First Day!!

I survived the first day! And survival is half the battle, right? In all actuality, I thought it went pretty well. I got to school around 6:45 this morning and met with my HT (host teacher) and she gave me a quick tour of the school. We got a few things ready for the class and then greeted students until 7:30. School actually starts at 7:45, but they have work to do before the bell rings. We started the morning with my introduction. I put together a "ME" bag with special items and the kids really seemed to enjoyed that. I took in some of my travel books, my Phantom of the Opera CD, some knitting needles and yarn, pictures, and a book about Wisconsin. The kids all wrote introductions in their journals and then read them for me. For the rest of the day I mostly observed and just helped monitor behavior in the halls. I also got to attend the faculty meeting (every Monday) after school.

The thing that shocked me the most today is just how much there is to keep track of while running a classroom. My HT is literally always doing four things at once. She uses a lot of groups in the classroom and sometimes has each group doing different things, especially during guided reading and literature circles. She keeps track of what every student is reading, every day during silent reading time. It seems so overwhelming right now!

My HT also just knows so much STUFF. She's read zillions of age-appropriate books, knows all the authors and tons of artists. My school really focuses on incorporating arts into the curriculum, and it's really amazing to see that in action. Today, for example, my HT introduced the class to geometry by reading a book called "The Lonely Triangle" in which a triangle becomes all sorts of different polygons. Then, the kids got to start an art project in which they drew themselves as a shape, just like in the book. This was all during math time. I've learned why it's important to integrate the arts, but it is fascinating to see it in action. Overwhelming, too! As a teacher, how do you find these resources? How do you know they even exist? Fascinating.

My one weakness today was not being assertive enough with the students. For the rest of the week, I want to take more control with discipline issues. My HT is not as "strict" as I would be in my own classroom with "off-topic" behavior. That being said, the kids really are well-behaved and seem to do a good job self-regulating. My HT may very well have taught them this at the beginning of the year.

Overall, I think it was as good a first day as it could have been. Everyone seems very nice and very willing to help me learn, and one teacher even gave me a PILE of teacher junk! That will be great to add to the stash!