"Me Museum"

Today was a great first Friday!  When the kids were entering the classroom, many of the parents greeted me (and said my name right!).  One parent in particular made a point to bring up the fact that he read my "Meet Ms. Schletzer" bio in our newsletter, and talked about the things me and his daughter have in common.  It was super sweet and I could tell he's trying to make a point to be involved and make sure his daughter gets to know me as well.

 We started off the day with the first homework assignment given, "The Me Museum".  It's pretty much a glorified version of 'show and tell' that also gives us an idea of each child's writing level.  Each person (including Jen and I) brought in 3 items and for each item, 3 sentences were written on a notecard describing them.  We let the kids set up their "museum" and they spent about 20 minutes walking around to each desk, observing their friends' things.  They had a BLAST with this.  Some items included purple guitars, karate belts, leggos, cookbooks, pictures, etc. While touring the "me museum", Jen and I made notes about each child's items.  After the 20 min was up, we asked the children questions to see if they could remember who brought what.  For instance, we would say something like, "Who won a medal in a gymnastics competition?"  The class actually got every answer right, which was rewarding because they actually paid attention to their friends' belongings!  Side note, our class is filled with strong writers and good handwriting ;)

Many children brought in trophies and toys.  This child also brought in a boomerang he was super proud of :)

Everyone also made a sign for their museum.  This was definitely one my favorites!

Stuffed animals seemed to be a hit among many of the girls in our class.

Jen offered to take a picture of me with my "museum" :)  I brought in my drum pad, a Belgian birthday card, and Ferg's and Maybel's favorite toy.

  During our math block, the kids played a game about place value using whiteboards.  This game just gave us an idea of how familiar our kids our with this concept so when we teach it next week we have an idea of strengths and weaknesses.  One child in particular was struggling with the concept of the game, so I was sure to help him through it and explain things.  The child sitting across from him called me over and said, "Ms. Schletzer, you're going to make a great teacher someday.  Really, you are!"  That comment alone made me feel so good!  It's amazing how good children can make an adult feel.  I'm hoping I can (and am) have that same affect on them :)  I think this child is one of the few that actually knows I'm interning.  Many of the children have asked if it's my first year at this school (but they think I've taught my own classrooms before).  Jen and I purposely didn't introduce myself as an intern and have been trying to split the teaching as evenly as possible at this point in the year.  Based on these comments, it seems like the kids see me as a "real teacher" (not an intern) and have full confidence I could run a classroom by myself.  It's a great feeling and wonderful way to start off the year!