This year, I am very blessed to have MY OWN CLASSROOM FOR A WHOLE YEAR!!!! It's a Grade 1 mat leave position, so it's temporary, but this is my third of year of teaching and the longest I've been in one class is 3 months, so I was thrilled to have this opportunity. I was also very excited to teach Grade 1, as they are pretty cute and say "the darndest things." I knew it would be a struggle because the kids are transitioning from half day kindergarten, and it's French Immersion, so on top of having to go to school full days, and start learning how to read and write and all that jazz, they also need to do EVERYTHING IN FRENCH. Easy peezy lemon squeezy. :P
Well, if it weren't for my super supportive boyfriend who keeps telling me I'm the best teacher ever and I can do it, I might have quit after the first week! It is not easy switching from even slightly older grades to Grade 1, as by Grade 3, the kids can communicate in French and understand how school works. There's also the girl who cries for no reason, the boy who is clearly used to getting his own way, the girl who goes to the washroom and doesn't come back for 15 mins, the kid who puked in the hallway but didn't tell me until 20 mins later, the kid that can't keep his hands to himself, and the boy who can't speak any quieter than shouting volume. Also they get confused about when to wear outside shoes and when to wear inside shoes.
If I'm stressed out, imagine those poor Grade One kiddos... :(
Ok, I made it through that first week, and it's getting better. I needed to lower my expectations. As in, it's ok if it takes half an hour to write down 4 words...
I didn't want to start off the year by having kids think that they would just be playing all the time, so it's been a lot of focus on work, respect, following rules... it's really challenging. We have movement breaks and play games, and I want them participating, but they need to learn when to put up their hand, to not talk while others are talking, etc. Today though, I was starting to be concerned that kids will start not liking school. I have therefore decided that my focus for next week will be to make sure that kids like at least one thing about school, and to focus more on fun. I want them to look forward to coming to school. Next week will be more about play. :)
Ok, now to remember what I like most: the crazy things kids say.
Last week we had Aussie X (an Australian in-school sports program) come teach us "footy." A girl from my class said that she told her parents about footy, and she said that they had never heard of it. She then elaborated by saying, "My dad's never heard of footy because he's from Saskatchewan." OMG sooo funny.
Another day we were practicing colouring lightly and one boy said that he can't colour lightly. I said that he just needs to colour slowly, then he will be able to do it. He replied that he can't colour slowly because he is "made to go fast." lol
I probably won't be able to sleep tonight because I have school on the brain, hope this blog post shook some of it out!
