WEEK TEN- Daily Log: Monday, April 30, 2007

• Today was mostly spent in the A.V. room due to the fact that most of my tasks had to do with photocopying. My first task was to make some copies of an activity for the other french teacher Mme. Colonna. I made about two sets of sixteen back and front copies of this activity and placed them back on her desk. Mme. Mercer then had me flip through an acivity book. This book is a very old grade seven workbook. She wanted me to look and photocopy any activities in the book that I thought were fun and appropriare for some ESL students. I searched through the whole book and went through all of the activities. I ended up choosing about thirty activities out of the book, and made copies of them.


• Mme. Mercer then wanted me to laminate a bunch of posters having to do with french. They listed the top ten reasons why taking french is important. I actually read through the reasons while laminating, and found them very interesting. I laminated about sixteen posters, and then sat down to cut them out. Once I cut them out I put them back into their envelope and left them for Mme. Mercer.


• My next job was to photocopy eight letters to go home to the students' parents. I then had to get some envelopes for them. When I finished this I went to the second afternoon class where I walked around to help the students with the skits they are practicing.


• For the rest of the afternoon I worked with Mme. Mercer to comply the lesson I will be teaching later on. We went over a bunch of things I will cover, and little notes I should know for teaching a lesson. I worked for three and a quarter hours today.

WEEK NINE- Weekly Journal

I have a lot of responsibilty at my placement, which has somewhat surprised me because I thought that I would work more behind the scenes. However, Mme. Mercer has given me the power to make many decisions, and do things that I see fit. This makes me feel as if I am more involved in my workplace, and that I actually matter. Some decisions that I make are questions that should be put on quizzes and tests (I usually choose from various previous tests). I also can decide how I want to explain things to students and how I generally interact with them. I do want to be more stern with conflict resolution, however, because I want to be seen as more of an authority figure. I was also given the power to choose the last two units that the grade sixes will be doing. The most power I have been given, however, is the power to actually teach the classes a lesson. I get to work with Mme. to figure out how we can do this. I have also been in charge of the tools I need for my lesson, such as making flashcards.
If I make a mistake at my placement I feel very bad and do everything I can to make it right. I always try to clarify what has to be done so that I minimize any chance of me making a mistake, but I am only human, and they are bound to happen. I have not yet made a very big mistake, but I think I know how to handle them. I always take my mistakes as learning experiences because I won't make the same mistake twice. I always make sure to address my mistakes so that I show initiative and that I am learning. Making and accepting apologies is a very important part of being at my placement because I have to teach the kids that taking responsibility for something wrong shows maturity and that you can handle adversity in life. I have to show them that they cannot run from their problems, and they have to face them head on. If I see that a student is getting picked on I will ask that apologies be made, and they can decide for themselved if they want to accept them. I personally always make a point of apologizing when I make a mistake or feel that it is necessary, just for my own piece of mind and personal progression.
This week I learned that I can do anything I set my mind to. Mme. Mercer was away two days this week, so I had to deal with supply teachers and therefore the bad behaviour of the classes. I am usually more on the soft-stern side in the classroom, but I was forced to be on my toes and very firm with the class. I had to raise my voice for the first time, which I did not like at all, but I knew that it had to be done. It bothers me that the students don't think that I will report who's being bad to Mme. Mercer. The lowpoint of my week came when I said I would tell Mme. Mercer who was being rude and bad, and one girl turned to me and said "That would be very uncool". It showed me that they think I am their friend and an ally, rather than someone who works with Mme. The comment also put everything into perspective for me, such as that these kids are still very immature and young, and so I should not let what they say to me get to me. I am half-way through co-op, and I am feeling very proud of myself because I have really surprised myself. I have become so much more confident in myself and my abilities, and am looking really forward to putting these skills to use in the future. I love my placement and have learned that I would love to be a teacher in the future.

