Day 4 in the classroom
Oh my goodness I can NOT believe I'm half way done being in the classroom for the semester. I don't want to be half way done. I'm going to miss this so much. I've known these kids for 4 days. I've been in this classroom for 4 days. But it feels like so much longer, and I'm going to miss it so so so much once it's over with. This is what I was born to do.
Today was seriously the best day I've had in the classroom so far, and I can't even explain why. I just had a really really great day, and couldn't stop smiling all day. I feel like it's at the point where the kids are comfortable with me being there, and they're not trying to be on their best behavior to impress me anymore. They're being themselves, and they're awesome little munchkins.
My guided reading group had asked me for new sight word flash cards (the second grade level words were too easy for them!) so this weekend I'm going to make them 100 third grade level sight word flash cards and 100 fourth grade level ones. I hope they're a bit of a challenge for them; I hate to think of them as bored. They're such bright kids and their reading is extraordinary! It continues to amaze me how well these kids can read. Major props to their teacher for encouraging literacy the way she does. Seeing them willingly taking out books to read, seeing them sit there reading, completely engrossed in whatever they're reading, it just makes me so happy.
I had to go down to the library today to get books about rabbits and springtime and more "star books" for the classroom. Basically, a "star book" is a book with a star sticker on the spine of the book. The students can read it and then go get tested on it to measure their reading and comprehension and everything. It's a really big deal for them. I went there while the students were working on owed work, and brought two of the students who didn't have any owed work to do with me. While I was picking out spring books, I had the girls looking for star books they thought would be good for their class. I don't think they thought I was paying attention when they had this little gem of a conversation.
Student 1 picks out a star book about cranes and other construction vehicles.
Student 2: No, I don't like that one.
Student 1: Well I don't either, but there's boys in our class who might.
Student 2: Oh right. Yeah, that one's good then.
I was so proud of them! Do you know the feeling? I mean, it's probably normal for them to be thinking of others, right? At 7 years old? But still, I was so proud of them for thinking of the others in their class while they were choosing the star books.
I was a little disappointed at the lack of manners while they were getting their lunch. By the time most of the class had gone through the line, and I'd only heard about 3 pleases and thank yous, I told the last five who were still in like "Boys and girls, I know you have good manners and I'd really like to see them!" The five of them all said please and thank you. I couldn't help but to smile and be so proud of them.
They had a social studies lesson today about life then and now, and I was shocked to see that most of the kids in the class have cell phones and very few spend time with their parents - they say they go to their rooms and close the doors when they're at home. It's crazy how much times have changed, even since I was a kid, and I'm not even that old!! The kids were all shocked to learn that classrooms haven't always had smartboards! I didn't grow up with smartboards - at the time I graduated high school, my school had one (maybe two) smartboards, and they were rarely ever used because the teachers didn't know how to use them. It's crazy to think, to realize that these kids are growing up in a world where they've always had access to cell phones, iPods, smartboards. These are kids who've never seen a TV that's not a flat screen. They've never seen the big, bulky computer monitors - they only know flat screens. The culture gap, the generation gap, whatever it's called, is so eye-opening to me.
A student asked me how to spell "enough" while doing journals.
Me: e-n-o-u-g-h
Student: That's so weird.
Me: I know, it's a weird word, isn't it?
Student: Because we've learned that -ph makes a "ffff" sound. We haven't been taught that -gh can make a "ffff" sound too.
Me: Some words are just really weird.
Oh and during math today! I love how these kids, all kids really, they don't hold back what they're feeling or thinking. They just tell it like it is, and I wish more adults would do that as well instead of playing the oh-so-childish mind games we do. A student who was absent yesterday was catching up on yesterday's work while the rest of the class was working on today's work. He caught up quickly, after the assignment was explained to him by another student. Once he was all caught up, he actually managed to get ahead of the rest of the class. He laid his head down on his desk, and the teacher asked him if he was feeling alright (there's apparently a really bad stomach bug going around the school right now). He said he was fine, so she asked him what was wrong. His response? "I'm bored."
I'm teaching a lesson to the class on the 7th day, and my mentor teacher gave me a copy of what they'll be working on so I can look it over and be fully prepared for the 19th. I was looking over the worksheets to go with that lesson, and I can actually tell which students are going to have trouble with it. I can tell who is going to understand and who is going to need extra help, and I think that's really cool. I feel that that's going to be an important skill to have once I actually do have a teaching job.
