Hi again!
I have almost made it through my first week of
teaching by myself! I must say, it is
much more challenging than I ever would have imagined! I am exhausted! For the past two nights Emily and I stayed at
the school very late in order to get our classrooms set up for the open house
that took place tonight. Open house was
a success, so that was great!
In order to create our beach-themed classroom for
open house and the rest of the year, the first graders and I made fish to hang
from the ceilings, painted fish on the white walls, filled the open fireplace
space with seashells, and hung blue streamers to resemble curtains from the
windows. With the help of local artists,
we also painted beach scenes on the walls.
By the end, our room really felt like the beach! In order to make the room more cozy and
classroom-like, I (with the help of some other Costa Verde staff), rearranged
the classroom furniture. Although there
was not an ample amount of furniture, we rearranged it so that the students
have a rug/carpet area, a work area, a cubby area, a game playing area, and a
reading area. In turn, I also have a
desk area with a book shelf behind it for all my teaching books and
supplies. Going through the process of
rearranging the classroom was a very important experience for me because
setting up a classroom to create an ideal learning environment is not as easy
as it looks—especially when space is limited.
There are so many small details to think about, such as: Should I leave
the games out at all times or store them away until it is game time? Are all of my books appropriate for the
reading levels of my classroom? Is there
space for students work to be displayed?
I was reminded to think about all of these things as I was setting up
this classroom. All of the hard work was
not in vain, however, because when the students came into school this morning
they were so excited about how their classroom now looked! They loved all the different areas. Because there were different sections in the
classroom, they felt like they had a bigger classroom.
Another thing that I noticed about rearranging the
classroom so that it feels as if there are different sections/rooms is that it
keeps the students on task more. Before
rearranging the furniture and materials, students had easy access to the books
and games. Because they had easy access
to these items, they naturally would play with them instead of doing their work
or listening to instructions. I found
myself constantly having to remind them of what they were supposed to be doing
and focusing on. That all changed
however once the room was rearranged so that there were section-like areas in
it. Because the students could not see
the books or easily reach the games, they had to focus on the tasks at
hand. Therefore, we accomplished more
work today. Having a square rug on the
floor also gave them a visual cue and reminder as to where they were supposed
to be seated while we were doing whiteboard work. As a result, there was a lot less wandering
around. It was also very helpful to have
a table in the library section of the classroom and in the game section of the
classroom. Having two extra tables gave
me space to work with small groups during reading time and gave students some
extra space to complete work in the event that they were being easily
distracted. I am so glad to have had the
opportunity of setting up a classroom. I
am now a true believer that thoughtful arrangement of materials and furniture
in a classroom can motivate students and contribute to their academic and
social success in school.
Although I had a lot of fun and exciting moments
during this week of teaching, I have been struggling a lot with language
barriers. Because I do not speak Spanish
fluently and because very few of my first-grade students speak English, it
feels hard to teach—especially English Language Arts. It is hard to teach students who do not speak
English how to write and read in English.
Furthermore, classroom management has been a bit difficult because I’m
not always sure how to say the words I need in Spanish and when I speak them in
English, the students do not always respond.
Right now, I am working on the alphabet—letter by letter—with the
first-graders since the alphabet is a bit different in English than it is in
Spanish. This seems to be a good place
to start. However, I feel as if I am
running out of fun activities to do with it, and the students are beginning to
get bored. I also feel bad because some
students already know the alphabet well in English so the work is a little too
easy for them. It is very hard to meet
everyone’s needs. I am still figuring
out the best way to reach this goal when there is only one of me. I think centers would be a great idea and
tool so long as I had a good system that helped the students manage
themselves. Currently, I am still
figuring out how to make that happen in a way that is appropriate for their age
and developmental level.
All and all, this week has been lots of learning for
me! It is much different to have to
plan, assess, set-up, and manage a classroom all alone than it is coming in and
working in another teacher’s classroom. I
feel that my eyes have been opened even more to the complexities of teaching.
The fish the first graders painted on the wall.
The completed fish scene.
Part of our beach mural.
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