Obviously as a teacher you know that one of the main goals would be for me to teach new concepts. What you may not realize is that in order for me to teach 6 subjects I also need to learn them. On top of learning the stuff I need to pass on to kiddos I also have had the added task of learning all that stuff that most people go to 4 years of college to learn in about oh I don't know the last year but mostly the last month. So, to say that my brain has been overwhelmed with new knowledge is a massive understatement.
However, I am pleased beyond measure for this opportunity and so thankful that I love to learn. One of the most important skills that I am working on is the fine art of lesson planning. At my previous school things were done, much differently and I was only responsible to plan one main subject (Science) and then Art. The rest of my second grade team planned the other subjects. I was not a fan of that system, because I never felt like I had a good handle on what as coming and the lessons others planned often were their style and not easy for me to quickly and effectively alter the way I wanted. At my new school I am THE 5th grade teacher, so planning lies entirely on my shoulders. As someone who is not naturally gifted in the area of organization I knew that I would need to focus a good part of my energies on having a plan, a system, a procedure and for everything and a place for everything.
Last Saturday I spent from 9am - 7pm working on my first lesson plan for 5th grade and I was so pleased with how it looked. Now that I have used it for a few days I am stoked to see that it is working! We have almost completely been able to stick to the goals and because of the plan I could quickly change things with no problems when schedules got shifted.
I am still a long way from where I dream of being as a teacher, but it is my first year of teaching and with no formal training I am pretty pleased with how my room, procedures, meet the parents and the first week of teaching has turned out. I was over the moon when I was complemented 2 times Sunday by parents of my students on my organization and set up!
Things are already becoming easier, the lesson plans that were so tedious last Saturday were much simpler today. I was able to plan out Math and Spelling for the next 2 weeks in about an hour. I already have graded and returned every assignment that has been turned in and I even got all those grades posted online for the parents!
So, yes my students are learning and growing, but so am I.
However, I am pleased beyond measure for this opportunity and so thankful that I love to learn. One of the most important skills that I am working on is the fine art of lesson planning. At my previous school things were done, much differently and I was only responsible to plan one main subject (Science) and then Art. The rest of my second grade team planned the other subjects. I was not a fan of that system, because I never felt like I had a good handle on what as coming and the lessons others planned often were their style and not easy for me to quickly and effectively alter the way I wanted. At my new school I am THE 5th grade teacher, so planning lies entirely on my shoulders. As someone who is not naturally gifted in the area of organization I knew that I would need to focus a good part of my energies on having a plan, a system, a procedure and for everything and a place for everything.
Last Saturday I spent from 9am - 7pm working on my first lesson plan for 5th grade and I was so pleased with how it looked. Now that I have used it for a few days I am stoked to see that it is working! We have almost completely been able to stick to the goals and because of the plan I could quickly change things with no problems when schedules got shifted.
I am still a long way from where I dream of being as a teacher, but it is my first year of teaching and with no formal training I am pretty pleased with how my room, procedures, meet the parents and the first week of teaching has turned out. I was over the moon when I was complemented 2 times Sunday by parents of my students on my organization and set up!
Things are already becoming easier, the lesson plans that were so tedious last Saturday were much simpler today. I was able to plan out Math and Spelling for the next 2 weeks in about an hour. I already have graded and returned every assignment that has been turned in and I even got all those grades posted online for the parents!
So, yes my students are learning and growing, but so am I.
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