The First Day of School

Wow, I can't believe that I have started teaching 4th grade today! I met all 30 of my students this morning and naturally fell into teacher mode. It was such a great feeling to not be worried, nervous, or scared...I only felt excited and extremely happy to be there and I am so looking forward to getting to know each of my students on a more personal level. As soon as all 30 students were in the classroom however I noticed how big of a difference it already was from last year at Woodlawn. 18 students was a godsend....now 30 students....I think things are just going to get ridiculous! I am more than ready for it though.

All last week, I worked feverishly in my classroom trying to make it a warm and inviting atmosphere. With the help of my full time teacher's assistant Carla (having 30 students really does pay off in this sense!) we were able to organize everything in the classroom and throw away a bunch of things. Every cabinet was filled to the max with things, half of which were so old that they were basically useless. Here is what the classroom looked like before hand:





With the help of Carla and Ken (he was such a good helper this week running all of my errands when I ran out of materials and needed more!) the room came together spectacularly. Everything was in its place, the whiteboard had the schedule up and there were some posters hanging around the room :) Each desk had the students name, a star signifying their classroom job, the "morning procedure" and "what to do when I have finished my work" cheat sheet, and a pocket for my behavior plan (They will be receiving penalty cards like in soccer and each color represents a different penalty. The cards will just sit in the pocket on their desk as a reminder to them). I was very proud to call this my first classroom ever. Now the hard part....lesson planning!

After hiking Pico Bonito on Saturday, I ended up falling down part of the trail that was incredibly slippery and to save myself I put out my hand, spraining my already sprained finger on my right hand....uhhhh ohhhhh! This was not the greatest thing to happen since afterwards I was no longer able to right or hold anything! Ken came to my rescue again by helping me carry things and giving my ibprofen to help with the pain. Sunday, although extremely stiff, I found a way to type out my week one scope and my lesson plans in 4 hours. I also had made a first day of school powerpoint that I think was pretty sweet. I guess when you are determined enough no pain will really stop you and honestly, using my finger so much, I think actually helped it to heal better because by this morning I was able to write, type, and carry things like I was never injured!! I went into school yesterday afternoon to put the finishing touches around my classroom and set home to relax for the evening before my first day.









The first day of school today couldn't have gone any smoother! Other than the lock on my door being changed and me not having the key, did I mention I was at school at 6:00 am as well since school starts at 6:55!, and was waiting around until 6:30 to get into my room, I was able to get settled and organized right before I let the kids in. I could hear all of them piling up outside of my room beginning at 6:30 which was more thrilling than anything. I could hear screams of excitement as kids greeted their friends whom they hadn't seen all summer. This energized me even more and as soon as I opened the door I, Ms. Johnson, 4th grade teacher at Mazapan School! Each student was greeted with a handshake and a, "Good Morning, I'm Ms. Johnson. What's your name?" Followed by the students saying their name so quietly because of course they were nervous to meet their new teacher. Throughout the day, students began opening up and I was able to see who the talkers were and who needed to be sitting closer to the front :) We went through all the procedures of the classroom, my homework policy, and so many other things and I was so excited when the kids actually stuck with it all and took it all in. They asked wonderful questions and practiced the routines so well. The bell in my classroom is a great signal to get the kids attention :) As soon as they hear they sit up as straight as a pencil with their eyes on me; then again it was only the first day so we'll have to see how that goes in a few months. As the kids left today, I couldn't stop smiling. I knew that I had done everything that I wanted to and expressed to my students what was expected from them for the remainder of the year. It feels so natural to be at this school and teaching 4th grade (thanks to the help of Mrs. Lindsey and all her wisdom) and I just know its going to be an exciting year.

Ken had his first day of orientation today as well. It started off a little different than mine however. The bus ended up not picking him up as expected so he had to take a taxi at 7:15 (he was supposed to be there around 7) and was a few minutes late. When he arrived, he realized he hadn't missed much since everyone was just standing around waiting. He quickly found the 2 english speakers in the school and introduced himself, one of which was the wife of the new librarian at Mazapan. They ended up sticking together for the rest of the day since they were the only 2 who didn't know any Spanish...and 3/4 of the orientation was in Spanish. Even though he was a bit lost most of the day, he received his school supplies in a nice, black garbage bag and got 2 of the 5 syllabus's for his 5 classes that he will be teaching (Word History, Philosophy, Psychology, Humanities, and Sociology). Ken still isn't quite sure how to write a lesson plan or what format it needs to be in, but he's hoping tomorrow, or sometime this week, he'll be able to figure that out. At least he already knows his first day lesson. Its titled: "How to pronounce my last name: HALTENHOF." He's also looking forward to decorating his cart since he'll be going from classroom to classroom. At his school, the high school teachers don't have a classroom; all of the kids stay in one classroom and the teachers rotate. At this point, he's hoping to put a lot of streamers on the sides of the cart and have a few disco balls hanging as well.

We both are looking forward to the year that lies ahead. We know we are going to be learning so much from our jobs, especially from our students, and we look forward to sharing more of that insight with you all!