Preparing for Teaching

On Monday, I will begin teaching Downriver by Will Hobbs to my 7th and 8th grade classes.

I am so excited.

However, I still haven't seen a "normal" class since I began student teaching because they've been working on a cooperative project the whole time. I'm a little concerned because it's a reading intervention classroom. I'm not writing a full unit plan until I get a couple of days under my belt. That way, I can see how to pace my lessons. Since the program is a double dose of reading, we're not allowed to give any homework, so all of the reading has to be done in class. These kids are the ones who really struggle with reading, so I know it will be slow going. I just don't know how slow. My unit is supposed to be 5-7 days, but in this type of classroom environment, it looks like it will be more along the lines of 3 weeks. I'm okay with that, but I just hope my university supervisor will be, too.

I've already prepared my introductory material and some pre-reading activities. I think the kids will enjoy this book, and I hope I can get them really engaged in the reading. :)