So I mentioned in my last post that I had the opportunity to take over the classroom for 2 days because my mentor was gone for the week. The first day was a lot of fun and I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to have that experience. At first, I was a little scared that my mentor wouldn't be there to give me feedback on how I did my first day, but as the day wore on it was really great! The kids respected me, listened to me, felt comfortable asking me questions and I went home that night excited about the day.
The next day I was in the classroom, the students were taking a lot of exams/quizzes. I unfortunately had my first brush with cheating. I was really hoping that I would encounter this experience much later in my teaching career. I was disappointed because a) the cheating occurred in my honors class b) it happened right in front of me c) the students involved didn't seem too concerned about the matter d) I kind of didn't know how to react without my mentor there guiding me. While we had talked a lot about cheating in classes and how we might address it, I still felt unprepared to face the situation alone.
I feel like cheating as in many difficult to handle situations requires a lot of context, and quick thought. I've definitely talked about my decision with my mentor and field instructor afterwards, but in that moment, you know you have to do something. I'm not looking forward to the next time I have to confront a student about cheating, but at least I've had some experience in dealing with it and maybe I can adapt and improve what I've done this past week to any future encounters I've had.
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Hi Tiffany:
ReplyDeleteWow! I would say, nothing like jumping right in! I don't imagine that handling a situation, i.e. cheating, will ever be comfortable. I expect it is one of the situations that requires immediate action with "logic" built in. I think that next time, your confidence level will definitely be higher and you will know the right action/reaction.
I'm sure that that had to be a serious challenge to face, Tiffany. I'll bet that you discovered some things about yourself *in addition* to having some important conversations that you would not otherwise have had nearly so soon. My guess is that your having had to deal with and work through this experience will have lots of positive repercussions.
ReplyDeleteWhat a bummer you had to deal with that! It's a hard situation to deal with. I guess it teaches you a good lesson that you have to be prepared when the classroom is yours.
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