Well, two good things for today--actually, three.
1. It was NOT a terrible day. Yesterday, I felt like instead of teaching six year olds, I was actually teaching tiny monsters whose only mission in life was to turn me into a big monster. Not so today. Angels! I loved it. I kept asking them how learning was feeling, and they kept telling me "good, because...it was quiet, people were talking about math, it wasn't crazy, I got a lot of work done, I was working hard, etc." not bad self-reflection for first graders, huh?
2. I officially put up my first bulletin board...at least, the first that was mine from conception, to student work, to display. The kids have been working on Chinese New Year projects, and today I taught them how to do Tangrams (thanks, Janet!). They actually turned out pretty good, so I changed our "Spotlight Our World" hall display to Chinese Tangram Art. Since I am not so excited about bulletin boarding, I considered this a big deal.
3. I managed to teach an ENTIRE 20 minutes without saying a word. We were doing calendar, and I just decided not to talk. I pointed to things, wrote things on the board for the students to echo (which helped their reading, too!), wrote math equations and pulled name sticks, and pantomined the expected behavior. It was hysterical, the kids were totally engaged (not always the case during calendar), I had fun, and all WITHOUT TALKING!!! Good stuff.
Hope everyone had a good day, as well!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
A new post
Well, after five monthes, here I go.
I have just started my third week alone in the classroom. Kyla is working on her National Boards certification, and has been "hiding" in the library working for the last two weeks. It's been nice, especially now that I am (finally) healthy, because it lets me get a real feel for what its like to be in the classroom by myself!
This week already feels like a bit of a waste, because all the kids want to do is talk about Valentine's Day!
I am embarking on the (dangerous) task of cooking with first graders on Thursday...wish me luck!
I have just started my third week alone in the classroom. Kyla is working on her National Boards certification, and has been "hiding" in the library working for the last two weeks. It's been nice, especially now that I am (finally) healthy, because it lets me get a real feel for what its like to be in the classroom by myself!
This week already feels like a bit of a waste, because all the kids want to do is talk about Valentine's Day!
I am embarking on the (dangerous) task of cooking with first graders on Thursday...wish me luck!
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