WEEK NINE- Daily Log: Thursday, April 26, 2007

• Today was a different day at my placement, because Mme. Mercer was not here. She was feeling sick yesterday, and so I am not surprised that she was absent. I introduced myself to the supply teacher, and told her the routines that the grade six classes have come accustomed to partaking in at the beginning of class, such as prayer, the date, and the weather. We also went through the lesson plans for the day. Right before class started, Mme. Colonna asked Brian and I to cut some folders using the paper slicer. There were quite a few of them and I could only stay for a couple of them. Unfortunately the bell rang, and I had to leave Brian with the rest of the folders.


• I had to be with the supply teacher so that I could help the class since I know the unit, as well as keep the students calm and attentive. The first class was very wild today, and we had trouble calming them down. Their actvity was to put the correct word into a sentence and conjugate it with the subject. They were then responsible for completing both a crossword puzzle and a wordsearch. Some of the students did not understand the way that the supply had taught them, so I had to kind of reteach it to some. Some also needed help looking for words in their french dictionaries, which I also helped with.


• The first class was a nightmare today, because they were being extremely rude. They did not listen or respect the supply teacher or myself and proceeded to yell, fool around, disregard their seatwork, and also talk back to me. Some even went so far as to walk by the radio and put it on full blast without warning multiple times which scared me to death! I resorted to stand in front of the radio and watch over them that way. I also had to raise my voice with them, which I didn't like doing because it made me feel like the bad guy, however I know that it had to be done; it seemed to quiet some of the students The second class was great and got right down to work and most finished all of their work. I worked for three and a half hours today. I will not be at my placement tomorrow due to the fact it is a P.A. Day for St. Andrew, and an Integration Day for me.

WEEK NINE- Daily Log: Wednesday, April 25, 2007

• Today I continued with the work I had been doing yesterday. I continued to colour the food flashcards that I will be using in my lesson next week. I managed to finish them today. Once I finished colouring them, I resolved to write the food in french on the back of each flashcard so that I remember them during the lesson. I also placed the right grammar in front of the word, which corresponds with the lesson. I did this by looking up each word in the dictionary to see if it was masculin or feminin.


• After completing the flashcards, I sat down to mark the grade sevens' book reports. Their book was called "Vacance a la Western", and they to had to answer comprehension questions regarding their book. I had to mark these questions for each scene and mark them out of 49, give their title page a mark out of ten based on effort, mark their poem, as well as make sure their vocabulary for each scene was present. Brian helped me out by doing some of them as well.


• I then had to photocopy some things for Mme. Mercer. When I was ready, I went to class with Mme. Mercer where we continued to conduct the interview for assignment three. We finished today, and I also got done my good copy. After finishing up my interview, I walked around the class and helped those who needed it. Today was a light day in the classroom because they were working on making some art work for the school play "St. Andrew's School Musical". I worked for three and a quarter hours today.

WEEK NINE- Daily Log: Tuesday, April 24, 2007

• Mme. Mercer was absent today, so there was a supply teacher present to watch over all of her classes. I went with Mme. T. to the two afternoon grade six classes where she would be giving them the day's activity. At the beginning of class, we said their prayer, and I realized that I finally had it memorized, which made me feel great. The students were supposed to finish off the vocabulary from yesterday, that pertained to their new food unit. Their next task was to identify the food on six plates (pictures in their cahiers) and write them down. They were then asked to make up their own dish with various foods on it (a balanced meal). My job was to walk around the classroom and help anyone who needed it. Since there was a supply there, the students were once again very rude and disrespectful. I do my part and try my best to maintain order and their undivided attention. Some of the students were also being mean to one of their peers and this bothered me, so the supply teacher and I talked to the students and somewhat sorted out the issue. I had some questions to clarify the activity, and issues within the activity. Once the students were done, they were supposed to work on any unfinished homework.


• During planning time I continued to colour the flashcards that I will be using to assist the students with their vocabulary next week. I am really looking forward to giving the students a lesson, and am preparing as much as I can. I will continue to prepare for the rest of the week. I worked for three and a half hours today.

