The Wrinkled Heart

Today was an "A+" day of teaching for me! I was responsible for teaching all subjects and my student teaching supervisor came to observe my social studies lesson entitled "The Wrinkled Heart".  To my surprise and delight, the lesson could not have gone any better!  The students were so engaged and actively involved in the learning.  I was so proud of them.  The "toothpaste example" that I explained in the previous post was a big hit and the book that I read called "Words Are Not for Hurting", fit perfectly with the theme of the lesson and tied in to the song that I sang to end the lesson. The sentences they wrote and the pictures they drew for the writers workshop portion of my lesson were amazing! It was a wonderful feeling to have things go so well.  My supervisor and my mentor teacher were so amazing and supportive and I was so relieved!  When a lesson goes well there is absolutely nothing like seeing the love of learning on a child's face.  They are so inquisitive and imaginative.  Time is going by so quickly! I know that when it comes time for me to leave in February, it will be so hard!  I will miss those sweet toothless grins and the chorus of voices saying, "Good Morning Ms. M!"

Week Five-Student Teaching

Things have been going along quite smoothly and I am loving being in the classroom more and more.  I especially love first grade kiddos! I have been slowly taking over more and more of the day and tomorrow will be my first day of taking the lead on every subject.  I am so lucky to be in the classroom with an amazing teacher who is absolutely a joy to watch.  Teaching is such an art and she is a master artist! My Supervisor from Whitworth will come in and observe me teaching a lesson on "The power of words", based on the trait of "Kindness".  I'm nervous!! As a "hook" for the lesson I plan to squeeze out a tube of toothpaste and attempt to put it all back in the tube using first a spoon and then a toothpick.  I will ask a few students to try and then point out how impossible it is to get all of the toothpaste back into the tube.  I will then explain that words are like that; once we say something hurtful we can"t "take it back".  Sorry will help, but we can't ever completely un-do the hurt. I did this with my own children when they were small and they never forgot it. I hope it works the same with my class!  Three more weeks of teaching and then Christmas break.  I do love having the same schedule as my own children so I can stay home with them and enjoy our break together. :) 
I'll let you know how the lesson goes!

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.

Week One-Check!

Wow! The first week of my student teaching just flew by! Thursday was my guitar debut with the kids.  I did my lesson from the book "Pete the Cat" and sang and played my guitar to the song in the book.  The kids LOVED the story and the song.  They sang it enthusiastically and had the biggest grins on their faces. :)  Of course when I was finished they said, "again! sing it again!"  So I did round two.  Thursday's after second recess has been dubbed "Music with Ms. M" time.  Love it!  There is hardly a moment to sit during the day and the 1/2 hour lunch break is usually spent preparing for the afternoon lessons so I am exhausted when I get home (I stay after school to plan for the next day, as do most teachers).  But it is a contented exhaustion if there is such a thing!  Next week I will take over teaching the reading groups and my supervisor comes to watch me teach a "character education" lesson. Stay tuned! Comment of the day on Friday...."You're a ROCK STAR Ms. M!"

Comment of the day...

I cannot believe how quickly the day goes by when working with first grade students! It reminds me of being in a play.  The minute you step into that classroom you are "on". I'm delighted to see how all my training and experience in acting and music so naturally fits right into my teaching. Today was another day of observing and jumping in whenever my mentor teacher asked me to jump in.  The kiddo's have been asking me to bring my guitar all week and tomorrow is the day! I will be reading the book "Pete the Cat" and singing and playing a little "blues" song that goes along with the story.  It's a great story and we should have so much fun! Music is such an amazing teaching tool. The "comment of the day"came from a little boy who tugged on my sleeve and looked up at me and said, "Ms. M, you're beautiful!" How sweet is that?!

First Lesson-Stealing my heart away

Today was my first day of student teaching. I woke up this morning and was all out of sorts.  I thought I would be excited.  I was just plain nervous.  I felt uneasy and a bit panicky. I seriously doubted the sanity of leaving a comfortable routine and a great job, to step into a classroom of first grade students and expect that I could actually teach them, or that they would actually want to learn what I had to teach them!  It would have been so much easier to jump in my car and drive to the office.  I had come all this way and this was all I could muster?! I managed to get myself together and head to the school.  From the moment I entered the school, I was welcomed warmly and made to feel included.  My mentor teacher and I went over the schedule for the day and I learned that I was "first on the schedule".

Written on the white board was a message for me, "Welcome Ms. M!" Soon the kiddo's started streaming in and it only took about 30 seconds for all my fears to melt away.  They were all so excited and exclaimed "There she is! There's Ms. M!.  All the children gathered at the front of the room and sat on the floor and my mentor teacher gave me the floor.  One little girl raised her hand and shyly asked, "Did you bring your guitar?"  My heart melted.  I sang a little song I had written especially for them to introduce myself and then talked about my family and what kinds of things I like to do.  They were a captive little audience. When I asked if anyone had any questions for me nearly every hand shot up.  In reality I didn't need to worry about a thing.  All it took was one look at those little faces so intently hanging on every word, for my fears to melt away.  Whew! It was a great Day One. :)

Ready...Set...JUMP IN!

After four-and-a-half years of night and all day Saturday classes I am finally here! Like a child who is standing at the end of the diving board for the first time trying to get the courage to jump off , I find myself at the end of my teacher education program poised to jump into the last leg of my journey; student teaching.  It hasn't been easy.  In the past five years I have divorced, moved, started over, gone from being a stay-at-home mom to working full time, lost my mom to cancer, and sent a daughter off to college. All while attending Whitworth in the evening to earn my BA in Elementary Education and my teaching certificate. There have been many times when I have doubted my decision to become a teacher.  The pay isn't great and the job market doesn't look so good either.  Yet, something urges me on at every turn.  The deep desire in my heart to make a difference in the life of a child.  The yearning I have to make every child believe that they are "seen", that they are full of potential and they can do and be whatever they dream. Research and personal experience confirm that good teachers can make a huge impact in the life of a child.

Quite frankly, I love the job that I have right now working as a public affairs associate and they are holding my position for me if I want to return after my student teaching.  I have a hunch that I will love teaching, that I will know without a shadow of a doubt that I have found my passion and will not want to turn back.  But...in all honesty, I kind of feel like I might jump off that diving board and painfully realize that someone forgot to fill the pool. I can't help asking myself, what if I have gone through all of this schooling and I learn during my student teaching that I don't want to teach?!!  I will soon find out.  This is Saturday night. I start my student teaching Monday, November 1st in a first grade classroom.  I'm excited and nervous but ready to JUMP!