If you do not know by now, I am teaching 1st grade in Birmingham, AL now. I started January 4th, and I can’t believe I’ve only been there for two months! It feels like a year! I am loving it!! I student taught there on my last placement and was lucky enough to get a job there. I’m slowly finding my groove as I get settled in to my new job.
I have learned to take smaller steps when I lead the kids down the hall. At first, I felt like I had to rush constantly to get everything done. When I walked, I walked high-speed. I’d look back and see that my class was WAY down the hall. I’ve slowed down my pace to medium now and my class is doing a better job staying together. I have to remind my students that when we walk in the halls we walk in a straight line. We don’t hop on the tiles, spin in circles, zig-zag in the hallway, or kick our friends. ☺
I’ve also learned to do a better job holding my stern face when I’m correcting their behavior. Sometimes I get so tickled, I can’t help but smile. One day, two of my boys were wrestling so I was getting on to them and they both started crying. They went on and on about how it wasn’t their fault while the tears were flowing down their cheeks. I had to cover up my mouth so they couldn’t see me smiling.
They make me laugh all the time. During center time, I have small reading group instruction. If the students at the centers have questions, that they just cannot figure out, then they bring me a token with their name on it (their question chip), and when I’m done or have a break with reading groups, I’ll answer it. If I stopped to answer all the kid’s questions, I would never get anything done! Anyways, sometimes they bring their tokens over and stand there for a minute. Then they’ll pick it up and put it in another spot- kinda sliding it toward me like…. Ummm look…. I have a question. Or they’ll stand there for a little while waiting for me to look up. All the while, I’m ignoring them and laughing with my head down while listening to the kids read. I’ve had to tell myself that I can’t answer everything all the time. If there really is a problem, they’ll make a point to make me listen. So many times I stop to answer or listen to them and it’s tattle telling or something else insignificant.
The first week or two that I started teaching, I tried to write down the cute things or funny things to remember. And that was it…. There are so many things that happen all day everyday, I just can’t keep up!
I praise God that he provided this job for me and blessed me with 16 wonderful (well most of the time ☺) students.