WEEK NINE- Daily Log: Monday, April 23, 2007

• Today, I spent most of the day in the AV room, and since it was warmer outside, this room was very hot. My first job today was to complete the last stage in my chart typing. I was to photocopy all of the charts onto overhead transparencies. There were a lot of charts and this made the job very time consuming. Brian also helped me do this task, and so we finished faster than I would have by myself. I then had to sort out all of the charts to make sure they were in order. I then put the charts into a folder, which I gave to Mme. Mercer.


• My next job was to photocopy eighty copies of an activity for Mme. Mercer's grade six classes onto overhead transparencies. I also had to make three hard copies for reference. My next job referred to my lesson for next week. I have to start planning the mini-lesson that I will be giving the class sometime next week. I began this by typing out the main french grammar associated with my lesson and made eighty copies. My lesson is in the food unit, so I am also making flash cards that display pictures of food to help teach the students the vocabulary for this unit. So I began colouring these flash cards, and will continue to do so during this week.


• My next job was to place the cahiers that Mme. Mercer had ordered into the storage room in a specific order. Theres were about seven of these boxes. At the end of the day Mme. Mercer and I sat down to do some more of the interview we had started on Friday. We still have a couple questions to finish, however we will finish it later in the week. I worked for three hours today.

WEEK EIGHT- Weekly Journal

I deal with the minor criticisms at work in a healthy way. The only criticisn I get (if any) is from the students when I remind them to work well or get something done. They may be rude or try to show off to their peers. I just act like it doesn't affect me, and keep my stance. You cannot waver in your decisions, or they will always feel as if they can walk all over you. Sometimes Mme. Mercer will show me ways in which I can get things done much faster, or more efficiently. I love it when she does this because it shows me ways that will help me in the future. I accept her constructive criticisms very enthusiastically because I am always looking for ways to better my job performance. When something is difficult I make sure that I ask a lot of questions so that I know how to do it right. I also work in little steps to make sure that I do them right, and ultimately overcome the challenge. I never give up on tasks, and always work towards finishing my jobs. It makes me feel great when I finish something that seemed hard, or proved to be a challenge for me.
I had a positive experience this week when I finally completed the charts I had been working on. I printed them out and gladly sorted out the charts. It felt great to finish something I had worked on, being so dedicated and motivated to finish. I also had a great experience in the classroom this week, because I have been doing jobs outside of the classroom of late, and so the kids hadn't seen me in a while. When I walked into class, they all seemed to be really happy to see me, and this made me feel as if I was making a difference at their school.
An interesting aspect of my job is that I have to always be aware that I am a role model for the kids I teach. Even when I don't think that I am being watched or looked up to, I am. The students see what I do, and as a result learn a lot, and may ultimately react in a similar manner. I have to make sure I am appropriately dressed, and am always behaving in an appropriate way. Another interesting aspect is that I am constantly busy because there is so much to do at my placement. There is always something to be done, which helps the time go by fast and always keeps me on the move.
I wish that I could start being a teacher now! Before my placement I was very unsure of where my future was headed, however I now see that teaching is something I would love to do. However, I am still confused as to what I want to make my career, because I would also love to be a journalist. My supervisor, Mme. Mercer expects that I complete tasks in accordance with her organization. She also expects that I learn a lot about teaching and this career. She also expects me to teach a mini-lesson in the near future; one that I must choose myself. I am looking very foward to this. This was a great week!

WEEK EIGHT- Daily Log: Friday, April 20, 2007

• Today was a very relaxing and sort of therapeutic day at my co-op placement. My first task today was to mark the tests that the grade eight and seven students had written this morning. Each of the tests were out of twenty-five and most of the students did very well. As I progressed in my marking, I found that I did not have to use the master copy because I knew all of the answers. After marking all three grade eight/seven classes, I had to record their marks in Mme. Mercer's markbook in the corresponding section.
• My next job was to assign and mark of A, B, C, or D for the grade six quizzes based on the mark Mme. Mercer had give them out of five. I then had to record these marks in her markbook as well.
• After getting these long jobs out of the way, Mme. Mercer and I went to see the power point that Brian had begun to make for grade eight graduation. We gave our input and talked more about graduation. I agreed to help Mme. Mercer and the grade eights as much as I could with their grad, and I am looking forward to doing so.
• Towards the end of the day, Mme. Mercer and I sat down to start co-op assignment #3, the interview. We did a lot, but also left a lot to be done and improved upon. I worked for three and a quarter hours today.

