This week I began teaching my human rights unit in the modern civ classes.

This brings

many challenges for me as a student teacher. For example, I have not learned many of these

things myself so, I need to teach myself before I can teach the students. This has been going well

but, I feel that it could be better. By Friday, I felt far more confident.

The other challenge I was able to address this week is some classroom behaviors. I have

had issues with many students talking, not staying on task, and texting in class. After talking

with Mr. Evans we agreed to try giving the students a participation grade. This will focus on

good behavior in class and be worth 35 points. The grade can change every week and every week

I will meet with students individually to review their behavior and tell them what they have done

well and what they could do better. Most students liked the idea because, simply showing up and

behaving in class can greatly help to boost their grade if they are struggling. I look forward to

seeing how this works and if it will affect student behavior or, if I will still need to remind

students that they need to behave in class.