Week of November 12

Gosh! How time flies by! Less than a month is left here at my placement and I must say, it's been quite a journey I never thought I'd have! 

Through my experience at my school, I've learned that being a teacher is tough work. Even though we get told this every day. I don't think people really understand how hard teachers work until they experience it for themselves. Even though I'm going onto more than 2 months of all day teaching, I still feel lost sometimes! Talking with a few veteran teachers, they say that sometimes they feel the same way. It's reassuring that I'm not the only one under tons of pressure and it's also reassuring that I would have a community that understands my problems and would be able to help me. 

This was a calm week compared to last week. The atmosphere of my classroom was like the peace after the storm. The students knew what had to be done and when without me having to repeat it a million times. There were a lot of times this week that I had a lot of successful instructional time. 

One great example was Veterans Day. I created a PowerPoint to teach the students about what the holiday signified. I was a bit nervous because of how the different cultural pride would make them feel. Being Mexican and being raised by first generation Americans, I know that we have a lot of pride for a country. I had thought that the students would stand and boycott me! Surprisingly, they didn't. I was able to share some personal stories about how my uncle had served in the U.S. Army and how I had the chance to live on the base with him and his wife. They were really enthusiastic to hear and learn. I asked them what we could do to honor the veterans and they decided to make ribbon/badges. On the front, I asked them to pick an adjective that could describe a veteran, like: hero, honor, courage, brave, etc. and on the back they were to write a thank you note. You wouldn't believe the things the students were thanking the veterans for. They would say, "Thanks for fighting for the country, now I can say whatever I want." It was cute, but it honestly reminded me of all the liberties we have and sometimes take for granted. This was a teaching moment that taught them, but unexpectedly taught me also. 

I've been trying to focus on writing a lot in my class. First, I noticed that my students LOVE to write! However, their grammar and mechanics is a bit out of control. I've created a rubric that emphasizes creativity just as much as mechanics and spelling. This week's assignment was writing a  postcard about an "exciting experience" they had. The first day I focused on details. I did the activity from the Schmidt book. I started off with "The cat sat." I explained that it was a sentence, but that a Kindergartener could have written a sentence with more detail. So we built off of that. Tuesday, we checked for details. Wednesday, we did one-on- one conferences and started creating the back of the postcard. Thursday I gave them a mini-quiz on what to look for when editing. They did well. So we did some editing in class and it really helped with finishing up conferences. It's really hard to do something that you haven't seen done before. I've never seen my teacher do writer's workshop, so sometimes it's out of control. I don't get corrected so I assume I'm doing it right. (Hope I don't get in trouble!) 

This week we also had a School Improvement Day. Which is a long name for: the day the students get a half day and teachers get to sit in meetings until 4:30pm. However, I was really honored for this meeting because: 1. I made it on the slideshow of School Stars! 2. I was asked tons of questions about the Common Core and 3. My principal asked me to sit on a panel of Math Talks! I was pumped. I really felt like I was part of the team. Being welcomed and accepted and being counted makes all the difference! :) 

As my last few days, get nearer, I keep wondering how am I going to transition from being a student to a teacher. Is it hard? I've been a student for 17 years now. Pre, Pre-K until now. It's sort of a big deal and honestly, it's a frightening thing to think about. There is a first year teaching in the building and I've been wanting to ask her tons of questions, but I don't know what to ask her. I don't want to bombard her but at the same time, I really need her advice! Like: what's classroom management like? how was the transition from student teaching 4th grade to working in a 1st grade class? was it easy to get a job? do you feel confident in your teaching? This is only the beginning, but you might be able to see how these questions are loaded. Hopefully, I gain the courage for this week to ask her some not so difficult questions.