Week one! :]

Day one:

                The first day was met with some nervousness, as most first days are, and I even locked my keys in my car absentmindedly. The people who work there are so friendly and we are met with smiling faces as soon as we walk through the door. The school isn’t particularly big and I noted that it was almost identical looking to the high school just up the road.

                As we walked down the halls I was surprised by how neat and tidy everything was. I didn’t expect it to be falling apart or anything but they do seem to take a lot of pride in their school. When we got to the classroom I was blown away by how tiny these children were. I mean I knew they were going to be small but they were itty bitty things. I didn’t expect to be in a 6^th classroom either, this was the first I’d ever heard of 6^th grade being in middle school.

                The first class was full of energy and I noted that it was tough to keep them all focused. It’s something I wonder about when Danielle and I eventually teach. It’ll be difficult to keep their attention but I think if we make our lesson engaging we can manage it fine.

                I also noted that on their walls they had some sort of progress report for some school wide reading competition/quota. On the top of another wall hung drawings and writings from the students which was cool. I really like seeing student work displayed and I’m glad that there seems to be a lot of that happening in this class room.

Day two:

                So honestly day two was over shadowed by the lock down/evacuation that Danielle and I were witness to. From the very little information we got apparently someone scrawled some kind of threat on a bathroom wall and so the school responded accordingly. I was very impressed by the level of security they had and how orderly it was all performed. The only thing that I felt bad about was that many students didn’t have time to get their coats and it was a particularly cold day. I wonder how a teacher manages to conduct a class room after something like that occurs. This happened during lunch so we didn’t actually get to see students return to class as their lunch was extended. This made the following class only 26 or so minutes long. We didn’t stick around to see that class but I have to wonder how a teacher can hold their student’s attention after an event like that and manage to squeeze everything they need into such a short lesson. I have much respect for the teachers that day as they were definitely challenged.

Day three:

                Day three we decided to start interacting with the students more. I think both me and Danielle were starting to feel fidgety sitting around so much. The students were very polite and let us into their groups without missing a beat. I mostly listened to what they were saying and tried to get them to tell me what they were working on, and to explain their answers that way they could maybe think about it more. They seemed to all be doing well and were pretty focused.

                We also got to check out the library which was admittedly incredibly small and outdated. The shear amount of vhs tapes there was kind of disappointing. One thing I’ve noticed is they are a very low tech school which is kind of sad. Even their books are pretty old too. I think the text book we’re using is from 1996. That’s crazy! I’m really enjoying my time at this school but it’s definitely time for them to get an update.