WEEK EIGHT- Daily Log: Thursday, April 19, 2007

• Today went by very fasy because I did not have any time to even glance at the clock. As soon as I arrived at my placement Mme. Mercer had a task waiting for me. The grade eights had to do a book report on the book called "L'Intrigue a Quebec". Mme. Mercer had a few late book reports come in today, so she supplied me with the answer key and asked me to mark them out of 159. I found this very hard because some of the students' writing is very messy and hard to read. Plus, some did not have their work in order, making it difficult for me to follow the answer key. Also, the answer key did not have the answers to comprehension questions, so I had to compare the students' work with each other and base my marks on them. Since I read the same book in grade eight, I did remember some of the plot, which helped me mark.
• My next job was to re-stamp the grade eight class's seatwork from yesterday. Mme. Mercer had all the students that did not finish their work yesterday, finish it today. I had to replace each "Travailer Incomplet" to "OK". This was just as long and tedious as it was yesterday.
• After this, Mme. Mercer asked me to make eight copies of a quiz, front and back.
• Mme. Mercer covered a grade eight class during her normal planning time, so I accompanied her there. While we were there, she asked me to look over the predictions in the grade eight yearbook. These predictions are called "the Crystal Ball" and include humourous predictions about what the students will be doing in the future. My job was to make sure these predictions were appropriate. I worked for three and a half hours today.

WEEK EIGHT- Daily Log: Wednesday, April 18, 2006

• I liked being at my placement a lot today because I did a variety of things that required me to move and around and interact with the kids. The first thing I did today was go through some seatwork that the grade eights had done during class today. I was supposed to stamp all eighty of them; a stamp saying "OK" if they had completed all of the assigned work, and a stamp saying "Travailer Incomplet" which means that their work was not completed. After completing this task I was supposed to add a few more activity books to the storage room that I had already organized.
• Before I went to class today, I was asked to photocopy eighty copies of a quiz that the grade six classes will have to complete tomorrow. This quiz will ask the students questions about the books they read for their book report. Once again I used the risograph to make these copies because there were well over twenty copies. Once in class, Mme. Mercer slyly told the students to bring their French-Enlgish dictionaries to class tomorrow "because if it was her she would bring her own". The quiz is meant to be a pop quiz. During class today, I split the students into five groups where they would tell their peers what they did and did not like about their book. They were then each supposed to give a brief summary of their book. My job was to walk around the class and keep the kids on task. The kids in both classes were very loud today and had to be reminded to be quiet many times.
• During planning time I had to remove the plastic wrap on new books and organize them in a filing cabinet in the french room. I then went through many books to find a couple word searches for the grade six classes on Friday. I also had to sign out a movie that the classes will watch on Friday. The movie is called "Le Course de Cycliste". My last task of the day was to use the risograph to make copies of the word search.
• I worked for three and a half hours today.

WEEK EIGHT- Daily Log: Tuesday, April 27, 2007

• Today was a very different day because I spent most of it in Mme. Mercer's office recording marks. I didn't mind doing so because after finishing something as long and tedious as this, I feel proud of myself and the commitment I gave to my work. The first thing that I had to do was to record the grade eights' marks from their own book report. Their book report was a little bit different than the grade six one becaise the grade six's got their own book that corresponded with their learning level and interests. The grade eights on the other hand read one book called "L'Intrigue a Quebec" as a class. They had comprehension questions for every scene they read. I was suppose to divide their overall mark by 3.5 to get a separate mark, which I then recorded beside their names.
• I was then supposed to look at each of the posters that the grade six classes had made to promote their books. It was my job to come up with a mark for each of the posters based more so on effort than art ability. If someone didn't take a lot of time to produce his/her best work then I did not give them a great mark out of ten. If it was evident that they handed in their best work then I gave them a good mark.
• I was then supposed to do the same for all the grade eight title pages and record these marks in a new column. I also had to combine these marks with the marks they earned for doing their vocabulary for every scene; this mark was out of fifteen and combined with the title page marks, out of twenty-five. I found that marking these activities was very hard, because you have to mark the students' work in comparison to everyone else's to be fair. It was an advantage that I didn't know the students so that I wasn't wavered.
• I worked for three and a half hours today.

