Today on my way up to the school, I was a bit nervous. I am familiar with the school, as I live only a few houses behind it. I have also done after school care for a few of the children, so I am well known there. It is still scary going into a classroom where you do not know anyone, and they have already started their year.
The teacher and I have communicated via email a little bit, so we had already decided that the first day I was going to mostly observe the first day. This also helped me with any anxiety that I had.
The school building was built in 1919, and little has been done to it over the years. It is a two story dark brick building. The inside has tall ceilings, and average size classrooms. The wood work in the classrooms is probably original, including the hard wood floors.
When I walked into the one of two first grade classrooms, I noticed that instead of desks, they had tables. There were six chairs to each table. There were also a variety of stations set up in the room, such as morning information, a library, a listening station, a rug area and the teacher’s area. The room was well organized and peaceful. Too often rooms are overrun with things on the wall that was not the case in this room. There was a lot on the walls, but there was still more room to grow.
The teacher is great. She is young, and appears to be a minimalist. Her attire was simple and relaxed. Her attitude seemed excited and ready to teach some children. The first thing she told me was just how great her class was. This got me even more excited to be there.
As the children came into the classroom, they were eager to get started with their free writing time. All of them knew what was expected of them in the mornings, and were good to get started. I am not sure if it was because of the rain and clouds, but it was very quiet and serene for first thing in the morning.
Later, I was introduced and the kids were very excited to meet me, however, they were not as distracted by my presence as the older children were in the field experience I did last year. They were pleasant, and then went right back to doing their lesson with their teacher.
I will be there in the mornings every Tuesday and Thursday, for the month of October. We decided this, as Tuesday and Thursday mornings are the reading blocks. We will be working on Phonics, Fluency, Comprehension, and some writing. I am excited to be able to get to plan a couple of lessons around this, as literacy is a passion of mine.
The children left for lunch and the teacher and I were able to sit and chat. We decide I would be writing the lesson plans over phonics with writing and fluency tied in. She will let me know the specifics on what she had planned to teach that week, and I will take one lesson a week, create it and teach it.
When I was leaving I was very excited, and dreaming about what my first grade room would look like. This is going to be a fun class.
The teacher and I have communicated via email a little bit, so we had already decided that the first day I was going to mostly observe the first day. This also helped me with any anxiety that I had.
The school building was built in 1919, and little has been done to it over the years. It is a two story dark brick building. The inside has tall ceilings, and average size classrooms. The wood work in the classrooms is probably original, including the hard wood floors.
When I walked into the one of two first grade classrooms, I noticed that instead of desks, they had tables. There were six chairs to each table. There were also a variety of stations set up in the room, such as morning information, a library, a listening station, a rug area and the teacher’s area. The room was well organized and peaceful. Too often rooms are overrun with things on the wall that was not the case in this room. There was a lot on the walls, but there was still more room to grow.
The teacher is great. She is young, and appears to be a minimalist. Her attire was simple and relaxed. Her attitude seemed excited and ready to teach some children. The first thing she told me was just how great her class was. This got me even more excited to be there.
As the children came into the classroom, they were eager to get started with their free writing time. All of them knew what was expected of them in the mornings, and were good to get started. I am not sure if it was because of the rain and clouds, but it was very quiet and serene for first thing in the morning.
Later, I was introduced and the kids were very excited to meet me, however, they were not as distracted by my presence as the older children were in the field experience I did last year. They were pleasant, and then went right back to doing their lesson with their teacher.
I will be there in the mornings every Tuesday and Thursday, for the month of October. We decided this, as Tuesday and Thursday mornings are the reading blocks. We will be working on Phonics, Fluency, Comprehension, and some writing. I am excited to be able to get to plan a couple of lessons around this, as literacy is a passion of mine.
The children left for lunch and the teacher and I were able to sit and chat. We decide I would be writing the lesson plans over phonics with writing and fluency tied in. She will let me know the specifics on what she had planned to teach that week, and I will take one lesson a week, create it and teach it.
When I was leaving I was very excited, and dreaming about what my first grade room would look like. This is going to be a fun class.