Student Teaching: 6th/5th Grade!!

I have been meaning to write a new post about student teaching for the past little while, but I have not had the chance..because I am just too stinkin' busy (which I love by the way)! But I just transitioned this week to the 5th grade classroom that I was supposed to originally be in, which has been great by the way..more about that later though.

Well my first week was wonderful (besides getting the flu the 3rd day..yuck). Yes, January 4th was a beautiful day, and meeting my cooperating teaching, Mrs. Brecht, was miraculous. I knew right away that I was going to learn so much from her, and that there was a purpose for me being in her class. And folks, there definitely was a reason.

Let me just tell you a little story about myself. I am a perfectionist, and figured out that I am especially a perfectionist when it comes to teaching. Good thing? Not really. Last semester, I realized that with every lesson I taught, I tried to make it just so, and I would try to follow my lesson plans so perfectly, that I would not enjoy myself, and I really was not having much fun. I literally don't think I smiled very often, and I think my little 3rd graders began to really take my last name seriously. haha. Just kidding. But yes, that was a goal of mine to work on relaxing a little and bringing my contagious sweet little hilarious self into my teaching...and SMILE. You wouldn't think that smiling in the classroom would be my downfall, but you would be thinking wrong. So, to make a long story a little bit shorter, my cooperating teacher for 6th grade showed me that humor is so crucial in the classroom, and I completely loosened up with those kids, and I really had a great time. It was a blast working with Mrs. Brecht and her students. They really helped me, and therefore, I was able to teach some really fun lessons!

5th grade has been marvelous so far! I wasn't sure about being in this classroom though, because my new cooperating teacher, Mrs. Williams, seemed completely different....like way organized, and way structured, and I was thinking.."How am I going to meet up to her standards?" It made me a little nervous. But I went in on Monday, and we started planning the week, and she was so easy to talk to, and she even took me out for lunch. She is so great and a really amazing teacher. She is so respectful of anything that I want to do for my lessons, and she is just really supportive, which I love. What a great experience this has been so far! Completely different than I thought it was going to be. The students in her class are great too. I also was a little skeptical about how they were going to be compared to Mrs. Brecht's class. I connected so well with the 6th grade, and so it made me feel like I wasn't going to connect with a different class. I was wrong. They challenged me to get all of their names down by the end of the day, and learn one thing about them, and then they would quiz me about them the next day. The little rascals didn't have faith in me, but I dominated those names like there was no tomorrow!

So far so good, and only 8 more weeks left of this blessed experience! Hoorah!! I am one-fourth of the way there kids, so hold on to your britches, and thanks for all of the support!! Yay, and I am going to Rexburg tomorrow as a little side-note...which will be exceptionally fun! I will get to see my little angel friends, and finally I will be able to laugh once more! Bring your funny girls and boys!!! Love it!!!!!!