WEEK EIGHT- Daily Log: Monday, April 16, 2007

• Today was another day that I spent outside of the classroom. The first thing that I did was turn on the laminator so that it would heat up for me to use. While the laminator was heating up Mme. Mercer and I talked about the upcoming lessons and jobs for the rest of the week. Mme. Mercer always writes down her lesson plans in my co-op portfolio so that I can refer to them whenever I need to. Once the laminator heated up, Brian and I continued laminating the posters we had started last Friday. I was also asked to pick the twelve best posters that students have made over the years and laminate them for another french teacher. Once the laminating was done, we began to cut out the numerous sheets and then threw out the garbage.
• My next job was to arrange and staple a bunch of french artwork on a bulletin board in the computer room. There were very many of these activities and it took many staples to get the job done. My next job was to go to the second afternoon class and help out the students. They were reading their books to the class today, and I was there to remind them to be quiet.
• During planning time Brian and I took the two disks full of charts that I have spent the last three months typing out. We printed out all one hundred of them (more or less) and I sorted through them to make sure they were in order. And let me tell you how good it felt to have all of those charts printed and done with; it makes me feel like I have accomplished something big due to the effort I put into the project. Brian and I then sat down together to record marks for Mme. Mercer. We highlighted the people who had handed in certain activities and also recorded some oral and written marks in Mme. Mercer's markbook.
• I worked for three hours today.

WEEK SEVEN- Weekly Journal

During my time at my placement I have realized that learning at my workplace is different than in school. This is so because in school I learn things from textbooks using a very formal learning techinique, while in the workplace I learn things in a more informal way. For example, I learn how to do tasks specific for the job, as I work. Also, since my placement is an elementary school I see what it is like to teach kids, and therefore learn how to teach them in a more successful and responsive way. I learn how to keep their attention and teach them as much as possible. I also learn how to be a better student because working as an assisstan teacher shows me what kind of student is exemplary. I have learned so many valuable things at my placement that I will most likely use in my future. In school, I learn things that will indirectly help my future career, however my placement teaches me things and skills that I will actually have to use in my future. I really enjoyed learning about kids and how to modify my teaching teachniques to best fit their learning style. Some kids need more assisstance in one area, whereas some like to work on their own with minimum assisstance. Some also like to have things explained to them more than once to make sure they understand the task. I like teaching different kids because it proves to be a challenge, and once I succeed I feel a great sense of accomplishment.
I would really like to know more about how to be more assertive and stern in the classroom because I find it hard. Since I am so young, I feel more familiar with befriending young kids rather than take the role as the teacher. It's as if I'm scared of scaring the students, or that they will think I'm on a power trip. I've learned over the course of my time at my placement that you have to be strict in order to maintain the respect of the students so that they listen to what you have to say. I think that with experience comes the ability to be stern and personable at the same time. Mme. Mercer does this with expertise because I see how the students respond to her and are always learning. I have learned a lot from her as well.
Next week, I hope to finish up some of the tasks that I started this week so that I can move forth with a new task. I also hope that I will be around the kids more so that I gain more experince and come across new challenges to overcome. I also plan to teach with more ease and confidence so that the kids see more of what I'm like and that I can teach them things. I want to help Mme. Mercer as much as I can so that I prove to her and myself that I can do anything that is thrown at me.

