Friday 9 January 2015

Week One Completed!

Week One Completed!

Is it rude to applaud for yourself?  Maybe it isn't if it is in the privacy of your own home....while your children are sleeping and your husband is at hockey.  Perhaps not an applause but a pat on the back? A little whoop whoop? I am going to settle for a happy dance. 

I made it through my first week!

Looking back over my week I have a lot that I am proud of:

1) I welled up on the first day dropping my little person off at daycare for the first time but I didn't bawl as I had expected myself to.

2) My students have had a turn around. Their reputation was not one to brag about prior to my return. I was even a teeny bit nervous that I wouldn't be able to gain their trust and respect. I can brag about them this week in so many ways! What a wonderful group of students I have.

For example: This week it was so cold outside that we stayed inside instead of playing outdoors. While eating our lunch a student accidentally pulled the fire alarm. Out goes the whole school with out jackets and boots into the frigid temperatures. As I met up with my class outside along the fence as per fire drill procedures I passed little kindergarten students crying in the cold, some in T-shirts. I rushed over to my class and told them to follow me. They did. No questions why as they just sensed the importance of the moment. When we met the kindy kids they understood. They knew they had to do something. There...in the icy temperatures my intermediates formed a circle wall around them blocking out the wind. Creating a barricade from the bitter cold that stung their own bare arms and no gloved fingers.  I was bursting with pride while holding back my own grunts of displeasure at the cold. 
Seriously COLD!
Picture after work the same day. 

3) I still am ME. After being away for 11 months on maternity leave I wasn't sure if I had gone all "mom" brain. I am able to be apart from my babies and give my all to my students.

4) Connecting with students is still the number one piece of advice that I give student teachers in my room and I still believe it. It is not to be their "buddy" but a connection of respect and trust. This connection really builds in your classroom and bleeds into your lessons. I believe that at the end of the day, that is what will stick with them....perhaps for the rest of their life. This week students wrote with sticky notes what "stuck with them today". At the end of the day I look over the notes and mixed among the math and literacy comments was one lone sticky note that stood out.


I am proud of this little sticky note. I know that not all days will be super awesome fun but I know that this sticky note means that one of my intermediates enjoyed their day at school. That-is something to be proud of!

What are you most proud of this week?

2 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your first week back! Sounds like it was a good one :) I agree that connecting with your students - no matter what the grade level - is paramount to having a productive and safe (in terms of taking risks) learning environment. I hope your second week goes as well as your first (and it warms up a little!!).

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