Teaching

Yesterday was my first day teaching in my 5th grade classroom.  Not only was it my first day, but I threw myself right into the fire by teaching ALL DAY. I think there was a whole 40 minutes, maybe, that I wasn't teaching during the whole day (except lunch, so add another 40 minutes).

I first did their math warm up and then went right into the math lesson.  We played fraction games and just did a little intro about fractions.
Then I went straight to the next classroom to teach Social Studies.  We talked about Colonial Schools and calligraphy.  I taught this lesson three times throughout the day.  I thought it would get easier each time I taught, but that wasn't exactly the case.  Some things got easier.  But mostly I started forgetting what I had already covered and accidentally skipping things I needed to cover.  I felt like the last lesson was also really crammed down because I had about 15 minutes less than I normally did.  But overall, the lessons went well.

I also played games with the students during recess because it was -21 outside yesterday.  I also read part of Narnia to them and helped with some after-school tutoring.

It was a long busy day, but I loved it.  I loved the few short moments I was left in the classroom feeling like it was my own classroom. I loved teaching.  I loved it all.  I was a lot less nervous than I thought I'd be.  I am excited to keep teaching this semester and to get more experience and confidence.

I have had a lot of doubts and fears this semester, but I am happy I have stuck with this major because I really do love it!