First, I'm warning you... I'm going to complain. Friday was absolutely exhausting! My teacher asked me to arrive at 7 a.m. The following strain of thoughts went through my head at that moment: "Ok... 7 a.m. Could be 6 a.m. Geeze, this lady is going to be intense. Ok, now breakfast takes around 10 minutes, followed by my shower, makeup, hair routine which takes around 25 minutes. Ok, remember to leave at least another 10 minutes for snoozing and for walking around in that initial haze. SHUT THE FRONT DOOR... I have to be up at 5:45!" I understand that in "real life" I will have to wake up early and be alert... but waking at up at 5:45 sure is difficult when you aren't getting paid for it! (It is also difficult to have a social and work life within these time constraints!)
When I got to the school at 7 a.m., it wasn't THAT bad. Sure, I could have used an extra cup of coffee (or an I.V. of it), but I made it through the day only thinking once of where I could sneak off to take a nap.
Of course it ended up being another activity-packed day. The students celebrated the 100th day a little early (they were off-date because of the snow) with a rotation to each kindergarten teacher's room. In the first class they did 100 different exercises and took a trip down the hall to see how far 100 steps would take them. In the next class, they did a color-by-number picture using the numbers up to 100. By this time, the students were getting very antsy, so we took a 15 minute restroom break. In the third room, the kids got to do centers that involved 100 pieces. Legos, connector blocks, puzzles, and click-cubes were used, but the puzzles and legos were the favored centers. We finally rotated back into our own classroom where the students made 100th day hats. What was neat about the day for me was that I got to lead them to each activity alone because the parapro was absent. I think this helped to further establish myself as an authority figure in their classroom.
The portion of the day that I just mentioned really relates to the required reading for this week. From going to the other teacher's rooms, I could see that each of the teachers were used to their own students. From what I can tell, my class is very good with listening and following directions. They sometimes blurt out and forget to raise their hands, but it is all because they are excited and want to know more. My classroom's set-up is one of love, community, and questioning, but the other classrooms were each different in their own ways. The first classroom we visited seemed to have a similar environment to ours. The teacher was a bit more active in her instruction, but invited students to ask questions and comment on the activity. The second classroom was very fast paced and not very nurturing. The teacher seemed cold and I had to ask her a few times to slow down because the students were having trouble (to no avail). The third classroom was nurturing, but it was a very "hands-off" environment. The students were only allowed to touch what they were playing with and questions were not encouraged. I understand from the reading that while the teachers did not work for my students, it does not mean they are ineffective teachers. They may simply have different students.
Well, I think I've rambled on enough! I just noticed that I've been blogging for about 45 minutes! It's time for pajamas, face wash, toothpaste, and a few pages of Dan Brown!
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