better

Student quote of the week so far:

In a discussion on the value of history and understanding our historical and cultural origins, I heard these words over the low rumble of voices:

I came from the internet.

Teaching gets easier every day.  The teaching itself isn't too difficult, it's really the classroom management that is troublesome. I treat each period as a new experiment.  And so far it keeps getting better. Today was probably twice as good as yesterday.  I felt like I was in control of the classroom all day, and the students were actually learning something.

I think the turning point actually came yesterday.  First period was pretty bad again, with the same eighth grade class that had the fight my first day.  One of the students who was in the fight was actually the best student that day, but the whole class had very little respect for my authority.  I was frustrated.  Every day each teacher has one period of "prep."  My prep period was right after that class yesterday, and not having much teaching preparation to do, I decided to do some spiritual preparation.  I spent a while prayer-journaling, and asking God to fill the hearts of my students with spirits of peace and obedience.

And he did.  The rest of the day was good.  Comparatively, today was great.

I'm still developing a concept of how long 75 minutes actually is and what can be accomplished in that time.