Student: "Miss Vi. Guess what ship is my favorite that I've been on."
Me: "Hmmmm....you got me. what's your favorite ship?"
Student: "Friendship!" [big hug]
(appropriate considering my last blog entry).
And from the same hugger:
Hugger: [Holding out his hand]: "Miss Vi, can you open this jar?"
Me: [I pretend to unscrew the lid of the imaginary jar, making squeaking noises]
Hugger: [Gives me a big hug] "That was a jar full of hugs!"
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
friendship v. friendliness
Class has been going extremely well. I am in the middle of my 2nd week of 1st grade. The days go by pretty quickly. We manage to fit in a lot in one day.
Just moments ago at recess, I was confronted with my first kid argument. "L" was supposedly excluding people from jump rope. "S" was unhappy about that but apparently said some threatening things in response.
And then there's me. What do I do? I tried to calm them down and maybe give each other space (a clever tactic to buy myself more time to figure out what could come next!). R (head teacher) said the Responsive Classroom thing to do is to let them work it out. So once they've cooled off a bit I'll have them talk it out. But wow! I can handle "He pushed me and it hurt." But "I've decided to be your friend NEVER because you threatened me" is another.
We don't set the expectation that everyone in the class is going to be friends. But we do expect everyone to be friendly.
I'll have to do some hocus pocus on this one.
Just moments ago at recess, I was confronted with my first kid argument. "L" was supposedly excluding people from jump rope. "S" was unhappy about that but apparently said some threatening things in response.
And then there's me. What do I do? I tried to calm them down and maybe give each other space (a clever tactic to buy myself more time to figure out what could come next!). R (head teacher) said the Responsive Classroom thing to do is to let them work it out. So once they've cooled off a bit I'll have them talk it out. But wow! I can handle "He pushed me and it hurt." But "I've decided to be your friend NEVER because you threatened me" is another.
We don't set the expectation that everyone in the class is going to be friends. But we do expect everyone to be friendly.
I'll have to do some hocus pocus on this one.
Monday, September 10, 2007
wish list
BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS!
Getting kids to read is something that really needs to start with me being well-versed in children's literature. SO! If anyone is doing spring cleaning and want to get rid of old kid's books, send them my way! Gotta start my collection now. And what better and greener way to do so than to reuse books that have been thoroughly loved already.
I'll pay postage!
Getting kids to read is something that really needs to start with me being well-versed in children's literature. SO! If anyone is doing spring cleaning and want to get rid of old kid's books, send them my way! Gotta start my collection now. And what better and greener way to do so than to reuse books that have been thoroughly loved already.
I'll pay postage!
school: day I
Finally! First day of school. It was nice to finally meet the kids. They are everythin
g you expect them to be: super cutie, miniature people. I had the honor of reading at story time (Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles with kick-butt illustrations by Rod Clement...fyi, bro) which went relatively well, though I had a little trouble quieting down the masses (27 for sure constitutes a mass, right?).
The day flowed really well. R and B (head teachers) each bring such amazing things to the class room. B, who has tons of experience under her belt and a calm disposition, brought a degree of zaniness that won the kids over instantaneously. R connected with each kid so well that I could tell they felt super comfortable. As for me? My strengths are still TBD.
A theme I'm finding is that it's been hard for me to really make sense of things because my brain is on information overload, constantly trying to process and make connections from what's happening around me. What seems to help, though, is to keep a small notebook in my pocket so I can keep jot down things to remember (to-do lists, schedules) and funny anecdotes (material for "kids say the darndest things" for sure).
On the plate for Day II: I get to read Whoever You Are by Mem Fox that'll be a lead into creating self-portraits (face only to start. pace is key).
New to me: p c construction paper
g you expect them to be: super cutie, miniature people. I had the honor of reading at story time (Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles with kick-butt illustrations by Rod Clement...fyi, bro) which went relatively well, though I had a little trouble quieting down the masses (27 for sure constitutes a mass, right?).The day flowed really well. R and B (head teachers) each bring such amazing things to the class room. B, who has tons of experience under her belt and a calm disposition, brought a degree of zaniness that won the kids over instantaneously. R connected with each kid so well that I could tell they felt super comfortable. As for me? My strengths are still TBD.
A theme I'm finding is that it's been hard for me to really make sense of things because my brain is on information overload, constantly trying to process and make connections from what's happening around me. What seems to help, though, is to keep a small notebook in my pocket so I can keep jot down things to remember (to-do lists, schedules) and funny anecdotes (material for "kids say the darndest things" for sure).
On the plate for Day II: I get to read Whoever You Are by Mem Fox that'll be a lead into creating self-portraits (face only to start. pace is key).
New to me: p c construction paper
Saturday, September 1, 2007
4.sept.2007 update
Oh boy! I've been pretty delinquent with my blog and a lot's happened over the last month+. Here's the gist of it:
- Went to Responsive Classroom Training (week-long) while I was in Connecticut. RC offers a great approach to education that's given me a good base to jump off of.
- Started work at school! Because of construction, we still haven't started school yet (first day is Monday the 10th).
- Have been working with my two co-teachers. "R" also went through the same credential program that I am enrolled in. She's really high-spirited, caring, and enthusiastic. "B" is also new to the school, so we've been helping one another get acclimated to the school. She brings with her 30 years of experience and it really shows. I know I'm going to learn a LOT from her. She's totally chill and for sure knows her stuff. So far from conversation, she has the kind of approach to teaching that I'd like to develop. I can't wait to see it unfold when the students get here.
- Just finished one of the two days of parent conferences. It's a little weird to meet them before meeting the kids, but it's been great to meet families (what an interesting bunch).
- As part of my program I will be spending half a day a week in a nearby public school. Awesome news: I'll be in a Spanish/English bilingual 1st grade classroom! Couldn't be more perfect since I'd love to teach in a bilingual school some day. I haven't met the class yet but hope to real soon.
- My courses have just started. I am taking Second Language Acquisition (yay, I love this topic), Reading and Language Arts, and a seminar. So basically I am inundated with books. I'm having flashbacks to when I was 8, carrying around a backpack weighing two of me and that caused me to stop growing at 5'3". bah!
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