Monday, August 26, 2013

On teams

I started my first day as a student teacher today.  It went very well.  I enjoyed meeting the students and was happy to find I knew most of their names.  Of course my studying (matching the class list to last year's yearbook) helped too!

We have a great class this year, with two new kids who fit right in immediately.  The returning students were courteous and kind to the new students, to myself, and to their teacher.  I left feeling tired, but happy and confident in the year.  Day one, at least!

I'm fortunate to be working with a really great team of teachers.  There are three 5th grades at my school and the teachers collaborate very closely on their lesson plans, activities, and expectations.  This year they are having "homerooms" and the students will be rotating between the three classrooms for different subjects.  The room I'm in is the writing room, the other two are math and social studies.  This will be one step towards transitioning the fifth graders from elementary to middle school.  I think the idea is a neat one.  It allows the teachers to focus more on teaching their strengths (math, science, writing) and it allows them each more time to develop comprehensive lessons plans.  The students get an introduction to schedules and different teachers per subject, all within the comfortable confines of their elementary school.  I'm excited to see how it plays out through the year. 

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