I had no idea what was coming this last week. I had figured it would be like any other and that on Friday we would say goodbye and go our separate ways, but little did I know what an impact my third graders, and this experience as a whole, would have on me. This will be, sadly, my last post concerning my first six weeks clinical adventure.
The week started out with me doing whole group read-alouds to review the standards (ask and answer questions referring explicitly to the text and describing character traits) and teaching writing. It went very well! I love to write and being able to encourage, guide, and help the kids with that was so much fun for me.
It is definitely concerning seeing the lack of writing in the school system these days and I know that I have mentioned in previous posts that writing is hard for students. A half hour is hard to cram writing into with clear, meaningful instruction before hand. My third graders do not even want to write because their hand starts to hurt from lack of practice. However, by the end of the week I was so impressed with their work. They were truly becoming real writers with full sentences, paragraphs, and punctuation.
Using hallway basics (level 0-no talking, in a straight line, etc.) was finally almost mastered by Friday. I had teachers stopping to ask who’s class it was and telling me to tell the teacher that they were so impressed because they could not even hear them from around the corner. I thought other weeks were successful, but this week’s took the cake. It was one of those moments where I dropped the kids off at specials, checked to see that no one was around, and whispered, “YES!” while making a small victory fist-pump to celebrate.
We had a heart felt discussion on being honest this week. A rumor was spreading in our classroom that someone had said something about someone else when they really didn’t. We talked about what a rumor was and how we all need to be honest and make sure to tell a teacher first if we do hear something. My favorite part of that conversation was when one of my little boys piped in with a, “I lie all the time. But my mom doesn’t like it and gets mad.”
Kids, overall, are pretty honest and I believe we have a lot to learn from them. Here was this boy sharing with the whole class that he has lied and he wasn’t even embarrassed. He was just being honest. I love it! Kids will tell you when you spell something wrong, they will remind you when you forget something, and they will even tell you when you are fat. However, I think one of the best parts about their honesty is that they also share with you when they think you are doing something right.
I worked hard for these kids. I can honestly say that I have not had much of a social life these last six weeks. I watched friends go out and have fun while I did homework, wrote lessons, and researched engaging activities to do in class. And you know what? It paid off and my students definitely noticed. I had no idea that every Friday I had been gone in the afternoon, they had been working on writing (yes writing) kind, honest letters to me.
They presented these hand-written letters to me in a binder that my cooperating teacher made for me, along with a framed wordle page of words they used to describe me. Of course everything was in purple, my favorite color and I was astounded at the hard work and time each child had put in to complete such lengthy, heartfelt letters to me. The notes made me realize that everything I had done over the last several weeks had not gone unnoticed. I received comments that I was the best teacher they had ever known (some of the kids I have known since second grade), that I was good at basketball and playing (because I would go out and shoot around with them during recess), and that I made math fun. Along with the beautiful binder of letters, I had staff members coming into our classroom to find me and tell me it was a pleasure to work with me, and received two bracelets and a necklace separately from three little girls. It was absolutely humbling and brought tears to my eyes.
Honesty is the best policy and it is something little children do much better than we adults do. They tell you when you are wrong, but they also tell you when you are right. What an overwhelmingly wonderful last six weeks it has been. The last five days just flew by as I taught writing, whole group reading, and did some fun morning meetings with my kiddos. It was a lot of work to set up routines and procedures, but I will forever cherish the rewarding experiences and challenges I have had with my kids and the staff I came in contact with. I could not have wished for a better experience and truly look forward to whatever lies ahead.
The week started out with me doing whole group read-alouds to review the standards (ask and answer questions referring explicitly to the text and describing character traits) and teaching writing. It went very well! I love to write and being able to encourage, guide, and help the kids with that was so much fun for me.
It is definitely concerning seeing the lack of writing in the school system these days and I know that I have mentioned in previous posts that writing is hard for students. A half hour is hard to cram writing into with clear, meaningful instruction before hand. My third graders do not even want to write because their hand starts to hurt from lack of practice. However, by the end of the week I was so impressed with their work. They were truly becoming real writers with full sentences, paragraphs, and punctuation.
Using hallway basics (level 0-no talking, in a straight line, etc.) was finally almost mastered by Friday. I had teachers stopping to ask who’s class it was and telling me to tell the teacher that they were so impressed because they could not even hear them from around the corner. I thought other weeks were successful, but this week’s took the cake. It was one of those moments where I dropped the kids off at specials, checked to see that no one was around, and whispered, “YES!” while making a small victory fist-pump to celebrate.
We had a heart felt discussion on being honest this week. A rumor was spreading in our classroom that someone had said something about someone else when they really didn’t. We talked about what a rumor was and how we all need to be honest and make sure to tell a teacher first if we do hear something. My favorite part of that conversation was when one of my little boys piped in with a, “I lie all the time. But my mom doesn’t like it and gets mad.”
Kids, overall, are pretty honest and I believe we have a lot to learn from them. Here was this boy sharing with the whole class that he has lied and he wasn’t even embarrassed. He was just being honest. I love it! Kids will tell you when you spell something wrong, they will remind you when you forget something, and they will even tell you when you are fat. However, I think one of the best parts about their honesty is that they also share with you when they think you are doing something right.
I worked hard for these kids. I can honestly say that I have not had much of a social life these last six weeks. I watched friends go out and have fun while I did homework, wrote lessons, and researched engaging activities to do in class. And you know what? It paid off and my students definitely noticed. I had no idea that every Friday I had been gone in the afternoon, they had been working on writing (yes writing) kind, honest letters to me.
They presented these hand-written letters to me in a binder that my cooperating teacher made for me, along with a framed wordle page of words they used to describe me. Of course everything was in purple, my favorite color and I was astounded at the hard work and time each child had put in to complete such lengthy, heartfelt letters to me. The notes made me realize that everything I had done over the last several weeks had not gone unnoticed. I received comments that I was the best teacher they had ever known (some of the kids I have known since second grade), that I was good at basketball and playing (because I would go out and shoot around with them during recess), and that I made math fun. Along with the beautiful binder of letters, I had staff members coming into our classroom to find me and tell me it was a pleasure to work with me, and received two bracelets and a necklace separately from three little girls. It was absolutely humbling and brought tears to my eyes.
Honesty is the best policy and it is something little children do much better than we adults do. They tell you when you are wrong, but they also tell you when you are right. What an overwhelmingly wonderful last six weeks it has been. The last five days just flew by as I taught writing, whole group reading, and did some fun morning meetings with my kiddos. It was a lot of work to set up routines and procedures, but I will forever cherish the rewarding experiences and challenges I have had with my kids and the staff I came in contact with. I could not have wished for a better experience and truly look forward to whatever lies ahead.