Today we had a sub in room 107. It was really fun for me, because basically the sub walked in, announced that she knew there was a student teacher in this room and that she had brought a book. She spent the entire day reading in the back of the room while I ran the class.
I was really nervous about doing the whole day without DIane, because while I've taken over all subject areas already, I knew it would be very different without Diane's presence in the room to support me. The morning was a bit tough, and I had a few kids testing me, but after a chat at morning meeting they really shaped up and did a really nice job. We got through all of our material for the day and were able to follow the regular schedule which I think the kids appreciated, rather than having worksheet packets with a substitute.
One thing I did notice, was that since I was a bit more on edge than usual, I was not able to effectively adjust my Social Studies lesson when it was going south. I knew that the lesson was not going well, and I had even anticipated many of the problems we were having, but since I was nervous and more focused on behavior management, I couldn't figure out a good way to adjust on the fly. This is unusual for me, as I almost always change a few things between my lesson plan and my actual delivery. I guess what I've learned is that being in such a supportive environment and with a great cooperating teacher has allowed me to be confident enough to make these adjustments as I see what the kids already know, where their attention is at, and what questions and discussions really engage them. I hope that as I grow professionally and get more and more comfortable I can continue to be able to make adjustments to lessons even when other factors are pulling at my attention.
I think it's a great benefit to you to have some true solo time in the classroom when Diane is literally "not in the house". You and your students had to negotiate a slightly different environment and I know you were all the better for it. As you noted in your posting, some of your natural skills were thwarted when the safety net of Diane to help support behavior management was taken away. You have plenty of future practice ahead of you to operate a classroom on your own, and when you do, you'll find it's a whole different ball game. Not to undersell student teaching, but it's a little like the difference between babysitting and having your own kids. You set the rules from the beginning--you're not operating on someone else's rhythm or with someone else's expectations and so the whole operation right from the get go is in your favor. You'll see.
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