2 hour delay!

I awoke to discover that I, Liz Lewis, beat the odds. My teacher told me they haven't had a delay or cancellation in 3 years so not to count on it. Now, it's -2 degrees with a wind chill of -26. So yeah, I slept in today. Laura and I made chocolate chip pancakes to celebrate! :)

Yesterday went really well. I enjoy my day, and I am beginning to take on more responsibilities. I tried to talk to my teacher about how to go about behavior management and I didn't really get a good answer. That's okay. I am just going to keep doing what I am doing! It's my first week and I can't jump into this full force because otherwise I may get in way over my head. There's a reason we phase in and phase out at the end. 

I do not like this schedule though. I am not an adult, but I don't know how they do it? How do people work from 8-5 and run errands afterwards and take their kids to soccer practice, put dinner on the table, get the kids in the bath, and still be standing upright at the end of the day? I know it just takes some getting used to, but when I am done at school, I want to be done for the day. It doesn't help that I've been carpooling with someone because her car is broke. Next week will get better. 

Today will be better, even better than yesterday! -A line from our classroom pledge

Today I started to get more into the swing of things. The down time is a little boring, because I don't really have anything to do. I feel bad for my teacher because I feel like I am in the way, but I try to help however I can. Today I wrote sentences for the morning work, and made a lot of copies. I successfully copied a double sided work sheet! That was an accomplishment. I also successfully know every student's name. Except there are these two girls that I got confused and the girl I called the wrong name yelled at me and said, "I am NOT Mary!" OOps, what can I say? Some kids don't cut you any slack. 

The kids started working on fairy tales today. They already had their storyboards done so they started writing the beginning. I love writing. I think it will be my favorite subject to teach. I like how each student seems to thrive off of the freedom to be creative and be self-centered. Although the writing skills vary, I think each student sincerely enjoys their time to write. With a little bit of structure, students of all ability levels flourished during this time. 

My teacher asked me if I could run a math station by myself during rotations. It was a review of what we did yesterday. It was a rough go. Some of the kids did not respect me and that is tough. I don't think they realize that I will be taking over full time and they are going to have to suck it up and get over it. I am still new, and it's hard to tell how firm I need to be with students. I am worried about behavior management in general. I don't want to be a hard ass from the beginning, but I don't want them to walk all over me in a few weeks. I don't know what to do, I tried to model what my teacher had been doing, but it didn't elicit the same response. I think a conversation in the morning with her is in store. 

I will not do this alone. I can't be self reliant. I have a cooperating teacher, professors, supervisors, friends, and a whole staff of teachers for support. I do not need to figure this out on my own. I need to remember that. 

Day 1

Where to begin? I am still standing up, and that is a relief! I have enjoyed the past two days. Yesterday started very early, like 4 am early. I woke up and was wide awake. I could not go back to sleep despite my vain attempts. I think my body was nervous even though my mind wasn't. I was exciting leading up to this experience. I know I am ready for this and I know that all my hard work leading up to this has more than prepared me for student teaching. So anyway, I woke up at 4 am and couldn't go back to sleep. So about 5 I made some toast and watched an episode of Gilmore Girls. The whole time I felt shaky and like I was going to throw up, but I didn't. So then I got ready and left for school. 

When I got to school I set up my school email and then we were whisked off to a meeting with the C.L.A.S.S. coordinator. I was a little nervous about this. I was with the team of 2nd grade teachers and I thought I would just be ignored. I was pleasantly surprised when they involved me in the conversation, asked my opinion, and made an effort to get to know me. 

After the meeting, we got our spelling lists and did some story sequencing. After lunch and recess we did SSR. I eavesdropped on guided reading and that was a good experience. Then we switched math. My teacher has the low group for math and we tried to teach trading for subtraction. This was difficult even for my teacher. It's a tricky concept. 

At the end of the day, I was beat. But I was encouraged because I love what I do and right now I am getting to do it!