Last Monday

(This ethnography will be based on three questions)

What happened in the classroom?
I wanted to make sure I talked about this past Mondays experience in class. It was the first time the other intern and I were in our mentor teachers classroom together. We had never been there at the same time; so this created some awkward situations. We both sit in the only seat in the back of the class that is not a desk, so because the other intern got there first I had to sit in a desk with the students. At the start of the class my mentor teacher couldn't find me because I blended in.
First hour is economics. My mentor teacher, MT for short, teaches a lesson on mortgages and what it means to be upside down on your house. My MT uses a lot of arrows and pictures of houses to try and illustrate the point. I copied one of the students notes from class just to have as evidence of the incredible arrow making, and how it is reciprocated through the students notes.
Second hour is History, which I thoroughly enjoy. My MT asked the other intern and I if she could throw us in the water? Well, why not? Throw me in the water of unpreparedness. MT assigned the other intern and I the task of teaching about the atomic bomb to freshmen. No big deal, just the worst bomb in history completely destroying entire cities. MT divided the class in half I took one group Bob, the other intern, took the other group. Through guided reading and a packet we taught this lesson. Interesting way to teach it, not my first choice though.
What I was specifically taught that day through my MT?
You cant always lecture with fancy pictures sometimes they have to learn it for themselves. Throwing the interns in the water is not such a bad thing!
What does this all mean as a future teacher in this classroom?
I may not teach about the atomic bomb through a packet of guided reading someday, however, it is important to realize that I cant always lecture and try to make the lesson that day amazing or I will get burnt out. Some students learn better through reading or group work than lectures with fancy pictures.