WEEK SEVEN- Daily Log: Friday, April 13, 2007

• The first thing I did today was accept a pile of freshly written spelling tests from Mme. Mercer to mark. These spelling tests are called dictees and the students have to write out the word correctly in french and give the english meaning of each word. I marked six different classes worth of dictees- three grade eight classes and three grade six classes. It is sometimes very hard to mark these tests because I have to be careful to not contradict myself with my marking.
• After marking all of the spelling tests I had to record the marks on each class list.
• Yesterday, Mme. Mercer came across another chart while we were cleaning out the storage room. So when I finished with the tests I began to type yet another chart. I also had some time to proofread as well.
• My next task required that I work with Brian; we had to laminate several posters belonging to Mme. Mercer. Mrs. Cekota, the ESL teacher gave a us a brief, but effective lesson on how to use the laminator and Brian and I seemed to work very quickly and safely. We have about seven more posters to do on Monday. I worked for three and a half hours today.

WEEK SEVEN- Daily Log: Thursday, April 12, 2007

• Once again, today proved to be a very challenging day for me. I did so much that I hardly remember all that I did. The first thing I was assigned to do was to arrange the grade eight graduation awards in a glass display case. Before doing this, however, I had to remove some stapled work from the display case, as well as clean the glass shelves from the dust that had collected. My next task was to take out some books from a cabinet in the french room and transfer them into the french storage room. I had to find room to do so because many of the shelves were already very full. As a solution, I had to shift and rearrange things so that the new piles of books would fit in nicely and neatly.
• My next job was to organize and clean the cabinet in the french room. The cabinet was very disorganized because some of the teachers like to hang onto certain things and then end up forgetting about them. I had to straighten out books and make them stand up straight as well. I then had to unload a bunch of dictionaries from a box and add them to the dictionaries already in the cabinet. In the end, there was a whole shelf left for Mme. Mercer to use, so I put in construction paper and notebooks.
• I was able to finish these tasks before the second afternoon class was finished so I went there for instruction. I ended up walking around the classroom and helping the students with a poster they were designing for their book. This was a lot of fun because it has been a while since I haven been able to help the students.
• For the rest of the day, I helped Mme. Mercer go through her things in the french storage room. We went through boxes and ended up throwing out a lot of junk. In the end, the french storage room looks spotless and very organized. I worked for three and a half hours today.

WEEK SEVEN- Daily Log: Wednesday, April 11, 2007

• Today was probably my most physically strenuous day at my co-op placement. This is so because I did not have a chance to go into the classroom and did tasks for some of the other imtermediate teachers. My first job was to take down the grade eights' artwork from a bulletin board in the hall. I then cleaned off the floors from the staples that had fallen.
• My next job was given to me by a teacher named Ms. Boyd. My job was to transfer paper to a new location and sort them by size and colour. This sounds simple enough however the paper I was moving was very large and proved to be very hard to move. I also came across some challenges such as the fact that the larger paper did not fit in some of the cupboards, and I had to be creative to find a solution.
• My next job was to clean out and organize another storage room. I cleaned dust, organized paper, awards, paints, and other supplies. This job was very hard because I was on my knees a lot, and I also breathed in a lot of dust. I knew when I had to take a break and so I took a walk around the school, then got right back to work.
• Mme. Mercer left at her planning time today to attend to some family matters, so I assisted Mrs. Malaysia with some of her inventory and organizing. I was to label new kits for the grade five classes. This was very time consuming becaus there were a lot of supplies within boxes.
• Today was one of the hardest days I have had, and it makes me feel like I have accomplished a lot in one day. However, I did miss spending time within the classes and being around the kids. I worked for three hours today.

WEEK SEVEN- Daily Log: Tuesday, April 10, 2007

• Today felt a lot different because I did not have to type up any charts. Mme. Mercer introduced me to inventory of the french storage room. I was to organize and basically clean out this room. So the first thing I did was organize a bunch of construction paper that had become very sloppy and disorganized. I organized them by colour and size to make them easier to access and locate. I then began counting and taking inventory of the many cahier books in the storage room. I had to write this information down so that Mme. Mercer would have it for when she needs to call in to order new books.
• I then sorted out supplies and paper in their corresponding shelf so that people do not have to search very long in the future. This task proved to be very tedious because I was in an enclosed space for well over an hour and found that there was a lot of dust circulating the room. I knew that I needed a break for a while, and then came back to finish. I liked cleaning today and thought that I did a very good job because the storage room is now vey organized.
• I then did a job for Mme. Mercer regarding the book report that the grade six classes are doing. I had to sort out each class into 25 groups with three students per group (approx.). On Thursday and Friday the students will be writing about their books and then sharing their summary with the people in their group. I worked for three and a quarter hours today.

