So sorry I haven't written in so long.... I have been so busy!! But hopefully getting back into routine will help with things!
So this past Tuesday, the 23rd I began my practicum with a grade 1 class. I figured I would enjoy the older kids so when my practicum got switched from grade 6 to grade 1, I was a little disappointed, I'm not going to lie. But I told myself that it would be fine and it would be lots of fun to teach these little guys.
Little did I know, I would be more than right!! I was so nervous that these little 6 year olds wouldn't like me. Jeez, they had caused me so much worry and stress for being so little and cute! I started the day with the principal because the regular teacher was away. She introduced me to the kids as Miss Collett, which is still really weird for me to hear. I have never been called that in an actual serious matter. The first kid to pipe up was a teeny tiny little boy with the biggest brown eyes I think I have ever seen. He walked up to me, grabbed my hand and said "c'mon teacher, you can sit by me..." My heart literally turned to mush. It hit me that this was my future, that I was finally heading in a direction that was right. We practiced letters and counting to 10 and all the kids gloated abut how they could count to "pretty much a bazillion"... One girl came up to me and asked, "Are you a Mom?" I told her, no. She then says, "Oh funny... I thought Moms had orange hair!" .... hahah. Now you could be thinking, wow Shelby's first day went pretty perfect... Those little guys sound like angels.
WRONG.
They are all cute as heck, but I tell you now... They are far from angels. The principal left the room and I am pretty sure it was like the stampede in Jumanji... Every one literally went crazy. It took me about 5-10 minutes to actually get these little monkeys attention and when I did, I felt like I was thoroughly exhausted. I thought... "how on earth am I supposed to do this everyday. I am going to die from exhaustion." Honestly, I didn't know how I was going to make this my career if I couldn't even handle one day. Well, after all the kids were settled back into their desks. By my loud clapping, I seemed to have caught their attention and they enjoyed mimicking my claps. They all took out their printing books and began working on the letter G/g. One little girl was having real difficulty and asked for my help. I told her that the "g" was a fishing letter and that the dots on the page were little fish and we had to make sure that the hook went all the way passed the fish so we could catch them. She smiled so wide and had a complete look of joy on her face, she wrote down her "g" and exclaimed loudly "I did it!! I did it Miss! It's fishing!!!!"
Right there and then... The crazy stampede of kids, the uncertainty of what to do next, the fear of being completely exhausted for the rest of my life, that look on her face made it all worth it. The light went off in her head and I knew that it didn't matter how exhausted I was, that look would be just as satisfying 20 years from now.
That was the best feeling in the world.
xo
-Shelb
So this past Tuesday, the 23rd I began my practicum with a grade 1 class. I figured I would enjoy the older kids so when my practicum got switched from grade 6 to grade 1, I was a little disappointed, I'm not going to lie. But I told myself that it would be fine and it would be lots of fun to teach these little guys.
Little did I know, I would be more than right!! I was so nervous that these little 6 year olds wouldn't like me. Jeez, they had caused me so much worry and stress for being so little and cute! I started the day with the principal because the regular teacher was away. She introduced me to the kids as Miss Collett, which is still really weird for me to hear. I have never been called that in an actual serious matter. The first kid to pipe up was a teeny tiny little boy with the biggest brown eyes I think I have ever seen. He walked up to me, grabbed my hand and said "c'mon teacher, you can sit by me..." My heart literally turned to mush. It hit me that this was my future, that I was finally heading in a direction that was right. We practiced letters and counting to 10 and all the kids gloated abut how they could count to "pretty much a bazillion"... One girl came up to me and asked, "Are you a Mom?" I told her, no. She then says, "Oh funny... I thought Moms had orange hair!" .... hahah. Now you could be thinking, wow Shelby's first day went pretty perfect... Those little guys sound like angels.
WRONG.
They are all cute as heck, but I tell you now... They are far from angels. The principal left the room and I am pretty sure it was like the stampede in Jumanji... Every one literally went crazy. It took me about 5-10 minutes to actually get these little monkeys attention and when I did, I felt like I was thoroughly exhausted. I thought... "how on earth am I supposed to do this everyday. I am going to die from exhaustion." Honestly, I didn't know how I was going to make this my career if I couldn't even handle one day. Well, after all the kids were settled back into their desks. By my loud clapping, I seemed to have caught their attention and they enjoyed mimicking my claps. They all took out their printing books and began working on the letter G/g. One little girl was having real difficulty and asked for my help. I told her that the "g" was a fishing letter and that the dots on the page were little fish and we had to make sure that the hook went all the way passed the fish so we could catch them. She smiled so wide and had a complete look of joy on her face, she wrote down her "g" and exclaimed loudly "I did it!! I did it Miss! It's fishing!!!!"
Right there and then... The crazy stampede of kids, the uncertainty of what to do next, the fear of being completely exhausted for the rest of my life, that look on her face made it all worth it. The light went off in her head and I knew that it didn't matter how exhausted I was, that look would be just as satisfying 20 years from now.
That was the best feeling in the world.
xo
-Shelb
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