Day 1 in the classroom
Today was my first day being in a classroom!!! I was in a first grade classroom, and that's where I'm going to be on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next 4 weeks.
I got up at 5:15 this morning so I could leave my room by 6:20 to meet my friend I was getting a ride with by 6:30 so we could be there by 7:30 so she could drop me off at the school I'm assigned and still be at the school she was assigned on time. Her GPS was wrong though, and it did NOT take us an hour to get there. We were actually there right around 7:10, so we just sat in her car in the parking lot for a bit.
Once we could finally go inside, me and the others assigned to the same school, we sat in the lobby outside the office waiting for our coordinator to get there so she could give us a tour of the school. We were all talking about how nervous we were for this, but we were all excited at the same time. Well, I was anyway. And I'm assuming they were as well. The school was small, but knowing me, I'm probably going to manage to get lost at least once in there.
My mentor teacher is SO nice and the kids in the class I'm in are awesome! I don't want to say too much because I don't know what I'm allowed to say and what I'm not, and I don't want to get into any kind of trouble. I think my mentor teacher knew I was a bit nervous, and she was really understanding of that. I was so nervous last night and this morning, but once I got in the classroom and met the kids, it was a lot better. I was a lot less nervous once I was actually there, and once I'd met my mentor teacher. I think one of the biggest things I was nervous about was that I was going to get a mean mentor, but I had nothing to be worried about.
And the kids, the kids were so sweet and so welcoming! And so smart, oh my gosh! They were learning words like "disappointed", "spotted", and "eagerly", and they didn't even sound them out -- they just read them! Just like that! They asked me for help a lot and were eager to welcome me into their classroom. One of them told me that she thinks I'm going to be a really good teacher, and a few of them told me that they like me being in their class. I was helping them with math and journaling. I worked with a few kids one-on-one. I listened to them read their journal entries. I really did a lot; the day FLEW by so fast! It was a little after 3:30 when I left the school, so it was around 4:30 when I got back to campus.
It's a weird feeling, the realization that while I'm spending all day in a first grade classroom, my fellow college students are in actual classes all day. It's weird knowing that this huge part of my life just began, and no one else's life has changed in the slightest (except for the others who are also in Block 1 right now).
When I got back to campus, I changed into more comfortable clothes and shoes (when the only professional looking shoes you own are cowboy boots, your feet are DEAD by the end of the day!) and went to a friend's dorm to cook food for a friend who's family is going through a really hard time right now. Got back to my room sometime between 7:30 and 8, and spent the past hour and a half (two hours?) doing homework. I still have to prepare to present my games in gym class tomorrow (my last gym class ever!) and come up with a small group lesson to present on Thursday! And I eventually need to watch tonight's episode of Pretty Little Liars as well.
It's only 9:30 at night and I'm exhausted! Today was only day one, and I'm more sure than I've ever been in my life that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. It was a really busy and really hectic day, but oh my gosh was it ever fun! I loved every second of it, and I can't wait for it to be Thursday so I can be back in the classroom. That's where I belong. That's where I was meant to be.
It's been snowing almost nonstop since, I think, last Thursday. It hasn't amounted to anything because it hasn't been snowing that heavily. It's just been flurrying and snowing really lightly, but it's still been snowing for the past 5 days. It's been snowy and slushy and rainy and grey and miserable and disgusting outside. Today, it was sunny. The sun was shining all day, and it was such a beautiful day. It was a sign of how the day was going to be. I'm not religious, but I do believe that there are signs showing us where we're supposed to be and what we're supposed to be doing. Part of the reason I decided on Potsdam was because when I visited the other two colleges I was considering, it was grey and rainy. But when I visited Potsdam, it was snowy on the way there and grey and rainy on the way home, but the day I visited the campus for the first time, it was sunny outside. It was a sign that I followed, and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Just like that, I fully believe that the sun shining today was a sign as well.
I got up at 5:15 this morning so I could leave my room by 6:20 to meet my friend I was getting a ride with by 6:30 so we could be there by 7:30 so she could drop me off at the school I'm assigned and still be at the school she was assigned on time. Her GPS was wrong though, and it did NOT take us an hour to get there. We were actually there right around 7:10, so we just sat in her car in the parking lot for a bit.
Once we could finally go inside, me and the others assigned to the same school, we sat in the lobby outside the office waiting for our coordinator to get there so she could give us a tour of the school. We were all talking about how nervous we were for this, but we were all excited at the same time. Well, I was anyway. And I'm assuming they were as well. The school was small, but knowing me, I'm probably going to manage to get lost at least once in there.
My mentor teacher is SO nice and the kids in the class I'm in are awesome! I don't want to say too much because I don't know what I'm allowed to say and what I'm not, and I don't want to get into any kind of trouble. I think my mentor teacher knew I was a bit nervous, and she was really understanding of that. I was so nervous last night and this morning, but once I got in the classroom and met the kids, it was a lot better. I was a lot less nervous once I was actually there, and once I'd met my mentor teacher. I think one of the biggest things I was nervous about was that I was going to get a mean mentor, but I had nothing to be worried about.
And the kids, the kids were so sweet and so welcoming! And so smart, oh my gosh! They were learning words like "disappointed", "spotted", and "eagerly", and they didn't even sound them out -- they just read them! Just like that! They asked me for help a lot and were eager to welcome me into their classroom. One of them told me that she thinks I'm going to be a really good teacher, and a few of them told me that they like me being in their class. I was helping them with math and journaling. I worked with a few kids one-on-one. I listened to them read their journal entries. I really did a lot; the day FLEW by so fast! It was a little after 3:30 when I left the school, so it was around 4:30 when I got back to campus.
It's a weird feeling, the realization that while I'm spending all day in a first grade classroom, my fellow college students are in actual classes all day. It's weird knowing that this huge part of my life just began, and no one else's life has changed in the slightest (except for the others who are also in Block 1 right now).
When I got back to campus, I changed into more comfortable clothes and shoes (when the only professional looking shoes you own are cowboy boots, your feet are DEAD by the end of the day!) and went to a friend's dorm to cook food for a friend who's family is going through a really hard time right now. Got back to my room sometime between 7:30 and 8, and spent the past hour and a half (two hours?) doing homework. I still have to prepare to present my games in gym class tomorrow (my last gym class ever!) and come up with a small group lesson to present on Thursday! And I eventually need to watch tonight's episode of Pretty Little Liars as well.
It's only 9:30 at night and I'm exhausted! Today was only day one, and I'm more sure than I've ever been in my life that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. It was a really busy and really hectic day, but oh my gosh was it ever fun! I loved every second of it, and I can't wait for it to be Thursday so I can be back in the classroom. That's where I belong. That's where I was meant to be.
It's been snowing almost nonstop since, I think, last Thursday. It hasn't amounted to anything because it hasn't been snowing that heavily. It's just been flurrying and snowing really lightly, but it's still been snowing for the past 5 days. It's been snowy and slushy and rainy and grey and miserable and disgusting outside. Today, it was sunny. The sun was shining all day, and it was such a beautiful day. It was a sign of how the day was going to be. I'm not religious, but I do believe that there are signs showing us where we're supposed to be and what we're supposed to be doing. Part of the reason I decided on Potsdam was because when I visited the other two colleges I was considering, it was grey and rainy. But when I visited Potsdam, it was snowy on the way there and grey and rainy on the way home, but the day I visited the campus for the first time, it was sunny outside. It was a sign that I followed, and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Just like that, I fully believe that the sun shining today was a sign as well.
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