A Few Nice Words

It’s crazy how a simple compliment can change your whole perspective on something.  There are many times in my new career – as in many new careers – where I have felt lost and had no idea what I was doing every day.  There are millions of things I know I want to do in/with my classroom, but just not enough minutes in the day to prepare for everything and make sure I get through what I have to get through as well.  I haven’t thought I was completely failing, but there is just more I want to do that I haven’t gotten to do yet.  I can see the progress my students have made in their learning and even more progress I have noticed in their change of behavior from my first days in the classroom.  When it comes to behavior, my class seemed crazy when I showed up on my first day.  Now there are only a handful of moments of craziness every once in a while, as opposed to almost constant craziness.  I am very proud of how far they have come, and I will continue to work to get them to meet my expectations. 

As I said before, there are times when I feel completely lost and totally unprepared and it’s hard to begin to fix a problem when you do not even know where to begin.  Today we had a professional development instructor going around the classrooms to show an example lesson on how to better use EBLI (Evidence Based Literacy Instruction) in our English/language arts lessons. The teacher has been in and out of our school several times this year.  She did not teach an example lesson in my class today, but she did do a quick walkthrough while I was teaching. When I was on my prep hour she came back to compliment the change in behavior she had seen in my students since she came in before I began my teaching career.  I couldn’t help but smile.  After school the day the kindergarten teacher also came to me to say she has seen the same improvements and that the professional development teacher shared the compliments with her earlier. 

Others in the building have offered similar kind words about my class’ improvements every so often since January.  Even when I feel lost and unsure of where to go from here, it is a truly amazing feeling to know others are seeing the improvements my class has made along the way.  It’s crazy how just a simple compliment can really change how someone feels about what they are doing.  Definitely something I want to work on doing more for others.

One "Month" in First Grade

First Month

I’ve been teaching for a “month” now.  I write “month” in quotation marks because even though I've been a first grade teacher for just over a month, I do not think I've had one full week of school yet.  It has been a crazy start to a career.  Three straight snow days delayed my start date, throw in four more snow days on top of that, along with Martin Luther King Day and I've had eight weekdays where I did not get to go to school.  The streak of having at least one day off will continue for at least two more weeks.  This Friday we have the day off, and then with Monday being Presidents Day I’ll have another two four day weeks.  Not having a full week of class has some positives – aside from catching up on sleep –  as it gives me more time to think through my lesson plans, brainstorm additional ways to differentiate my teaching, find new books for read alouds, etc.  However, the breaks in the week also have some downfalls.  It has made it difficult for my class and I to find a nice groove for how our week goes.

Extending the Year Has at Least One Positive

I also think we will have to make up at least one day at the end of the year, and each additional snow day will be another day made up in June.  In trying to stay positive I am not too down on having to lengthen our school year.  Many days have been too cold to safely take the children outside for recess.  Even on the days it is a bit warmer and we’d like to go outside, the excessive quantity of snow makes it nearly too difficult for my little first graders to maneuver outside.  To top it off, where there is not snow, it is a solid sheet of ice.  The students and I are definitely getting cabin fever and we all need to get outside o play off some our built up energy from each indoor recess.  At least on the made up days in June we will be able to go outside, play on the playground equipment, run around, and kick/throw a ball around together.  Recess is one of my favorite parts of the day because it is a time I get to see my students outside of the classroom so I cannot wait for the playground to thaw so we can have recess every day!

THE LIBRARY!!!

I’m disappointed in myself for how long it took me to find time to go to the local library and sign up for a card.  I finally did that this weekend and got a solid collection of books to read aloud in honor of Black History Month.  I cannot wait to share the stories about Satchel Paige, Willie Mayes, a jump rope handed down from one generation to the next, and a poem by Langston Hughes with my students.  Currently my local library is under construction and the most important area to me, the children’s book section, is inaccessible to the public L.  Luckily, if I find the call number in the catalog one of the staff members will happily go get the book for me J.  I am excited for the construction to be finished.  Not only will I be able to see the really cool renovations, but I will also be able to just browse without a particular book in mind as I search for another great read aloud.  Libraries are so AWESOME, and I have no idea what us lower elementary teachers would do for daily read alouds if it were not for local libraries.