Being a Tribal Leader...

Somewhere down the line in a classroom, I was bound to become a tribal leader. Right at this point you might be thinking "What is she smoking?" Here's the lowdown... I'm taking over social studies this week and we are learning about Native Americans who have lived in Fullerton. Tomorrow, I will be wearing a head dress that I made with a head band and feathers and I will be having the third graders sit in a circle and listen to a Native American legend as told by me. Hence...I've become the town "Medicine Man" or "Tribal Leader." Third grade is pretty fun. :-)

Other than that, my master teacher has commented on how engaging my lessons are. She brought up an interesting point that she's never seen in any of her student teachers. Apparently I am able to keep my students engaged during my lessons, which is terrific, but I haven't been able to keep a good hold of behavior management when they work independently. Is it possible that I am only a teacher when a teach a lesson? So...that's one thing off of my list of what to improve upon....now it's on to becoming a cookie that looks tough, feels tough but really is the chewiest ( made up word maybe?), softest, and sweet, and delicious cookie. What can I say...I'm in love with relating myself to food.

Back to preparing my lessons. Ciao!

It was bound to happen...

With this crazy whacky weather and being surrounded with children, I've finally caught all those nasty germs. Yesterday I was feeling just fine and dandy with a minor cough until I went into lunch duty for a Kindergarten class. Nasty little bugs! Anywho...I'm home sick with a flu. My body aches, I'm coughing, and I have the sniffles. I really didn't want to miss the day with the class, but I'm not at my best. Time to sleep. Goodbye!

Week 2...

Amazing how time flies... I've been doing the class opening and math. Anyways... my first week went okay, I wasn't really comfortable showing the sense of command and I needed to improve on it, which I've improved on in my second week.

My first observation turned out to be one heck of a surprise. I was expecting to be watched only by my supervisor and master teacher. Midway through my lesson, the principal walks in with the superintendent. I was not nervous at all and kept going with my lesson as though no one else was there with me. You want to know why? I thought the man with the principal was the fire marshall. LOL! There's one way to make sure I'm not nervous...don't tell me who is coming in. =)

So...here we are in my second week, much better than the first week. I'm still doing just the opening and math, BUT I got to teach an art lesson today for my second observation. We're reading Black Beauty, so I decided to integrate literature with art by having the students do a guided drawing of a horse. Lets just say....I didn't know I had it in me to draw a horse. I had a lot of fun teaching this as well as getting a real opportunity to connect with my students and the third graders' art was FABULOUS!!! Even though I thought all the horses would look pretty much the same, these third graders brought their own flair to their work. I should probably keep a few to sell on ebay. Just kidding! OR...Maybe I'll be an artist on the side of teaching. =)

Or...I'll just head off to bed now and just keep dreaming about what would happen if I became an artist. Good night! =)