First Grade...a different world

This was my first full week in the first grade class. I have to say, I really like it. I always thought that first graders would be to needy and babyish. There are some things I have done in first grade that I never had to do in 4th; I have tied several shoes, pulled hair up into ponytails multiple times, and had to use a rubber band to help a youngster keep her pants up. I didn't mind doing these things, and I think they helped me develop a relationship with some of the students. Building a good relationship now will help me when I start teaching next week. What has really surprised me is how quickly I have forgotten how young they are. I have been thinking a lot about this and have decided that the reason I forget how young they are is because they are living up to high expectations set by their teacher. Students are expected to push their seats in and come quietly to the carpet when they hear the music. Students are expected to be good listeners when another student is sharing during share time in the morning. Students are expected to use good manners by saying please, thank you, yes maam and no maam. The expectations don't end with behavior, however, these students are expected to write (a lot) and to increase their stamina by reading quietly for extended periods of time.  It is very neat to see the students know the expectations, and live up to them.

Gone are the days of endlessly cutting, pasting, and coloring in first grade. Don't get me wrong, there are times when students do these things, but they are using these things to learn how to create bar graphs, and illustrate stories they have written themselves. These activities are merely tools (and ones that aren't used very often) to be better readers, writers and mathematicians.

I had an idea of first grade being a lot like babysitting. The students in my class never cease to amaze me with the thinking and problem solving they are capable of.  The main thing I took away from this week is that you should never limit students by assuming what they are capable of doing and that setting high standards and expectations for children leads to higher accomplishments and learning by the students.

my first parent teacher conference

This week I got to experience the parent-teacher conference for the first time. I was very nervous when I first heard that a parent wanted to meet with Ms. Morris (and I would have to be there since I had been teaching for the last two weeks) AND THE PRINCIPAL. All kinds of things ran through my head...what had I done wrong, what if the parents complained about the education their son was getting because I was in the classroom, had the son told her that I had treated him unfairly when I had to reprimand him on the playground a few days earlier? The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that I had done something horribly wrong and was about to be fired (from student teaching).

It ended up that the principal could not attend at the time the parents requested the meeting and they agreed that it wasn't essential for her to be there. At the designated time the mother, father, and son all walked in. It ended up being a little bit of a gripe session for the son. He felt like he was not being treated fairly by other students on the playground when they would get him out in four square and he thought he was getting infractions in class because the boy who sits next to him was distracting. It was a classic example of what I had read about in Love and Logic  when it described how some will blame others to avoid personal pain.  While I was sitting there I was wondering how Ms. Morris would handle all of his complaints when I know that his parents were probably thinking their poor son was failing because of the behavior of others.

The first thing I should note is that Ms. Morris was prepared for the meeting. She had data to support everything she said. When little "Johnny" tried to say that he was getting infractions because of his neighbor, she pointed out that since February the only infractions he had received had been for not completing his homework. She had his grades available and a list of all of his infractions and the reason for them right there on paper. She then confronted him about a recent time where he had lied to her about his homework and addressed the importance of always being honest.  By the end of the meeting she had addressed all of his concerns, had come up with solutions for problems that were still bugging him, complimented him on his patience with his neighbor and expressed her high expectations for his behavior and classroom success. WOW, I don't know how she managed to do all that and still keep the meeting very cordial and positive. It was very interesting to witness and I guess the main thing I took with me from this experience was to keep the data and  be prepared!

self reflection

I had an AHA moment when reading about portfolios in Straight Talk for Today's Teacher.  My student teaching experience has shown me the importance of being self-reflective as a teacher. Each day I try to think about what went right and what went wrong with the lesson. I know that I have learned a lot from this but hadn't really thought about encouraging students to be self-reflective. I've heard a lot about having students self-assess but until I read about it this week I didn't put it together that being self-reflective can be just as important for the students as it is to me as a teacher. My supervising teacher is very good at this. There are two students who are working to achieve goals such as being more organized or staying on task. These students have to rate themselves on how they did both in the morning and in the afternoon every day  then she also gives them a rating. What a great way to make them more aware of how they are doing and what may and may not be working for them.

