Thursday, February 12, 2009

pictures and fourth grade

-i bought a camera yesterday. it was/is very exciting. i have never (?) spent this much money on something for myself besides rent/bills. maybe i have, but definitely not my own money. and now of course, i have less than $10 in the bank. no, mom and dad, don't worry. i get paid monday, and timed my purchase so that i can still pay bills on time. the camera is a Canon Powershot SD770IS.
i am thrilled and can't wait to receive my bundle of joy in the mail.

-i have been having a marvelous time in fourth grade. i get up early -6:30- and very reluctantly get up, i try to be eating breakfast but otherwise ready to go by 7:30, and leave home by 7:45. sometimes i am a bit late, but as long as i arrive before 8:15 i am on time. i try, however, to leave on time because i like getting there at 8:00 to have morning circle* with fifth grade, then be there for class-switching time, and have morning circle with fourth grade. then is writing workshop. then reading mini-lesson, and reading workshop. that is when i get to pull students i need to work with. yesterday i did pre-assessments of my three assigned students' reading skills. i checked fluency and comprehension, then i checked how many sight words they could instantly read from Fry's high frequency words list. they are really smart, and though one of my students is behind the other two, they are all really interesting, cool kids. i am excited to teach them, and learn from them.

-watching ms. holli (the classroom teacher) has really made me feel like i can be a teacher. i think in a year i can run a classroom of 24 ten year olds, not lose my mind, and not screw them up.

-the student teacher in our class is really nice. so is my fellow intern 1, and i have a feeling the intern 2s are too. and not dumb! oh how i love non-dumb teachers-to-be!

*morning circle is wonderful. ms. holli puts on the song "if i could teach the world to sing" and everyone sits in a circle on the rug. when everyone's sitting and quiet, she puts on james taylor's "you've got a friend" and we twist our arms and hold our own hands (crossing the midpoint of the body improves brain function), close our eyes, sit cross-legged, and listen. about 2/3 of the way through the song, ms. holli tells us to roll our necks, our shoulders, and then breathe 3 deep long breaths. she then goes around the circle one by one saying "Good Morning ___. How are you?" and if they say something like "mad," "excited," or "curious" she asks them why. she asks the student teacher and interns too, and it is really nice, and helps integrate us into the classroom. then everyone says "Good morning, Ms. Holli. How are you?" and she replies and they go about their day. morning circle is the best part of my monday through thursday.

4 comments:

cornbread hell said...

that's a really camera.

i hope you'll keep posting about your intern experiences. good stuff.

((happy valentine's day))

cornbread hell said...

hahaha. really COOL camera...doh!

Chrissy said...

yay new cameras! next stop: flickr account!

also, you make teaching and school sound amazing. i would also like to hear more stories of your experiences at the school. we should do morning circles every day at work!

Kacey said...

Wow, I wish my high school student teaching experience had been that rewarding. That morning routine sounds so fantastic.

You have to take more pictures with your new camera and put them online!