A Big Surprise..

This week has just flown by! Monday my mentor teacher was gone and a substitute (or "guest teacher" as they are now called) was there.  It was good for me because I got to jump right in and do most of the teaching.  It felt very natural and the time went quickly.  Teachers are AMAZING! They are masters at time management, classroom management, leadership, organization, multi tasking, character education and a bit of counseling as well! Imagine rounding up 28 first graders in your neighborhood and then putting them in a room for six hours each day with you and you alone! And then imagine teaching them ALL to read, write, understand mathematics and master skills so that they continue to build on those skills each year. The rules are that you must remain calm at all times, be encouraging, correctly assess each student, fill in learning gaps, differentiate instruction for each learning style, teach manners and character traits and make sure that each student is meeting targets and state standards along the way!  I am amazed that I have actually heard people (who are not teachers) complain that teachers only work part time so don't deserve higher pay. HA! I'd like to see them in that room with those 28 first graders for six hours each day (not to mention staying late to grade papers and plan lessons for the next day) and then see how they feel about it. :)  I will get down from my soap box now. :)

There is a little girl in my class who is a bit "trying".  She has attention problems and loves to act out to attract attention.  She is extremely bright and a bit of a drama queen.  We are focusing on ignoring inappropriate attention getting behaviors and looking for ways to encourage her when she behaves well.  I noticed that whenever we sing in class or have any movement and music time she is completely engaged and animated.  She comes to life! Yesterday, at the Veteran's Day assembly I had her stand right next to me.  During the singing of "America the Beautiful" we all sang along.  I could not believe my ears! This tiny little girl was standing up straight and tall and belting out the song with all her heart and the voice that came from this little 7 year old girl blew me away!  Every note was strong and on key and there was a beautiful rich alto voice with a vibrato!! What a talent.  From now on, we will reward her good behavior with a chance to sing a solo during music time and the ability to help me lead the singing.  I have a feeling this will work wonderfully.  I will keep you posted.Tomorrow marks the end of week two.  I can tell that this 11 weeks will be over in a heartbeat.