First Full Week of School--Check!

It completely blows my mind that I am a real teacher. 

The first three days were full of meeting my 17 grade one students, setting up routines and procedures, and team building. I have been incorporating several things I learned while I was teaching in Milwaukee, such as sitting in STAR, tracking the speaker, Do It Again, props, A LOT of positive framing, and 100%. Holey moley, is it a lot of work to establish this kind of culture in a new setting! Consistency is the key. My students are adjusting well to the routines and procedures, but it is still early in the school year. I am excited to see their growth as the year progresses!

This year, I am teaching Language Arts, Math, and Health. My first week of lessons was hectic. I would come home from school and be completely exhausted. I am just assuming that is just the life of a teacher. At the end of the month, the special classes start, which means I will have FREE TIME during the day when my class goes to Library, French, Spanish, PE, Computer, Dance, Tennis, and Swimming. For now, we are filling in our free time with Language Experience Stories, read alouds, sentence writing, and lesson extensions. 

Grade one is definitely a challenge for me. I am not used to having students call out without raising their hands. I am not used to having students come up to me and poke me to get my attention. I am not used to having students tell me random stories that have no connection to what we are talking about. I am not used to having to repeat myself over and over and over again. I am not used to having to use simpler words that six-year-olds understand. We are currently working on staying in our seats and raising our hands to talk and having our listening ears on. Again, consistency is the key.

While I was teaching in Milwaukee, I was reminded that you choose your attitude, and your attitude effects everything. I am choosing to be positive. I know that God will bless my work here. I know that I will grow to be a better teacher. I know my hard work will pay off. I know that there will be difficult days, but God will work them out for my good. When I was feeling down the other day, God gave me the words I needed to hear: "I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." (Isaiah 46:4)