Today was my first day taking over for everything except the social studies lesson. Since the teacher had taught the whole lesson about Brucemore I thought it would make more sense that she ended it. It's amazing how exhausting teaching really is. I think I used to take my teachers for granted. It used to seem like all they did was sit at the front of the room, present us with information, then have us do work at our desks. As student you don't see how teachers have to keep track of each student and what they are doing all while teaching. You don't see how teachers need to read students and how they react to the information in order to check for understanding, also during teaching. As a student you might have a question for the teacher but you don't realize that teacher also has to answer 20 other students questions while at their seats doing work. A student also doesn't see the before and after school prep time teachers have to endure. I for one, stay until about 6pm every night with the teacher getting the classroom ready for the next day, figuring out the lesson plans, pulling out the needed materials for activities and grading papers. It might seem like I am complaining, but I'm not at all. I think it's more of a realization and a thanks to all my teachers that did that for me just so I could learn and grow up to be the teacher I am today.
Ok so back to what I was saying. Today was my first day full time teaching. It felt great! It was also interesting that before when my CT would leave the room for a minute or two the students were asking right away where she was or what she was doing. Today while I was teaching she was out side of the room a lot working with individuals or doing her own work right outside of the classroom. The students didn't even notice her absence. This was a great feeling for me because it meant a few different things. First off, it meant that my teaching must have got their attention enough for them not to notice. It also meant that they are now getting used to me being in charge of the classroom and they feel comfortable enough with me as their teacher.
The class had a great morning and even earned our 5 of our 12 stars. Our mornings are also broken up a lot more than our afternoons. In the morning students break off into small groups for either reading or math, then we have writing, then they are off to specials, then are back to finish up prior work or have a morning meeting or another lesson. In the afternoon, unless they are pulled out for something such as speech or reading they are in the room from noon till the end of the day. We often try and have a restroom break or give a recess as a reward for good behavior (which we haven't been able to do for 2 weeks now). It seems that the students do a lot better if they can get out of the room and wiggle a little bit. I think I want to find some transitions that help them get up and move a bit, but also are not to silly or googfy, because then as I said in a previous blog, I loose their attention.
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