New School Year – Days 3 and 4 and 5

I stepped into the 3rd grade classroom before school started, and there was no one there. A minute later a small boy came in and said, “Hi, my name is Drew. Welcome to Winchester School. Do you need anything, or are there any questions I can answer for you?”  I was totally floored! I decided to ask for directions to the gym, although I knew where it was. He stepped into the hall and expertly directed me and offered to walk me down there if I wanted him to. 🙂 Apparently he is part of the Student Ambassadors. It’s another “Leader in Me” school and they take that seriously.

This school is built in the shape of a C with a large round library in the center of it and 6 halls leading that direction. On the hall floor, this year they added a blue “dotted line” down the center to encourage the kids to stay to one side or the other when they are passing – it works great! Another great idea – one of the Kindergarten teachers put the kids’ pictures on their bins where they will keep their gloves/hats etc. above their coats and backpacks.

Also – Mrs. D, the teacher I worked with, is exceptional. The kids worked quietly and diligently. She has a microphone around her neck that ties in to a speaker in the wall, so she does not need to raise her voice at all to be heard. She is great with the kids. When she was discussing  the story of Chrysanthmum with them (a great book for kids, by the way), the kids were all sitting on the carpet eating their snacks. A boy stood up and started to leave. She stopped, looked at him, and gently said in a quizzical voice, “I don’t know why you are getting up and leaving.” When he responded that he wanted to throw away his trash, she shook her head and said, “No, we do not get up and leave during a lesson.” That was it! No “Sit DOWN!” No, “What do you think you’re doing?” Time after time throughout the day she came across to them in a very patient, non-angry way, even when there were those who were not paying attention. She went up to a boy and turned off her mic and quietly whispered something to him, rather than calling him out in the middle of the classroom or using sarcasm.

My job on Day 4 as parapro was to shadow a boy named Mark, encouraging him to stay on track and do his work, and help oversee lunch and recess. I’m glad I had the opportunity to watch an expert in her craft. Still, I would rather sub as a teacher because the pay is a lot higher and frankly, there were times when I felt bored out of skull today. Day 5 was in the same assignment and was pretty similar.

Backing up to Day 3 – I had a half day as the ESL teacher in a Plymouth middle school. It was delightful getting to actually teach two classes – AND delightful to only have 4 or 8 students in those classes. 🙂 I really enjoyed doing this. The four kids came from Mexico, India and Germany. They enjoyed the weird faces I make when I demonstrate the meanings of various new words.