Conquering the Thesis Statement

Yesterday I taught a lesson all about the thesis statement. The day began by going over a slideshow with the students. They had to record notes in their notebooks while I was talking all about the parts of a thesis statement. Once they had a clear stance on the basics I then tested them on their ability to analyze a good thesis statement verse a not so good one. On the screen were examples of thesis statements and the students then had to write on their whiteboards whether it was good or bad. If it was bad they had to tell me what was wrong with it. They loved using the whiteboards. Once we finished with that they were then left to write thesis statements of their own. They were given the main points of the essy and from that, had to formulate the thesis.

Planning for this lesson I was quite nervous as to whether or not I was competent enough to teach this. So when the students really grasped this idea and easily formulated their own, I was beyond excited. The students were engaged and actually having fun while learning. When I finished and the children left, my teacher pulled me aside and told me I did a wonderful job and that I should invite the principal to come and observe me. I went down to the office and left a note with the secretary inviting her or the assistant principal to come and watch me. I was terrified and nervous. I spent the rest of the day worrying about my lesson. When I got to the class they didn't end up coming because there was an incident they needed to handle. Phew!!!

At the end of the day I was really pleased with myself. I taught a great lesson that reached my students, I invited the principal to watch me despite my fears and I left the day on a high note!