less nauseated watching myself teach on film for the second time in as many months. I certainly showed improvement from last time (thank God--I don't know what that would have meant had that not been the case), mainly in my method of instruction. Instead of the lecture style, I had everything written out on overheads; that way, all I had to do was ask questions and guide students through my questioning to the correct answer so they think they came up with it on their own. Once they get it right, I pull down the sheet covering the overhead to reveal what one of them has just said. This takes a LOT more time and preparation (even a little TLC), so I'm not sure how often I'll do it this way during the actual year, but I might go out on a limb to say it's the most effective style I've used thus far.
Sadly, even with this preparation, I still didn't think of everything they might have trouble with; thus, I wound up back at the board (for way too long) answering their questions and showing them why. This event itself is not too bad; I hit my biggest struggles when I realized just how much time I spent with my back to the class. I'm going to get tormented during the year. I'm not just inviting students to misbehave. I'm begging them. It's easy with just three of them in the room (or four when they all show up), but I won't be that lucky during the year. I also won't be given a gift of some of the best behaved and hardest working students in the whole summer school. I hear horror stories (for summer school, at least), and just can't even comprehend them because of how great my students are. They obviously have been academically abused throughout their young lives, but all things considered, I'm rather impressed. They still have a LONG way to go, but they're making great strides. I wish I could say that it was because of me, but let's be serious: when there's only 4 kids and at least 2-3 teachers, it's really audacious to do anything OTHER than be on task.
