My homeroom classroom (2nd, 3rd and 4th Grade)

First day of classes.  Right before the kids get here....

08/23/12

Today was my third day of classes.  My first day went great!  My second day was pretty terrible.  I am not sure what made it so hard.  My science lesson was an epic fail.  The first twenty minutes went really well!  And then I ran out of things to talk about.  Figuring out the timing for classes has to be one of the hardest parts of teaching.  Sometimes a lesson goes a lot faster than you want it to and other times things take a lot longer than you would think it should.  It is far better to be over prepared then to be caught off guard not having enough to do.  I have done a lot of making things up as I go, and now I wonder how much my teachers did that with me when I was in school. Teaching my second graders sometimes I feel like I am talking to a brick wall.  Nothing I say is sinking in.  I think that reading class is going to be one of my biggest challenges.  I am teaching 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th grade all together for both Science and English.  The second graders are starting with “Frog and Toad are Friends” and the fourth graders are starting with “Lisa and the Drainpipe Prayer”.  It is difficult to figure out how to balance my time in between the two different grades because they are all on such different levels.  The second graders can read the words on the pages, but their comprehension is seriously lacking.  The third and fourth graders can whip right through their reading and seem to understand the majority of it.  I have the 5^th and 6^th graders for Social Studies and Math.  I think that I like teaching the older grades a little better than the really little ones.  It is  a little easier because you do not have to simplify things quite as much.  I have the 7^th and 8^th graders for Bible class.  There are 17 of them..  I am really excited and also really nervous about this class.  They are a little more intimidating then the younger kids and they are not very responsive yet.  I was really starting to get discouraged in class.  They were all very good at sitting quietly in their seats.  The problem is getting them to speak was like pulling teeth.  I feel like Bible class is the most important class that we are teaching in this school because of all of the classes, it will have the most lasting impact on their lives and it is the only thing that will really matter in the end.  I was encouraged by the writing that I got from them though.  At the beginning of class I asked three questions.  1) How do you feel about God? 2) How do you feel about religion/Christianity?  3) What do you think that a Bible class should be like? Some of the kids gave me very generic or vague answers.  However, some of the kids gave me some very real answers.  They admitted to questioning God or being angry at Him for things that have happened in their lives.  I was shocked at the things that they were willing to write to me considering how guarded they are when I try to talk to them.  Overall, my third day of teaching went really well.  I have learned so much this week.  One of the things that I have learned is that I have a lot to learn!  It can be a little discouraging when I have a rough day or a difficult lesson because I want so badly to be a good teacher.  The thing that I need to remember is that you have to start somewhere.  That not all of my lessons are going to be amazing and that we are going to have lessons that are somewhat boring or where it takes a lot more work to master the skill we are working on.  I am getting used to introducing myself as Ms. McCauley instead of Melissa, but often I get called Ms. Teacher.  I have to say it is pretty endearing to have little second graders running up to me all the time yelling "Ms. Teacher, Ms. Teacher".  Right now I am sitting in the living room of one of the staff here at Maxwell working on more lesson planning and listening to some of the other SMs playing their violin, ukulele, and violin together.  It is a very peaceful and relaxing way to end a long, but productive day.