No school Monday, first day back from break Tuesday, snow day Wednesday, two hour delay Thursday, and two hour delay Friday. CRAZY!
I didn't see much "normal".. but I learned so much -- especially how important it is to be flexible as a teacher.
The kids are wonderful - kind, thoughtful, and good listeners. I finally know all their names (although I just moved all the desks around for a new seating layout, so we'll see how I do on Tuesday).
I knew my teacher before this experience (I worked as an intern in the school) but I enjoyed getting to know her more.. and loved realizing we pretty much have the same brain (type-A, organized, and planners). I can already tell just from this first week that this is going to be an amazing experience. I have already learned so much (and taken notes frantically to remember it all).
This week was filled with many great things, but my favorite was a project the kids finished today.
My teacher LOVES to quilt and she has the kids make a paper quilt each month. First they make a geometric pattern; challenging them with spacial relations using squares, triangles, etc. In addition to the geometric pattern, they also make a "concept" pattern (turkey in November, mitten in December, snowman in January). With the concept pattern, they are given the background (white square) and the pattern (this month, a snowman). They can decorate these with crayons however they choose.
Once their snowman was glued to the white square and decorated as they wish, they moved onto the next part (which is my favorite).
Each student is given 10 pennies to spend on decorations for their snowman. My teacher brings in supplies for the students to select to "purchase" (glitter, pom poms, carrot nose, eyes, broomstick, scarf, etc.)
The students have a "shopping list" which has all the supplies listed. My teacher holds each supply up for them to see, explains how it could be used, and tells them what it costs. (They cannot buy all the supplies with their 10 pennies.)
Then, the students must decide which supplies they wish to purchase and circle them on the shopping list.
After they circle all the supplies, they create an equation at the bottom. For example:
2 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 10
Next, they take their (real!) pennies and head over to the store. The supplies were laid out on the table with labels and a container for the pennies.
Once they have all their supplies, which are kept in a plastic baggie, they wait for their turn to go decorate it.
There were two volunteers who pulled students into the hall during work time to help them hot glue all the decorations on.
Each time a student came in with their finished quilt, everyone stopped what they were doing and said, "Ooh aah, that's snow-tastic!"
They were so proud of their work.
The reason I love this idea is because it is so applicable to real life. Budgeting, dealing with money, and shopping for things on a list are all things they will do in the real world. I can truly say this is something I plan to take with me and use in the future!!
This week flew by and it is making me realize more and more how much I love what I do. I can't wait to do this for the rest of my working life!
I am hoping for a little more normal next week so I can see how the lesson plans look across a week (without a snow day to interrupt). I'll be taking over on a few small things as I am still familiarizing myself with the curriculum. I will begin teaching one of my own lessons, which I'm very excited about!! I'll definitely be blogging about it.
Thanks for reading!
Jenn
