I created this blog with purpose of having a place to jot down thoughts / experiences / fears / triumphs / tribulations, etc. involving Student Teaching. I'm now Student Teaching and writing in this blog less than I did over the summer when I had NOTHING going on. Bad sign, eh? Actually, I need to FORCE myself to write bunches here EVERYDAY because part of my Student Teaching "coursework" is to keep a daily journal. I'm either going to write in the blog and then transfer stuff to the written page, or, if she is tech savvy, just give this URL to my SFSU supervisor. I don't know about you, but I've got my fingers crossed for the latter possibility...

SO, first order of business: STUDENT TEACHING. I've got to say (knock on wood) that so far things are going quite well. Alright, yeah, I'm only gauging that off of 3 days in the actual classroom. But, one of the days was GREAT, today was right up there alongside "great", and, as previously reported, the first day kinda sucked - so, what we've got is a 2/3 majority - and, you can't argue with statistics like that...
Seriously, I can already feel like I'm getting into the groove of the classroom. Sure, I'm still kind of following along with the students (like I'm ONE OF the students) as far as actual daily routines/schedules go, but I'm finding my way. I REALLY like the way Miles runs the classroom - he's the PERFECT model for me. EVERY MORNING before the kids come into the classroom, he walks down the line of students and greets them all individually, asking them for either a handshake, a "high five", or a hug. EVERY AFTERNOON, as they are lining up to leave, Miles says goodbye to each and every student, and also asks them for either a handshake, a "high five", or a hug. It is the SWEETEST THING, and brings a tear to my eye everytime. He REALLY cares about these kids, and that is where EVERY teacher should begin. Today, he read them "NO, DAVID!" which is about a kid who keeps getting yelled at by his mother because he is constantly doing things that he shouldn't. When he finished reading it, Miles said, "Just like in the book, I'm going to be telling you guys over and over to 'Stop doing that!', or to 'Quiet down!' or to 'Pay attention'. And, although it may seem like I'm really mad at you, just like David's mom told him at the end of the book, I still love you - and I want you to know that." How touching is THAT?

So, on Thursday last week (the GREAT day), I showed up in the morning, looked at Miles, and said, "Oh, wow. I only live 3 blocks away. I can totally go home and change." Miles and I were wearing, pretty much, THE EXACT SAME SHIRT. It's a red & white plaid, cowboy-style shirt, and I'm going to warn Miles a day in advance when I'm thinking about wearing it again. ALL DAY, students and teachers alike were coming up to us and saying things like "Oh, I didn't get the memo about red shirt day!" and "Are you two twins?" It was actually pretty hilarious, and really set the tone for the whole day.

I think I mentioned before that there is a child in the class with autism (a child whom I almost referred to by name, and quickly realized that I shouldn't...). Well, it's been a rollercoaster already. On Thursday, she had the most amazing day. She was chosen (at random) to be the "Student of the Day", which was a challenge, since the students get to ask the Student of the Day "get to know you" questions and this little girl hasn't spoken a word in the classroom yet. It's also been INCREDIBLY difficult to even get her to focus on any one thing for more than a few minutes at a time. Most of the day, she either runs around the room or sits off by herself and plays with some Legos. On Thursday, though, she got up at the front of the class and when students asked her things like "Do you have a dog?" she shook her head. She also participated in the calendar activity, changing markers from "Wednesday" to "Thursday", etc. There were a couple of other adults (a para, a reading specialist, and a special ed teacher) in the room at the time and we all looked at each other with tears in our eyes, grabbing at our chests because our heartstrings were being stretched to their limits. Seriously, my throat ACHED from choaking back the tears. Today, unfortunately, wasn't up there with her best days. She refused to focus, she threw Legos at other students, she was making noise, and she wet herself. Nope, not a good day. I just feel so much for her mom who comes into the room every morning to drop her off and make sure she is settled, and picks her up every afternoon asking Miles and I what kind of day her daughter had. When you think about it, the girl is only 5, and she was only diagnosed with autism a couple of years ago. Plus, this is her first experience with being away at school all day, so it's all pretty new for the mom, too. Today Miles (whose name I suppose I shouldn't use either... but I've already used a few times...) finally said to the mother that he really wasn't sure what he should do with the girl. Best case scenario, a para is assigned to work with her full time (which would make 4 adults in the room all day).

As far as what I've gotten to do on my own so far, well, one day last week I got to work with half the class at a time on a worksheet where they wrote their names and then practiced writing capital and lowercase "A"s. Thursday I sat with half the class at a time in the Reading Center, practicing proper behavior (basically, reading quietly) in that part of the room. Today, I did a sorting/gluing macaroni activity twice (each time with half the class). Each time, things went pretty darn well - I'm actually quite amazed at not only how well-behaved the students are, but at how much they know (They're FIVE!). So far, I haven't exactly been Mr. MeanOldStrictTeacher, but I've been a lot better/more aggressive than I have in other classrooms I've worked in. Certainly, most of that is because I felt like I was more of a casual observer in those other situations. Here and now, I'm 100% part of the room, and, most importantly, working my way up to being 100% part of the TEACHER part of the room. I've gotten a bit stern with a couple of students, and I've said (WAY more than once) to many a student, "Sit Up!" But, I hope that they know that I still love them...

Tired and hungry. Must eat, and watch the Bravo shows.