DAYS 112, 113, and 114

Somehow I got behind here….

Monday: I started out by bouncing between classrooms, each hour helping here and there. But the sub who was working in a particular room was having a terrible day, so by noon they decided to have HER bounce around and they sent ME in there to take over, feeling that I could handle the situation. And I did. 🙂

Tuesday: I worked in a first grade room I have only assisted in before – because of that I knew that this teacher expects silence and gets it, so when the kids tried to be rowdy, I knew they were capable of more. We had a pretty good day. There weren’t complete lesson plans, but she has a system she developed where the kids are divided into 6 teams and each team rotates through work stations throughout a time period, gaining point for being quiet and on task. There was a lot of re-direction and shushing, but overall, it went well. I used one half hour period to give them a drawing lesson like I gave to the Kindergarteners, and it was very well received.

Wednesday: Today I was assigned to be one-on-one with J, who has a hard time staying on task. I must admit that while it is in many ways easier than managing the whole class, I find that I greatly prefer working with the whole class – or at least with small reading groups, rather than spending a whole day nudging, encouraging, and pushing one often-reluctant individual to do his work. I rather hope i don’t get that assignment again, but – I get paid either way. I offered to do the Drawing class for this second grade class – and it didn’t go quite as well – perhaps because they are a little older, or because they weren’t really used to me being the teacher. Can’t always hit a home run, I guess.
I met J. He said: “You look old. Are you okay?”
Me: “Old is okay.” (Did I really say that? )
J: “That’s okay, I like old people.”
GREAT way to start out my morning…..

Today there was a lockdown drill – but since I was downstairs in the teacher’s lounge eating lunch and nobody called down there, I was completely unaware that it happened.

Also: we had the BEST assembly ever – put on by the Redwings Education Foundation, and Kroger grocery stores and a bank. These guys were good. They had music and humor and they engaged the kids and gave out about 15 prizes and even had a teacher dressed as a goalie and kids hitting a ball with a hockey stick trying to score against her (while 5 teachers tried to score against a kid dressed as a pint-sized goalie). It was entertaining and LOUD (300 K-2nd graders cheering in a rather small gym). The point was to encourage the kids to study, be dedicated, be nice to everyone no matter what they look like, and eat healthy and exercise 60 minutes a day – in other words: the core values of our current society.

SCARY: at one point the leader told the kids that when their parents pack their lunches, they should open them up and look through them, and if they are NOT filled with healthy stuff, to say, “Hey! I need you to pack me a healthier lunch!”  I thought their wording was encouraging rudeness and disrespect, although he may have meant it just to seem humorous. Just brought to mind the whole “grab the kids” philosophy that has long been transforming our nation. 😦