Using ALL the resources available to me

I have discovered that being a teacher is WAY harder than I ever thought. I constantly feel like I'm trying to juggle five or six balls all at the same time. This is no easy task. What I am learning is that I do not have to do it by myself. I have two MMR students in my class. They are in and out of the classroom throughout the day and I felt like I was not meeting their needs when they were in the class. I knew that my exit slips for science were beyond their abilties and I was tempted to  just let them slide. That is when I realized how much help the special ed. teacher can be. I have been collaborating with her and she helps to adjust the exit slips to meet the needs of these students while still holding them accountable for learning. She has also been breaking down the lessons into pieces that these students can understand. At first I was afraid to ask her for help because I felt like it was my job but then I realized that I could not do it by myself. Things have been going much better and I have discovered that when I use the resources around me I not only benefit but so do my students. Just like the Field Guide to teaching says "the classroom teacher does not teach in isolation."

reflection

This week I have started a new unit in science. The unit is on weather, which is a fun topic, but I had a lot to learn about weather before I could teach it. I have to say I have learned a lot about teaching this week. The one thing I keep trying to master is that I have to be very specific. I need to tell the students exactly what I expect of them. I need to model even the little things. I need to tell them where I want them to put their papers when they are finished. Does this go in the homework folder or the science journal? I have definitely improved...but it still needs work.

The other thing that has been clear to me this week is that the goal is to teach until the children master the concept...not until the material is covered. I am working on time management and it seems like I'm always running out of time before I run out of lesson. Toward the end of the lesson today I found myself rushing through the plans just to get through.  BIG MISTAKE! It was clear how ineffective this was when I started reviewing the exit slips.  So, now I will need to go back and teach the stuff I rushed through today. Thank heavens I did an exit slip as a formative assessment. What an injustice to the kids if I had not done this and waited until the end of the unit to find out that the students hadn't got the concept. Now I can go back and re-teach the information they need to know in order to understand the stuff that's coming up.

What I've learned this week

This week has been a learning experience. As I'm getting into teaching science, I have learned that you have to be VERY clear about the directions. I thought I was being clear but two times this week the students didn't quite seem to understand what they were supposed to be doing. Since this never happens with my supervising teacher, I must assume it was my fault and not the students'. When I looked back on it, I can see in both cases that I needed to have the attention of the students before I started explaining and that I needed to model what I wanted them to do. Then the final step...which I may not have done so well was, to make sure they understood the directions.

Building relationships is everything

The second week I was in the classroom the teacher was out in the afternoon and a substitute came in. I was doing most of the work but the substitute had to be there. There is one student who has EBD. He can be a very sweet child and Ms. Morris is wonderful with him. This is evidenced by the fact that he has not had an outburst since I have been there. She merely says "OK -------, I hear you. Now you need to go do what I asked you to do." She made it look so easy. It didn't seem to work for me on that Friday. He was having trouble with division and I was trying to explain it to him. He kept saying, "NO, that isn't how Mrs. Morris told me to do it." I kept trying to explain it to him and he kept getting louder and louder. The day ended with him having a meltdown and crying in the hallway. I tried and tried to figure out what I had done wrong. One thing I noted was that as he was getting more and more agitated...so was I. I had a hard time keeping a calm tone. I didn't yell, but my voice and body language were not conveying a sense of calm. Other than that, I couldn't figure out how this had happened.

Fast forward a week, and I'm teaching a lesson on science. All the students are sitting in their assigned spot on the carpet, except -----. I asked him to go to his spot and he said "There isn't enough room for me over there. I want to stay here." I again repeated the request and he started to say the same thing. I calmly asked him if he was being respectful and told him he needed to go to his spot. Amazingly, he did! Wow, how did that happen? No crying, screaming, or timeout in the hallway. He just got up, with a little huff, and went to his spot. What was the difference? Well I did keep a calm tone this time and that may have helped but, the main thing that changed was our relationship. I have been trying to talk to him and develop a relationship with him and I have noticed his attitude has changed toward me. Don't get me wrong, he still gets upset and doesn't always behave up to expectations but now I often get hugs in the morning and stories of his weekend. Relationship is everything!