When I finished chapter 2 and saw the title of the next chapter, "TERRIBLEHORRIBLENOGOODVERYBAD" I knew it was going to be a good chapter. Though my experience is not nearly as stressful as Mr. Michie's is in the chapter, I am going to share my terrible horrible no good very bad day. I was in my 1st student teaching placement, and the day started off pretty horrible. My alarm didn't go off so I was late waking up, the hot water wasn't working properly in the shower, I ripped my tights trying to get dressed quickly, my hair was just NOT cooperating. And of course, this was a day that my supervisor was coming to observe my lesson. I finally made it to school (later than usual) and my cooperating teacher wasn't there. She called about 5 mins later and told me that she wouldn't be coming into school that day due to illness. At this point, my stress level was through the roof. I scrambled to get all of my supplies ready for the day (at that time I didn't have full control of the classroom). My cooperating teacher had told me that she wanted me to take over that day and do my best to get though the day. About 5 minutes after the phone call from my teacher, the substitute for the day informed me that from 11:30-2:00 she needed to be in another class. Of course my observation was smack dab in the middle of that time period. As soon as I had gotten settled (as much as I could have) I found the school counselor and specifically asked her for the book "Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day". I had probably 5 different teachers passing the word around that if anyone had the book I was having one of those days and would like to borrow it. The preschool teacher had it and let me borrow the book for the morning. As soon as the children came into school and got situated, I pulled them into circle and explained to them that their teacher wouldn't be here today. Then I told them that I was having a bad day and read them the book. They all seemed to feel sympathy for me because the regularly rambunctious class was actually rather mellow. I ended up doing fine for my observation (even though I was the only teacher in the room during the lesson and my meeting with my supervisor) and I kept the class running relatively smoothly for the rest of the day, but reading this chapter really made me feel sympathy for Mr. Michie.
"Our whole class is dumb", Armando told me one day... "Why do you think they put us all in this class?"
This passage from the book made me think about my first student teaching placement. Although once again, my experience was not nearly as severe, it had similarities. My cooperating teacher was known as the kind of teacher that really did well with troubled kids. She had such a mothering philosophy that her students from years and years ago would come back to visit her and thank her for showing them how much she cared for them. And she did. I have never met another teacher that was as loving and nurturing as Mrs. Smith. I think that's why everyone decided to give her all of the children with troubled home-lives... which brought along with them many behavioral problems. Out of the 18 children in our class, I would say that about half of them were the kinds of kids to be considered "trouble makers" and another quarter were the kind of children that could easily be pulled into mischief. When testing time came around, it was no surprise that our class had some of the lowest scores. My cooperating teacher did her best to make sure that the children felt safe and cared for at school while at the same time attempting to nix the bad behavior. Based on what we've read so far in the book, I truly think that Mr. Michie is a younger male version of my cooperating teacher.
Essence Extractor
We all have bad days every now and then, but eventually we get past them and grow from those experiences.
Vocabulary Vitalizer
Foreboding-
a strong inner feeling or notion of a future misfortune, evil, etc.; presentiment.
fanfare-an ostentatious display or flourish.
garbled- jumbled or unclear because of distortion or omissions
tedious-
obsolete progressing very slowly
credo-
any creed or formula of belief.
submissive-| of, tending towards, or indicating submission, humility, or servility |
a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order.
protocol-the customs and regulations dealing with diplomatic formality, precedence, and etiquette.
culminating- to reach the highest point, summit, or highest development
foray-
an initial venture: a successful foray into politics.
marginalization-to place in a position of marginal importance, influence, or power: the government's attempts to marginalize criticism and restore public confidence.
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