start of the 2nd week

Week 2 begins on a somewhat good note.  My teacher and I worked out a plan of action for me to start taking over the classroom. I originally was going to do calendar math Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday this week.  However today, my teacher decided that I was ready to take on more responsibilities. So my new duties include lunch choices in the morning (I have already been doing this), morning work, a start of the day story, calendar math and handwriting. By the end of these activities, it will be time for a bathroom break. After bathroom, my mentor teacher will take over. But I am glad for the responsibilities that I have.  My mentor is allowing me to practice teaching, but in small doses so I don't get overwhelmed all at once. After Labor Day, I should be teaching all day give or take a couple of days getting used to the new classroom routines. After Labor Day, we have our first completely full day of school where the students will be dismissed at 3:30 and not 2:20 like they are now.   We do have open house tomorrow night, so I am nervous about meeting parents.

Now, on a disappointing note, I was supposed to have my supervisor's meeting today with my region supervisor from college. Well my r.s. had apparently double booked his calendar and didn't come to my region today. But on the bright side, I did meet the district superintendent for curriculum and instruction and we wants to go into each of our (there are 3 students from my college in this area) classrooms and observe us.  He would also like to come in and do a formative evaluation towards the end of student teaching to see how we have improved.  I am excited about this because it is one of the first times an actual school official (that is an administrator and not teacher) has gotten involved with the field experiences that I am experiencing. I will be able to receive feedback from a different pair of lens. 

The hugs keep coming on a lighter note. One student even came up to me today and said that he liked me as a teacher. It means so much to me to hear such comments from my students.  I want the students to like school.  They are at such a young (and precious) age that if they begin to dislike school now, then they might dislike for the rest of their educational career. Its all about the experiences that we have that lead us to make the decisions in our future.  I want their futures to be as bright as possible!

Until next post, have fun coloring a picture.  We take our skills for granted sometimes and my first graders have allowed me to realize that.

Miss Higgins