I Will Survive!!

This has been my theme song this past week. Teaching is HARD!!! They don't really tell you everything when you're student teaching. They just kinda let you "figure it out" when you get hired. Seriously I have learned more this past week than I have my whole semester as a student teacher!!

I absolutely LOVE my kids! They are SO dang, stinking cute! And I can tell they need some tender loving care, and that's what I'm here for...AFTER I whip them into shape ;-) They're struggling a bit with listening and following instructions. I've had to really bring my fist down and get pretty stern. I DO NOT like it, but it is necessary right now. I am struggling with a couple of my kids, but I think it will get better.

I absolutely LOVE the school I work at! I have the best principal and vice principal, team leader/mentor (and she has a student teacher right now!), secretaries, fellow employees, etc. Everyone has been SO nice and friendly! The first day I had about 5 people come in my room at some point to see how I was. It's great. I absolutely love it. I couldn't ask for a better school to be at.

Each day keeps getting better! The more stable the routines, the better. It's great! As tired and worn out as I am, when I sit back and think about it, I LOVE MY JOB! And I am truely living my dream :-)

And now, for you fellow student teachers, here are some things they don't teach you!

-how to deal with kids who are complaining about feeling sick and want to call home (are they really sick? or bored? or just want to leave?)

-how to set up your classroom (it really takes alot of thinking!!)

-how to set up centers and rotations and how to record it and make it go smoothly

-how to organize things such as: newsletters, turn in boxes, return home boxes, take home folders, school boxes, all your personal stuff, assessment records, student records, incentives, centers (how do you store them?) et

-how to set up your calendar so it runs smoothly and is effective

-how to set up a morning routine

-how to transition smoothly without music or noise instruments (on my to-do list to get some!)

-how to get papers out to the students last minute when 12 other things are happening at once

-how to sort through everything in your room and build a curriculum you want to use from what is required and what is optional

-how to set up homework...where does it come from? When is it passed out? When is it due? Is there a reward?

-how to move your class from one place to another quickly (believe it or not, it's hard without them being trained. most mentor teachers already have established rules before you come in)

-how to use a purchase card and balance your budget...or even find your budget. And what money goes where? What things that have been bought stay in the room? What can you take with you? How do you fill out records after you purchased? Oh, and you MUST get everything without tax. Not optional.

-And last, but WAY NOT least, how to set up your daily schedule. It takes a few hours, trust me.

..oh yeah, and DRA testing, math testing, how to get a sub, and how many meetings you have to attend outside of class (or during class). Not to mention that teacher development days are NOT days off, they're actually lots of sitting and more training.

And that is definitely not everything. Just a peek at what I've had to learn and do this past week! Wow! I can't wait to get a paycheck :-)