First FULL week of school!

First Week of School

Monday August 8-Friday August 12

Attending the first week of school was VERY important for me. I did not want to come into a classroom where I did not know the rules and procedures and did not know the students from the beginning.

Monday

The first day was so exhilarating. The students were excited and nervous to be there, just as I was. The students came in during the morning and we got started creating procedures and rules and going over what was expected throughout the year. We played an ice breaker game that allowed the students to give facts about themselves; which helped with the names of the children and gave us information about each student. By learning facts about the students, we were able to see what kind of books that liked to read, what they did for fun, and various other aspects. We continued the day trying to create our schedule so the students could get used to the ways of the scheduled day. During the day, we did a following directions activity that allowed the teachers to see how the students were in following directions. By the time we got through the expectations and our activities, it was already the end of the day! And oh boy, was I exhausted when I left!!

Tuesday-Friday

These next few days were basically the same. The students were still getting used to the procedures of the classroom, as was I, and we were trying to get on our normal schedule with connections and switching with our partner classroom for mathematics. My teacher teaches two groups of reading, our class and then the other class, and the partner teacher teaches two groups of mathematics. By breaking into groups like this, the teachers are able to focus and dedicate their time to that one subject area in order to prepare the best lesson (as well as social studies, science, grammar, and writing). The reward system was put into place during these days. The students have bookmarks with a grid on them. If they do not pull their stick during the day, they receive one sticker. If they pull their stick to green, which is a good thing, they receive two stickers and if they move their stick to yellow, which is a punishment, they do not receive a sticker. When they fill their sticker chart, they are able to turn their bookmark in to the teacher in order to receive a reward. The students came up with the rewards:

Lunch in the room

Ice cream

Read to another student in the school

Be the teacher’s helper for the day

Sit in the teacher’s chair

Homework Pass

The rewards change throughout the year so the students do not get bored with the rewards. My teacher also said that she changes the way the students receive awards throughout the year because she said they respond to various methods and it allows the students to not get bored with the way they are rewarded.

By attending the first week of school, I felt a stronger connection to the classroom as a whole. I believe that the first week of school is one of the most important ones to experience because it allowed me to become acquainted with the classroom, the students, the teacher, as well as the school and the faculty.