Confessions of a First Year Teacher - Week 4

The first half of this week was exhausting and stressful. At one point I had the principal in my classroom for about 30 minutes because of some behavior issues. To say I was in panic mode is an understatement. My inner Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls, See video --> and insert hubby or Cassie for Mommy.) had a mild freak out and felt like I probably looked like a bumbling idiot. At one point the principal asked if she could add something during my lesson. Who am I to say no? Once she left the classroom I wanted to crawl into my supply closet and hide while going over and over my instruction while she had been in the room and dissect every second.

Thankfully, by Thursday, the stressful element in our teaching hub was gloriously absent the rest of the week and we were able to breathe a little easier and get work done. I was most thankful that the principal did not need to come back into my classroom to monitor behaviors. PHEW!!!! And as I kept dreading, she never called me into her office to tell me I was a teaching failure. :P

I found a helpful tool at the beginning of the year and the kids seem to respond well to it. Bouncyballs.com helps keep track of the noise level in the classroom. My kiddos know to watch the screen to self-monitor their noise level. This is especially helpful during centers/work stations or when I have them all doing partner work.

This week we also had our first field trip of the year. We took the whole first grade to the local high school on Friday for their pep rally. When I was a kid field trips were magical, exciting and fun. As a teacher it is a whole different ball game. I never once thought about what it was like for the teacher to have to keep track of a classroom full of students on a bus and then at the location we were going to.  In the back of my mind I was constantly trying to keep track of all 21 of my homeroom kids while also trying to make sure they were not jumping around or falling off the bleachers. Overall, it was a lot of fun and I loved seeing how excited my kids were during the pep rally.

My day was made on Friday when I found this in my school mail box. One of my students' parents made a Teacher Survival Kit for myself and his other two teachers. It was filled with some great things, such as, tissues, chocolate, tylenol, nail file, cool stickers, chap stick etc. It was unexpected and sweet. 

The math art project for this week is one I don't think I will do next year or if I do I will wait until later in the year. It took way too much time and my kiddos were not ready or skilled enough yet to be able to create their own addition sentences. They all needed extensive help filling in several of the sections and it took way too much time for me to go to each student individually and help them. With about 65 students it became a headache to get finished. They turned out cute but another teaching learning experience for sure. 

 A lot of new learning experiences this week. Not my favorite week but it wasn't a disaster. Deep breath... Moving on to next week and making it better.