My first day of student teaching in kindergarten went absolutely fabulous! I can't even think where to start because so much happened throughout the day that I want to share with you. I wish I could share absolutely everything with you, but because of privacy reasons I will not be able to share any personal stories or kids' stories with you. So sorry :(.
However, I'll now get started with all the exciting events that happened that I CAN tell you about!
I arrived at 8:15 on Thursday morning, and I couldn't stop smiling. I knew that in 20 minutes I would be meeting the 25 kids that I get the privilege of being with and teaching for eight weeks! It seems so crazy that I only get eight weeks with them but I am bound and determined to make every single minute worth it, for them as well as myself! Anyways, back to what I was saying...I arrived at 8:15 where I discussed quickly with Mrs. Hammar about the plans for the day. Then, around 8:35 the students started rolling in...and they all looked so cute! Most parents came with their children to drop them off...and even though there were tears of joy and laughter, we reassured the parents we would take care of them and that it wouldn't be long until they got to see them again! It is so adorable to see the parent-child relationship and I was honored to see how many awesome parents there are in this community. Once the students arrived and were sitting at their desks, they were asked to put their name tags on and begin their All About Me books, where they colored and drew pictures of things that described them.
Once all of the students arrived, which was around 9:00, we had them come to the carpet for morning meeting. Morning meeting is something that Mrs. Hammar likes to do every morning to bring all the students together, welcome them, and tell them what is going to happen on that particular day. However, today was a little bit different because it was the first day of school! We did different things like get to know you games, lunch count, singing and dancing, and many more things. After we were done with Morning Meeting, we then gave the students a tour of the school to show them where they would be going for different things such as lunch, recess, P.E., Art, & Music. They loved it and did a wonderful job walking in a line very quietly...which leads me to my next exciting and new thing I learned on the first day of school!
Mrs. Hammar has a wonderful way of showing and teaching students on how they should be walking and acting in the hallways. She used the phrase, "Hips and Lips" which is translated as...(in kindergarten language)..."Put a hand on your hip and your finger on your lip. If I could have taken a picture of the students doing this so perfectly, I would have. They were awesome at it...and it was only their FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! We also taught them another way to get their attention and make them know that they should be listening to the teacher in the classroom. The fun way of doing it is saying to the students, "Freeze and Give Me Five!" Once a teacher says this, the students must stop what they are doing, freeze, and look at the teacher who gave the cue. The students loved it and were awesome at it! Look below at the picture to see what "Give Me Five" should look like from each student! It was crazy to see how much they already respected and listened to Mrs. Hammar after one hour of being with her...and this encouraged me because often my worst fear of teaching is having the students not listen to me. Mrs. Hammar reassured this fear in myself and told me it's not possible...students know they have to listen and she's never had a problem in all of her years of her teaching.
After showing them the school and teaching them new ways to get their attention, it was then lunch time...and yes, we are the first in the building to eat lunch which means we eat at 10:40!!! Crazy I know. I'm going to be hungry by 2....but think of the kindergartners! We are working on getting them a snack program in the afternoon because there is no way they will be able to concentrate the rest of the day if they are eating lunch that early. Anyways, lunch was a little crazy because it was the first day, but overall the students did really well and we were very proud of them. Then, it was the favorite part of the day...for the students! RECESS TIME! YAY! :)
After recess, the students came back and gathered on the carpet and Mrs. Hammar read a book to them called, Mrs. Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten. It's the cutest book every and if you haven't ever read it or don't have it in your book collection, be sure to go and get it for your future classroom! It is awesome! :)
Once the book was over, it was time for the kids to go home. For the first seven day so school the students have half-days, so they are at school from 8:30-12. This is because in the afternoon, all of the kindergarten teachers must do DRA Testing on their students to see where they are at academically in order to know where to begin with instruction.
The day was then filled with a lot of testing which can be boring, but it is very useful for Mrs. Hammar and the other teachers because they are able to find out what levels their students are at and where they can begin instruction at. Once testing was done, our first day was over! It was an awesome day and there are so many more things that happened and I wish I could share them all with you. If you are wondering what happens, then I have the perfect solution for you...BECOME A TEACHER :) Let me say again...It is one of the most rewarding and amazing careers and I am so happy I chose it because every day is different and every day brings new surprises. Teaching never gets boring, and you never do the exact same thing you did the day before. The students bring new experiences and opportunities to your teaching career and I cannot wait to see what is in store for the next eight weeks! Stay tuned :)!
P.S...Sorry this post is so late, but I was worn out from the first couple days so I needed a break from blogging and time to catch up on sleep :)!
Last thought for the day...
"The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn."
-John Lubbock
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