WEEK SIX- Weekly Journal

It's been over a month since I began my placement at St. Andrew's and I love working there! I look forward to going there everyday because I never know what to expect. I am getting into a routine and am very comfortable in my surroundings. I am also getting very familiar with the duties that I have to take care of. I know exactly how Mme. Mercer likes things to be done so I am confident that I am able to accomplish this. I also know how I should interact and treat certain students. I have learned a lot about each student and know how to adapt each of my teaching techniques for them. I cannot give answers but some students need more help and guidance than others. I love to help the kids and teach them new things. I really feel like a part of the teaching team because all the teachers have accpeted me and made me feel comfortable. Feeling comfortable is a major part of a good job performance because then there is no pressure. All the teachers feel comfortable and confident in my abilities, especially Mme. Mercer, so they are not afraid to ask me to do things for them. I am more then welcome to do this for them. In addition to this, all the teachers are extrememly nice and encouraging which also helps me get through tasks.
The part of the job that I like best is actually working with the kids, because when I teach them I feel a sense of reward and become even more motivated to do my job well. I like explaining things to them because they respond well to help and seem anxious to get it. The kids also make things more exciting because they're unpredictable and always end up making me laugh. I also like to plan lessons and make up tests and activities. I like doing this because I have to make these activities based on what they have learned and what I have helped them with. When I end up marking tests and quizzes I see how well they did, and feel an immense sense of reward. I would like to be able to actually teach the classes a lesson when Mme. Mercer feels the time is right, because I want to teach them something new. This would give me a taste of what teaching is really like. I want to be able to have the confidence to stand in front of a class and make them understand what I'm saying.
A challenge that created a bump in the road this week was when I took a group of students to the library and one of them was very rude to me. He was talking back to me and made me feel really bad. Even though he hurt my feelings, I did not let him know this and was very stern. I threatened to send him back to class if he said one more thing, and this seemed to quiet him. I coped with stress when I had to keep order in a larger group because when there are more kids, they begin talking and fooling around more often. This makes it harder for me to keep them on task. Eventually I was able to maintain order and I had to take a deep breath and calm down to do this. I received a compliment this week when I finished typing up the charts. Mme. Mercer said that I would most likely finish this job by June, and I finished two months in advance. Mme. Mercer was very pleased and said so to me. This made me feel really good and motivated me to keep going. Asking questions on the job is very important because I have to be sure about what I have to do so that I do not contradict Mme. Mercer or confuse the students. I am not afraid to ask questions and do so a lot. It makes me more confident in my own abilities.

WEEK SIX- Daily Log: Thursday, April 5, 2007

• Today was a great day because I only had two more charts to type up! I started right away on the smaller of the two and managed to type and proofread it before class. One down, one to go!
• This was a different day because Mme. Mercer had switched classes with someone else, so I was in a different class. I took out Julia, Nick, Travis, Erica, and Brittany from the new class, and the same group I had from yesterday from the other class. The students were supposed to finish up their letters from yesterday and give them to me to read over and make corrections. They were then to write out their letter on a page in their book report and then colour and decorate it. My first group did not come close to finishing because they were very talkative and got distracted easily. They were new to me and abused my presence. My second group, however did no such thing and got right to work. As a result of their superb work habits I resolved to give them all RADS. A Radically Awesome Doing is given to a student when they exemplify our Catholic faith and set good examples for their peers. Their names are slipped into a draw and, in a school RAD assembly, are able to win some great prizes to reward their great bahaviour.
• During planning time I took down some papers for Mme. Mercer and placed them in the mailbox for another teacher. I then decided to tackle the mother of all charts. I worked on it solidly and did not leave the computer until I was completely done. And finally, after what seemed like forever, I folded up the chart and saved it on the floppy disk. I am now done typing up charts! Mme. Mercer said that on Tuesday I will start another long term job having to do with inventory.
• I worked for three and a quarter hours today. I will not be at my co-op tomorrow because it is Good Friday, and all schools are closed.