Also, it makes me so happy when I correct their homework and I see nearly all of them getting 100's on it. I'm so proud of them, and I love seeing them succeed and understand like this. Like I said, four days and I already feel like this. The 21st, my last day there, is going to be a sad day. I mean, I'm going to act happy and normal for the kids, but... I'm just going to miss this.
Today was seriously the best day I've had in the classroom so far, and I can't even explain why. I just had a really really great day, and couldn't stop smiling all day. I feel like it's at the point where the kids are comfortable with me being there, and they're not trying to be on their best behavior to impress me anymore. They're being themselves, and they're awesome little munchkins.
My guided reading group had asked me for new sight word flash cards (the second grade level words were too easy for them!) so this weekend I'm going to make them 100 third grade level sight word flash cards and 100 fourth grade level ones. I hope they're a bit of a challenge for them; I hate to think of them as bored. They're such bright kids and their reading is extraordinary! It continues to amaze me how well these kids can read. Major props to their teacher for encouraging literacy the way she does. Seeing them willingly taking out books to read, seeing them sit there reading, completely engrossed in whatever they're reading, it just makes me so happy.
I had to go down to the library today to get books about rabbits and springtime and more "star books" for the classroom. Basically, a "star book" is a book with a star sticker on the spine of the book. The students can read it and then go get tested on it to measure their reading and comprehension and everything. It's a really big deal for them. I went there while the students were working on owed work, and brought two of the students who didn't have any owed work to do with me. While I was picking out spring books, I had the girls looking for star books they thought would be good for their class. I don't think they thought I was paying attention when they had this little gem of a conversation.
Student 1 picks out a star book about cranes and other construction vehicles.
Student 2: No, I don't like that one.
Student 1: Well I don't either, but there's boys in our class who might.
Student 2: Oh right. Yeah, that one's good then.
I was so proud of them! Do you know the feeling? I mean, it's probably normal for them to be thinking of others, right? At 7 years old? But still, I was so proud of them for thinking of the others in their class while they were choosing the star books.
I was a little disappointed at the lack of manners while they were getting their lunch. By the time most of the class had gone through the line, and I'd only heard about 3 pleases and thank yous, I told the last five who were still in like "Boys and girls, I know you have good manners and I'd really like to see them!" The five of them all said please and thank you. I couldn't help but to smile and be so proud of them.
They had a social studies lesson today about life then and now, and I was shocked to see that most of the kids in the class have cell phones and very few spend time with their parents - they say they go to their rooms and close the doors when they're at home. It's crazy how much times have changed, even since I was a kid, and I'm not even that old!! The kids were all shocked to learn that classrooms haven't always had smartboards! I didn't grow up with smartboards - at the time I graduated high school, my school had one (maybe two) smartboards, and they were rarely ever used because the teachers didn't know how to use them. It's crazy to think, to realize that these kids are growing up in a world where they've always had access to cell phones, iPods, smartboards. These are kids who've never seen a TV that's not a flat screen. They've never seen the big, bulky computer monitors - they only know flat screens. The culture gap, the generation gap, whatever it's called, is so eye-opening to me.
A student asked me how to spell "enough" while doing journals.
Me: e-n-o-u-g-h
Student: That's so weird.
Me: I know, it's a weird word, isn't it?
Student: Because we've learned that -ph makes a "ffff" sound. We haven't been taught that -gh can make a "ffff" sound too.
Me: Some words are just really weird.
Oh and during math today! I love how these kids, all kids really, they don't hold back what they're feeling or thinking. They just tell it like it is, and I wish more adults would do that as well instead of playing the oh-so-childish mind games we do. A student who was absent yesterday was catching up on yesterday's work while the rest of the class was working on today's work. He caught up quickly, after the assignment was explained to him by another student. Once he was all caught up, he actually managed to get ahead of the rest of the class. He laid his head down on his desk, and the teacher asked him if he was feeling alright (there's apparently a really bad stomach bug going around the school right now). He said he was fine, so she asked him what was wrong. His response? "I'm bored."
I'm teaching a lesson to the class on the 7th day, and my mentor teacher gave me a copy of what they'll be working on so I can look it over and be fully prepared for the 19th. I was looking over the worksheets to go with that lesson, and I can actually tell which students are going to have trouble with it. I can tell who is going to understand and who is going to need extra help, and I think that's really cool. I feel that that's going to be an important skill to have once I actually do have a teaching job.
Also, it makes me so happy when I correct their homework and I see nearly all of them getting 100's on it. I'm so proud of them, and I love seeing them succeed and understand like this. Like I said, four days and I already feel like this. The 21st, my last day there, is going to be a sad day. I mean, I'm going to act happy and normal for the kids, but... I'm just going to miss this.
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