The fear and excitement of second grade

Two weeks from today, I will be back in second grade for the first time since 1998.  Well, 1999 technically.  Because if I started second grade in September of 1998, I would have finished it in June of 1999.  The last time I was in second grade, I looked like this:

I wish I had a photo of my first day of second grade so I could do a side-by-side comparison picture on the 21st.  First day of second grade as a student and first day of second grade as a student teacher.

I'm really excited to be student teaching in a second grade classroom.  According to my sponsor teacher's page on the school's website, there are 19 students in the class.  More than the 11 fourth graders I was with for Block II, but less than the 22 first graders I was with for my Block I experience.  I've emailed back and forth a couple times with my sponsor teacher; she seems nice from the emails.  I'm meeting her in person on the 14th - I'm looking forward to that.

This late in the school year, the kids are seven years old in second grade.  Seven is a fun age.  I hope.  One of the clubs I'm in at school, Harry Potter Alliance, our faculty advisor has a seven year old daughter who is in second grade at the school I'm at for placement one.  She is a great kid, don't get me wrong, but as much as I love her, if every kid in the class I'm in is like her I just might cry.  I'm pretty sure she's one of a kind though.  Not every kid has had the same experiences as her, and not every seven year old hangs out with college students on a somewhat regular basis, so I'm assuming that she's not exactly your typical expectation of a seven year old.

I'm a bit nervous, to be honest.  I don't know what to expect.  I keep telling myself not to be nervous, and that there's NOTHING to be nervous about... but I'm going to be like this until I'm actually there in the classroom.  I'm going to be scared of the kids until I see them.  I'm trying not to picture what they might be like.  My first graders were older than I was expecting, and my fourth graders were younger than I thought thy would be.  I don't know what to expect for second grade.  I don't know what you learn in second grade.  I don't know how to teach second grade.  But I do know that this is just me freaking out.  All my methods classes, they were so useful and I really did learn so much in them.  In the classroom experiences I have had so far, I do find myself thinking back to my methods classes and trying to use things I learned in those classes in a real classroom environment.  I'm just nervous because of the unknown.  What specials do they have on what days?  Do they go by even and odd days?  Or 1-6?  Or A-F?  What subjects do they learn?  Is it solely math and ELA like it was for my fourth graders?  Are there students with special needs in the class?  Are there struggling readers?  Do they get recess?  How do you pronounce some of the kids' names?  All questions I will have answered in a week when I meet my mentor teacher, but all questions I am going to needlessly worry and stress myself out about until I have answers.

I'm excited though.  I realized yesterday that I will be with them for Valentine's Day.  That means I'll be able to buy them valentine's cards and probably lollipops (wait, are there students with allergies in the class? Can I do lollipops?! More questions!) or something like that.  I just bought myself a new pink dress at Kohl's yesterday that I can't wait to wear on Valentine's Day!

Do you know what I'm excited for, that's kind of dumb to be excited for at 22 years old?  I'm actually really excited to spend forever picking out a "first day of school" outfit the night before I start as a student teacher.

My last semester at Potsdam starts in two weeks.  This is craziness.