We're having fun!

Today started on time, which was incredibly early. 5:30 am to be exact. Thankfully, once I get out of my bed I am pretty pumped for the day.  I got to the school right around 7.  It was so nice getting there early! I got to get the keys for all the 3rd grade teachers and get our room ready for the day.  Made me feel like a real teacher!  Once I got back to the room and got things set up I began to pray for each student by name.  It was amazing the peace and comfort that came from doing this.  I really pray that the kids would see God's love through our love for them in class.

The day was full of adventures! In Reading I got to teach the students about present tense.  I never realized how tricky of a concept this can be but they were starting to really understand it.  I think I will have a better idea once I check their homework in the morning.  After we did this they finished their work in groups.  I had to do some disciplining because one group wasn't working well together.  It's not fun having to correct them, but it is wonderful seeing them change and work better together.

Our math class was an absolute blast today.  They say the funniest things and I can tell Ms. Johnston and I get equally excited when the light bulb goes off for them!  I respect Ms. Johnston so much and really enjoy watching her teach.  She really got them excited about what they were learning today and I love that she isn't afraid to have fun.  They were working on relating division to multiplication.  When they did some of the problems at their seat and got them right they got to come dance to some fun music we had playing on Pandora.  They were so happy showing their dance moves and the activity really helps them stay on task in their learning too. 

During science the kids have been working on the skeletal system.  They have been learning the technical things for now but will get to do some really cool activities next week.  While they working one boy told another, "You aren't going to pass the EOG's".  This upset him and he said, "I'm going to knock you out".  As soon as I came over there I had to deal with the situation.  It was so out of character for these two but I also think it was coming from them being really tired.  I talked to them about being a family and how we should treat one another.  They both knew they were wrong and got a note home.  I'm nervous about the parents reaction but I hope it will be okay!

We got another new student today!  Very excited about him.  He seems very sweet and eager to learn.  I loved seeing the other boys truly welcome him to our class. It is so beautiful to see the heart of a child.   Hopefully we can find out his levels soon and get him right on track.  I'm writing some welcome notes to our new students.  I never had to move in the middle of a school year but I'm sure it isn't easy.  Hoping this will help them see how special they are!

After school I got to sit in on a parent teacher conference.  It was really helpful and truly great to see a parent involved.  I'm hoping to have more experience with parents soon at our Open House coming up soon! 

Challenge of the Day: In education their is a theorist named Jacob Kounin that came up with this term "withitness"....this fancy word basically means a teacher having "eyes at the back of their head".  We have all had those teachers that just seemed to always know what we were doing even if they were looking in an opposite direction.  I'm thinking I may have to have a different kind of laser eye surgery to achieve this!

Quote of the Day: "We're having a gooooood time"!  From one of the girls in our math class that is working so hard and doing great.  It is incredibly rewarding to hear kids excited and joyful in their learning.