First Grade, First Grade

Yesterday I went and observed a first grade class down the hall from Room 3; I needed to go to a class where the kids weren't used to me being there because I was supposed to just sit and watch, not work like I usually do. So I went and sat in the back of Room 7 for the entire school day. The really cute part was that some of the kids in that class remembered me from when I worked in Room 3 with them last school year. One girl, Mia, walked up to me and skeptically said, "You look like someone I know..." and I asked her if she remembered me from Room 3. She pondered it, wagged her finger at me, and said "Thaaaaat's it..." Haha.

It was so weird to just sit and watch. I did help out a couple times by the teacher's request, but nothing like I normally do in Room 3. I forgot what it was like to sit in class for a whole school day! It's even more tiring when you're one of the authority figures that all 28 kids come to!

Here's an outline of how their day went:
Morning warmups
Carpet time - learning about adding '-ing' to the end of words
Reading "Johnny Appleseed"
Short Recess
Read-to-Self time
Center Rotation
Lunch
Independent Math practice with games
Math Lesson

I'm not going to lie...I really liked it. I still think I like kindergarten more; but I could definitely see myself in first grade after yesterday. They're still young and growing at exponential rates, but there is also more content that they are responsible for learning. And the organization the teacher had going in the room was outstanding and inspiring. She treated each of the children like individuals and they each had standards they were held to and responsibilities that they were expected to fulfill. Her classroom management was like what you read in books about - she could work independently with one student or a group of students, and have the other students being productive and learning independently without her being right there overseeing it. It was nice to see that that kind of classroom environment really is possible; it was really motivating for me as a future teacher.

So as much as I enjoyed the day, my favorite part was seeing my kindergarteners at lunch time. :) Two of the boys came running up to me shouting, "Miss Downing! You're back!" And I walked over to see everyone else and all the girls were so thrilled and I got so many hugs and so many hellos and so much love...it was just nice to know that my presence and my influence means that much to them. That's what makes it worth it on the days that you feel like you're not making a difference.