Well, I've survived my first few weeks of teaching third grade! I have been so blessed. I received a fire-hose of information and had to get right into teaching. My co-workers are very supportive and so many people have come in to help me with whatever I need.
This past week was my first week of really teaching on my own. I literally spent all day the previous Saturday preparing and still didn't have it all done. Overall, it all went well. It was nice to not have so many people coming in asking if I needed help. I had my first observation this week and it was good. The principal is understanding that I won't get it all right now and is just glad that I'm there.
It's been nice this week to go home and have a life outside of work. I don't have nearly as much I have to prepare to teach and the school closes around 6 pm, so I can't stay late even if I needed to. My classroom is still not the way I want it to be, but it's not as important as teaching and doing the other things I need to. It will come, though.
I'm basically teaching out of only two books- a language arts book and a math book. The language arts book took me a long time to really figure out how to use it, but I'm getting more comfortable with it. Math, on the other hand, is harder for me. It always has been. It's actually a really simple and straightforward book, but I find it difficult to know how to teach it because I struggle understanding it myself. Fortunately, the other nice part about this job is that I can figure out how to teach things the way that works for me. They call it the "art of teaching." I've seen so many different styles of teachers that actually comforts me as I try to figure out what my style is. It's nice that there is no "wrong way" to teach here.
The kids are really good. I do have a few kids that drive me nuts some days, but there are always those kids. The difference between 5th graders and 3rd graders is that 5th graders are much more self-conscious and like to question rules a little. Third graders still want to please the teacher and want friends, but they don't care so much about how they are seen by them. With 3rd graders I also have to give everything literally step by step- breaking everything down for them to understand and do. I learn very quickly when I haven't simplified instructions enough.
The greatest challenge I have is teaching the kids how to read and write. A lot of these kids struggle with both of those and it shows on the scores. They want to learn though and they have so much to share, so it's exciting to think I can help them learn how to do those things.
