Not As Bad As It Seems

I had my first real evaluation yesterday. I got started and things seemed to be going well. I introduced the new concept: "subtracting mixed numbers with renaming"! What the heck is renaming, you say?! Oh, it is what we used to simply call borrowing, because that is what you do...borrow. Ok, so I got over that one real fast, but the student were not getting it. I tried using manipulatives, showing two techniques on the overhead projector, and small group instruction. It did not work. They were all talking, because they did not know how to do the work, playing with the manipulatives instead of using them as a tool, and I felt at my wit's end not knowing what else to do. This is what was going through my head (spend some time looking at all of the things happening):
My supervisor, left before the math "period" was over and told me she would talk to me about the evaluation that night. Well, time passed and my portion of the teaching day was over. The class teacher let me take a break for as long as I needed. I went into the teacher's bathroom and just cried. So, what was the result of the evaluation? Apparently, I did well! I was told that it wasn't as important whether the students understood or not as it was how I handled the situation. My supervisor, said that I did everything they would have wanted to see and she could not tell that I had that image in my head! She did give me a few suggestions, but mostly just told me to relax and that she thinks I am a great teacher! My classroom teacher, had some very helpful suggestions and helped me regroup my thoughts and plans for today. She also told me some of her horror stories (and they really were) to help me realize that it happens to everybody, even after you have been teaching for a very long time.

Today, it was beautiful! I retaught the concept, very explicitly step by step. We practiced many problems together. The students used pencil/paper, white boards, and even got to play a partner game to practice. I feel like they really got it today. What did I learn from this? We all have bad days, so think about how to make it better next time, go home and relax, and come back tomorrow ready to teach.