Well it's been a long time since I've written on here! Life has been pretty hectic since I've taken over teaching full time! I started teaching all day on Monday this week. It started out rough. The students tested me all day! They would not stop talking and moving around! I took away a lot of recess minutes because it's the only way to get them to start thinking about their actions. The whole class missed recess for 5 minutes and some students had minutes on top of that. They were not happy about it but I just kept telling them that they are the ones who make the decision. As soon as they start talking after a warning, they have decided right then that they don't want recess. Needless to say, on Tuesday they realized that I was not afraid to take charge and I wasn't joking around with them. No students had to miss recess on Tuesday!
On Wednesday morning I was observed during literacy time. I played a bingo game about prefixes and suffixes with the kids. But of course, since my supervisor was there, they enjoyed the game...WAY TOO MUCH! They were rowdy, loud, hyper, crazy, or any other word you could use to describe over-excited third graders. My supervisor said that she was impressed on how eventually I got the students to calm down. (Threatening to do a worksheet instead of a game really works!) She also liked my lesson and that the students were engaged. Overall, I think it went well but I didn't have a chance to talk to her afterward because we were headed off to lunch.
Today the whole third grade when to Minneapolis for the Physics Circus hosted by the U of M. They really enjoyed all of the physics demonstrations they saw! It was fun to see them so excited about it and getting really into it. I hope they took away some learning from it!
The field trip wasn't as chaotic and overwhelming as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of students and other people there (the Minneapolis Convention Center), but somehow it wasn't too hard to keep track of the kids. We stressed the importance of staying together and listening and it worked! It was good to see how you handle a field trip and to realize that things won't always go according to plan. One of the third grade classes ended up waiting 45 minutes for their bus to pick them up from the convention center! We were already back at school eating lunch when they were picked up to return to school! In the end, all went well and the students enjoyed the field trip!
After the field trip students made their bags for the Valentine's party on Monday. They really enjoyed this and love being creative! After the bags were made, I read a story to the class. Before I began I made sure everyone was seated at their desks and ready to listen. I explained what I expected of them during story time (they have a hard time listening to stories). I would allow them to sit on the floor as long as they sat cross-legged without talking and touching someone. They couldn't get up and wander the room, get a drink, or go to the bathroom. They could last 15 minutes without doing one of these things. I also told them that me setting these expectations was their warning. As soon as I saw them break one of these expectations, they would go back to their seats. All of this expectation setting worked like a charm! They were quiet AND still! This rarely happens!
The best part of all of this was my teacher's compliment to me. She said she was very impressed by how I set my expectations for story time and followed through with what I had warned them about. My teacher said SHE was learning a lot from ME! I never thought I would hear that!
As I realize that my time at Edward Neill Elementary is coming to a close very quickly, I have begun to reflect on my experience here. I love the community I walk into everyday! It is helpful, welcoming, and fun. I love that my teacher and I can learn together. It's not just my cooperating teacher telling me what to do like she knows all. I know she has more experience than me and has a lot of knowledge to share with me, but it's nice to know that you can always learn something new, even as an experienced teacher. I appreciate her and she appreciates me. This makes for a well-working relationship at work. I've been incredibly fortunate so far in my experience and will embrace every moment I have left with this community!
Thanks for all of your support!
Dana
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