Professional Ice Skaters (to be)

     So today (Friday) was another great day. I kind of taught a lesson on adding and subtracting decimals, which was very similar to the lesson yesterday. The lesson also went very similarly, however there one was big difference, instead of my supervisor watching silently the co-operating teacher was there. The students were a little less active, and once a student yelled out an answer—which is what I wanted, that's what they were doing yesterday—the teacher interrupted my lesson to scold him for not raising his hand. I did not really appreciate that but today was even more informal than yesterday so I guess I can't complain. I just hope she lets me control the classroom when I teach my formal lessons in the future. (By formal lessons I mean fairly lengthy lessons of entirely my own design, such as if I have the students play a game I created.)
     That bit aside, we also went on a little field trip! Just for a few hours, all the fifth grade classes in my school went ice skating. At first I wasn't going to go on the ice, but after being prompted to I put on some ice skates and there I was. I only fell down four times! (I'm a biker not a skater.) There was one student who fell down, apparently, over sixty times. I only know this because one of her friends was following her around counting her falls the entire time. I found this particularly amazing! Many students were very careful to never fall down (although they probably did a few times anyways.) Many students also took a few breaks here and there. But not this student, no matter how many times she fell down she got right back up and kept on trying to skate. Over and over, she would just get up, start skating, sometimes get some good speed going, and inevitably tumble down. While her friend thought it was humorous the number of times she feel, I was amazed at the number of times she got back up. So all in all, I had a great time. I'm having a hard time following the "Don't be their friend" advice though, especially after an activity like this.
     There was some more work done that day, but at the end of the day the teacher gave the students some free time to do whatever they wanted to with. A whole twenty-five minutes. One student wanted to play connect four with me, but the teacher had me go and make a bunch of copies! I did so with a smile of course, but ooooohhhh did I want to play Connect Four. I am sooo good at that game and proving my mastery to a bunch of awed fifth graders would have been ever so sweet... That's not very professional is it?