So I have finished my first full week of student teaching. It was all observation and assisting students when they need it. Most students have realized that I am an authority figure in the classroom that they have to listen to, but some have to be reminded of it. Hopefully they will listen to me a little better this week as I begin teaching the math lessons.
I'll be teaching the students basic geometry. They are really catching on to geometry as it is a more hands on type of math with shapes and spatial thinking. I'm enjoying the planning process, too. It's not as difficult as I thought it would be because the math text has the lessons pretty much laid out for you. I make some adjustments that are better for my students, but most of it is just following the book and making sure I know what I'm teaching.
On Friday all three third grade teachers planned an ice skating party for the third grade students. There is an ice rink right next to the school so for an hour at the end of the day we took all of the third graders outside to go ice/boot skating. They loved it! Many of the students wanted to wear ice skates so bad, but they didn't own any. Fortunately, one of the teachers brought in a whole storage bin of ice skates that students could try to use. I found this slightly entertaining as many of the skates were way too large for a third grader's feet. They wore them anyways, since, for many, this was their first time ice skating! By the end of their turn with the ice skates, they were walking on the sides of the boot of the skate (no metal was touching the ice). This was hilarious because the whole time they thought they were skating! Most of the time we were outside, I was in the warming house helping kids with their skates and boots. Students who did not have skates just boot skated on the ice. As soon as we were at the rink, these students ran onto the ice. I looked over 2 seconds later and almost all of them were laying down squirming on the ice. I just had to laugh. Luckily only a couple students had minor injuries (sore wrists and hands from falling). One student did have his leg stepped on by a student with a skate, though. There was no blood but his snowpants were ripped and he will definitely have a huge bruise on his thigh.
When the students came back in we had hot chocolate with marshmallows ready for them! They loved this! We had accidentally over-saturated the hot chocolate so their was a lot of mix left in the cups. But no worries! The kids found a way to make second helpings of hot cocoa! They all refilled their cups with warm water from the sink and stirred in the mix that was left at the bottom of their cups. They were so proud of this problem solving! Overall, it was a crazy, hectic, but fun day!
One thing that I have been meaning to mention is the diversity in the school. This is one of the criteria I really wanted for the schools that I'm teaching in. The school that I'm at now has a large number of Muslim students, along with some Hispanic and other diverse ethnicities. I really enjoy this exposure to many other cultures and customs! It is great exposure for when I will be doing my English as a second language (ESL) placement. There is an ESL teacher that comes into our classroom for an hour 2 days a week for some of our students. I love over-hearing what they are learning and how they are taught. The diversity just helps expose students to other cultures besides their own, even if they don't really notice it.
Well this has been a long entry so I will give you all a break and hopefully write again to share how my first few days of actual teaching went! Thanks for all of your support!
Dana
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