WEEK SIX-Daily Log: Wednesday, April 4 , 2007

• Today was a really good day because I got a chance to work with some new people. I find that when I spend a lot of time with the kids, I get a chance to see their true personality and how they interact with their peers. Some have problems with relating their feelings, while others tend to look down upon their peers. I try to refocus my groups when conversation goes off topic, however if they are making progress and are working on things that do not require complete silence, I like to start conversations to get to know them more.
• When I first got to school today I typed up a few more charts and feel that I am so close to finishing. My goal is to finish by the end of this week, being tomorrow. In class today, I took a new group from each class, Jordan, Maria, Taylor, Spencer and Natalie from one class and Kirrill, David, Christine, and Jennifer from the other. Today's activity was to write a letter to the author of their books. The letter was to be written in french and must include two sentences stating what they liked about the book, two sentences saying what they disliked about the book, and one sentence describing what would make the book more interesting and appealing to them. Some students needed constant help, while others were able to work independently, almost finishing their good copies.
• During planning time I typed up some more charts and made some major headway going into tomorrow. I have only two charts left to type up, however these charts are somehow the largest ones. Hopefully I will finish tomorrow, I will try my best!
• I worked for three hours today.

WEEK SIX- Daily Log: Tuesday, April 3, 2007

• Today I got to the library and got right to typing charts. I am so close to finishing them and I would like to get them done before the Easter break so that I can start something new when I get back. It seems like I have subconsciousy saved the longest charts for last, so that it is now taking me even longer to get through them all. Slowly but surely am getting closer and closer to finishing. I got about one or two more charts done before class time.
• In class today, three students were randomly chosen to read their books to the class. There will now be three students reading their books each day. Today, the activity was to complete the poem they had started yesterday. Most people had finished the writing component, so that all they had to do was decorate and make them look nice and neat. Some finished their poems and so they were told to finish up any pages in their book reports that they had not completed. I took the same groups from each class to the library. Due to the fact that their work did not need much of my help, I decided to guide them and give suggestions that would better their work. Some did ask questions, and I sometimes had to keep reminding the students that they were in a library, so they needed to be quiet. My first group did not make any noise, so that was not necessary for them.
• During planning time I typed up around three more charts. I have some more left that I am planning to work on during the remainder of the week. Mme. Mercer and I also walked around the school to watch the grade eights practice their dance as well as talk to some of the other teachers about lesson plans. I worked from 11:45-3:10 today, approx. three and a half hours.

WEEK SIX- Daily Log: Monday, April 2, 2007

• Today was Mme. Mercer's first day back after being sick for the majority of last week. I signed in and then made my way to the french room and grabbed a couple charts to type up. I managed to get through a couple more before I was summoned for class. I then went to my first afternoon class to work on another activity in their book report. Today the students had to make a french poem following a certain format. The poem had to describe a chosen character from their book. Each line had to have a specific number of words as well as follow a topic, such as a describing word or action word.
• I took two new different groups to the library today: Marcel, Hailee, Kristen, and Daniel from one class and Katie, Magen, Tristan, Stefan, and Nolan from the other class. The first group was very quiet and hardly asked any questions so I had to keep checking up on them. The second group, however was very noisy and I had to keep telling them to be quiet. They did ask a lot of questions though, and got a lot further in their work than the other group.
• During planning time, Mme. Mercer wanted me to mark the quizzes that the grade six students wrote last Friday. I made the quiz and it seems like the students who studied did very well. I was to put a sticker on the perfect quizzes. After marking I was then supposed to record their marks in Mme. Mercer's markbook, as well as the grade eights' marks. The majority did very well and some did not.
• I worked for three and a quater hours today.