Three's a Charm?

Well, I had my third day of "solo" teaching today. There was a sub in the room, but really, I was teaching the whole day. It went okay. I went into the day with a little lower expectations than last week, just knowing that "while the cat's away the mice will play." And they did play, a little. I tried to keep them in check, and succeeded for the most part. I also had a little more confidence in myself, knowing that I had 2 "solo" days behind me.

I have realized thus far that if I had my druthers, I don't think I want to teach 4th grade. I don't know if it's just this class, or 4th grade in general, but the kids are really catty at this age. Girls, boys, it doesn't matter. Last week it was one kid talking about another person. Today it was 3 girls talking about another girl because "she was drinking strawberry milk and it has a lot of fat and she is fat." Huh? The only thing I told her was that they were going to see just what all this means when I teach my personal wellness unit. That's all I had for her. I think my lack of being "girly" and being a tomboy growing up is why I don't have any tolerance for this stuff. Seriously. The attitudes, the self-centered thinking, and the general lack of politeness is enough to make me want to teach K-3 exclusively.

The breakthroughs keep happening, though. These are the things that keep me going, keep me sane. There was one little cherub who said that I shouldn't be a teacher because, "it's going to keep getting harder and harder." Or the other cherub who asked me how long I was going to be in the class. When I told her December, she said, "Great! We still have a lot of time." And the girl who was standing next to her said, "Yeah, it's a long time, but not long enough for us." Or the kids that totally shock me with their responses to things taught in a lesson. Just when I'm at my wit's end and don't think I'm reaching them, I hear a small voice say EXACTLY what I wanted to hear. Just yesterday, I said, "It was just like I planted you in the class." I had to then explain what I meant by "planting someone in the class."

All in all, the experience has been great. School has been in session for one month so far. It's hard to believe that in another month, I will be saying that I only have one month to go. Where does the time go?