First Week of School

The first week of school is almost over, and I've already learned so much!  I feel like I've really connected with the kids, and I'm so excited for the upcoming year.  On our first day (Wednesday), we had a lot of children with first day jitters.  One in particular was super nervous and crying while we walked into the classroom for the first time.  It definitely brought me back to the days when I would get super nervous for the first day of school simply because I didn't know what to expect.  Jen was sure to comfort the student and explained that 3rd grade will be really fun, not scary.  She was also sure to point out the fact that we aren't mean teachers ;)  After we both talked with her, she calmed down and later said she had a lot of fun that day.

On the first day we really focused on making the children comfortable and introduced ourselves.  We did some fun activities to help us find things we have in common with each other.  I lead one of these activities and it went very well.  I had each child come up and draw a strip of paper out of a basket.  On the paper was a phrase the child read out loud and an action to accompany it.  For instance, a strip might say, "Pat your stomach if you visited the beach this summer" or "Give your neighbor a high-five if you have a bedtime".  If the saying applied to the children, they did the action and if not, they didn't.  They seemed to have a lot of fun with it and helped them learn about each other.  At the end of the day the kids wrote about their day in their calendar folder (explained in an earlier post).  One child wrote, "Mrs. Arnold and Ms. Schletzer are awesome" - yes, I know it's small BUT it meant a lot to me.  I'm glad we were able to make a good first impression on the kids because it makes me feel like they're looking forward to the year.  I definitely want the children to like and respect me, not listen to me simply because they're scared.

On the second day, I lead a time capsule activity.  I took a shoe box and decorated it with signs along the lines of "3rd Grade Time Capsule: Don't Open until the Last Day of School!"  I explained the point of a time capsule and had the kids fill out a sheet about their "favorites".  On the back of the sheet, they wrote some goals they had for 3rd grade.  They shared their work with others, and we also had some come up and show the class their "favorites" using our dot-cam (basically an up-to-date overhead projector).  I learned that some of the children were confused about goals (one child said their goal was to get her ears pierced) and hobbies (many didn't know what the word meant).  I was able to clarify these things for them, and once again reminded me how innocent 3rd graders really are.  I also took pictures of each kid (one normal one and one goofy) next to our "Welcome to Third Grade" sign.  It'll be very fun to see how much they grow before May!  I also learned the stock "silly" face is to put your fingers in your mouth, spread your cheeks apart, and stick out your tongue. :P  I ALSO learned not to delete original copies of photos when downloading them because when your iphoto program shuts down, you lose all of your pictures (AKA I have to retake these pictures again...)  On a brighter note, here is the sheet the kids filled out for the time capsule! :)

The kids were also able to color their picture once they were finished.

Jen and I also made an "Meet Mrs. Arnold and Ms. Schletzer" newsletter.  I think this is a great idea, especially because I didn't get to meet all of the children's parents on "Meet the Teacher Night".

Slowly but surely, the kids are learning to say my name!  The next step: getting the rest of the teachers and staff to feel comfortable saying it.  I can definitely tell they don't like to call me anything because they either 1) Don't know my name or 2) Don't know how to say it.  My goal by the end of the year is to have everyone know who I am :)

And speaking of goals, today the children made a bulletin board about "Reaching for our Goals".  Jen and I made a bulletin that said "Our Goals" and the children traced their arms, decorated them, and created goals to reach.  On each Friday, we'll see if the kids met their goals and if they did they can take their goal down and put a new one up.  

With this assignment, I feel like I had my first memorable teaching moment.  One of the children sat in his desk and did not trace is arm and hand at all (which is very unlike him).  I asked if he needed help and he refused to answer.  I gave him time to think about whether he needed help or not, came back 5 min later, and noticed tears in his eyes.  I pulled him outside to talk to him and he began crying.  I asked him what was wrong and he said, "Every time I try and trace my arm, it looks really fat."  It broke my heart when he said that because I could see in his eyes how self-conscious he was.  I explained to him that I have things I'm self-conscious about too, and everyone's shaped differently and he has nothing to be ashamed of.  After we talked for a minute, I went back inside and with his permission helped him trace his arm.  I angled to the pencil to give the outline a more 'slimming' effect and the second he lifted his arm up to see the tracing, an immediate smile came across his face and he talked about how he was going to decorate it.  Words really don't do this situation any justice. It's one of those "you had to be there moments", but something I can tell really meant a lot to him.  It was quite possibly one of the most rewarding moments I've had as a teacher, knowing I helped him feel better about himself.

And lastly, I saw one of my preschoolers in the hallways today!!!!  The second I saw her standing with her kindergarten class, I felt like such a proud mama and couldn't help but have a huge smile on my face and wave to her.  She waved back, but I knew it didn't click who I was until she passed by me closer.  I saw her smile and wave get bigger once she made the connection.  This little girl was also a child who made an impact on my teaching career.  When I left for spring break last semester she sent me a letter via snail mail stating she "loved and missed me".  It's moments like these, I know I've chosen the right career path.