This Messy Life: I'm only a day smarter than my students.

Holy. Cow.

"Don't get overwhelmed, you only need to be a day smarter than your students."

My first day of student teaching has finished. I have never, not once, in my life been as tired as I am at this very moment. It was honestly a whirlwind of information, students asking me questions, working hands-on with a few students who needed it, learning about my master teacher's classroom management, and everything in between. My eyelids should be taped up at this point.

I've decided, as this information is public and out of respect for my future career and my students, that everyone that I work with will be anonymous. I will be changing all of their nicknames that I've given to them based on their personality, that way you can feel as if you are in my classroom.

Our daily schedule is broken into blocks. I'm not sure if it is organized the same way at all elementary schools, but I sure appreciate the frequent breaks. It allows the students a bit of a mental break...and let's be honest... the teachers as well.

Schedule:

8:00 - 8:20- Morning Work
8:20-9:00 - Reading
9:00-10:00 - Reading /P.E.*
10:15- 11:30 - Math
12:15-1:00 - ELA / Writing
1:15-1:45 - Science/ Social Studies
1:45-2:00 - KBAR/ Clean Up
End of Day! (In other words, WE DID IT!!!)

*I really appreciate this section because it allows the children to be broken up into smaller groups at their reading level and the teachers have the opportunity to work with each student. Such a great way to connect with the students and to monitor their academic progress.

Today, as it was my first day, I was observing as much as I could. I walked around the classroom monitoring student's work, answering questions, and helping with some classroom management. I was slightly involved with what the students were working on at the time but mainly observing.

However, I did have the opportunity to help with some of the math lesson. My master teacher introduced subtraction problems that needed to be regrouped. Most of the students had a difficult time understanding what they needed to accomplish so Mrs. C had them work individually with us helping them. It was a little overwhelming. I have been asked to lead the math lesson tomorrow. So please 110% be praying for me. Yikes!

Favorite Moment of the Day:

Mrs. C asked me to read to the students from a new chapter book. I was able to read to them for ten minutes and I absolutely loved every second of it. We read Franny K. Stein: Mad Scientist. I love love love this book! It was so fun to read and the content kept all the students engaged. Very fun read.