Monday: No School, MLK Day! :-)
Tuesday: Calendar - piece of cake! This week I took over the direct reading instruction (a 15-minute lesson in the mornings). Today was "Immersion Day," meaning that I read all the books we would be using for the lessons. Easy peazy lemon squeezy.
My CT was looking for ideas to increase the kids' quality work, so I came in with a few. After reading, I make a sign to put by the basket where they turn in their work. I'll attach pictures :-) I got to explain the poster to the class, and I was SO happy when I saw them actually look at it before putting in their work. My CT suggested adding visuals for the non-readers, such as a crayon for "color," a sample line for their name by "name," and an eraser by the "erase neatly." The finished product is much more colorful than what I posted here!! [[ I also included pictures of the bulletin board I put up my first week :-) My first teacher bulletin board! ]]
-Use visual clues for non-readers
-Positive attention: on students' birthdays, they can choose students to give them positive comments. SUCH a cute idea!!!
Need a Smile?
-They found words that rhyme, such as "dip" and "sip." Try saying that fast... and think of a slight speech issue... I had to ask him to repeat himself to make sure he wasn't swearing at me! ;-)
-"Wedding? Eeeeewwwwwwwwwww!"
-"If I were a penguin dressed in a tuxedo, I would... go on a date." (Aren't you a little young for that?? haha.)
Wednesday: One student came in and told me right away that his dog died last night :-( He handed me a note that said his dog is in heaven. That was so sad! Luckily the students had their stuffed pets to keep them company. I had them talk to their pets during calendar, such as whispering the answers to my questions in their pets' ears and the like. Then we worked on looking at labels in books.
The majority of today I spent looking up and making centers for next week's football/Super Bowl/Chicago Bears theme :-D I had SO much fun creating all the papers, but I realized that I'd spent an ENTIRE day making it all, and that there's no way I could do that for every week of the year. Thank goodness there are so many resources available!
I found a Jack Prelutsky book at the library, so I asked my CT to check it out for me to read after lunch -- I was SO excited, but when I read it, I realized that Jack Prelutsky doesn't spell everything out in his poems, so most of it went over their heads... oh well... one student did enjoy it, though, and asked me to read more :-)
Need a Smile?
-"You really are a nice teacher!" :-D Awwww, they like me! They really, really like me!! ;-)
Thursday: One of the students yesterday said he had the same stuffed bunny that I had, so he showed it to me first thing in the morning! Adorable. :-) Reading this morning was talking about photographs in books... and that's all the lesson said. So... I had to make up what that meant on the fly! I think it went pretty well, I just talked about the difference between a photograph and a drawing, and why we like to use photographs more (because of all the detail). While I was working on that with the students, the principal walked in to talk to my CT. I stopped for a second because I got nervous, but I got right back in it, since I wasn't being observed. It made me realize how nervous I'll probably be come observation time... but it'll be OK :-) I also had the students do some exercises to wake up their brains, since we had an extra minute.
After lunch, I got to see them take a math test... then we had to put together these INSANE packets after we got all their scores. I can't believe all the work for an after-assessment packet!! Hopefully it's actually useful for them!
Helpful Hint
-Get into situations that make you think on your feet, so you get better at it!
Need a Smile?
-The students had to write what they wonder about, here are a few of their answers: "I wonder how cool I am." "I wonder if I'm cute." "I wonder when I'll get $300." "I wonder how tall I'll be when I grow up." ...oh wait, the last one was my CT. She's funny! ;-)
-Student blurts out: "My mom's having a baby!" CT:"Oh really?" Student:"Yeah, it's either a brother or a sister." CT:"Well, I hope so! What else would it be, an alien???" ;-)
FRIDAY!!!! OK, I have officially realized how big of a Bears fan I am, and it is seeping into my teaching. I tried to teach them the Bears Fight Song. Almost every student wore Bears gear. We silently cheered for the Bears as we were walking to Music. As soon as the bell rang at the end of the day we shouted "GO BEARS!" What a fun time ;-) I hope none of them are Packers fans... oops.
Morning: I did a mini-health lesson in the morning, because I saw at least two different students coughing into their hands then touching things, and I do NOT want to be out sick for student teaching! They seem to have heard most of it, but they're young so it hasn't become automatic for them yet. Oh well, I did my best.
I felt like the reading lesson was rough this morning, I was not at my most positive. I kept asking them to "stop" to "please don't." (Our lesson was to cover up the pictures and try to read a few words, then uncover the pictures to see if they helped us.) When my CT took over for Word Work, she pointed out all the positive behaviors (like she always does), and they snapped to it right away. It was such a huge difference that I noticed right away I had to bring my positivity back!
Meeting: I got to go to a Jolly Phonics training with my CT and two other teachers on the team. As ridiculous as it is, I was SO excited! I feel like that taught me more than a semester of reading/language arts methods did. It was quite an interesting experience... let's just say that teachers need their grown-up time... "uh, uh, umbrella!" LOL!
After lunch: I read Tacky the Penguin. It says that he's an odd bird. One of the [least odd] students said "I'm odd!" It was cute :-) I told him that we're all a little odd, so of course everyone else (except one) added that they're odd, too. Ohhh, kids. ;-)
At the end of the day, after our cheer, my CT added a cheer of her own: "Gooo lunch!" (There were some lunch boxes leftover in the basket!) I thought that was a great way to end a great week ;-)
My teacher nerdiness, which has been suppressed for the past couple of months, has come back out. I brought home my first teacher prep work!!! And I'm excited about it! Everyone thinks I'm insane... but we all know that this is probably the one and only time I'll be this excited to bring work home, haha. And so ends my third week... only 6 more left in 1st grade...
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