Third Day

Today was “Wonderful Waggish” Wednesday. I arrived early at school and prepared the classroom and myself for the hours ahead.  I chose a quote from Plato, which was read at the morning announcements right after the pledge. Things were really starting to fall into place.  Today was scheduled to make observations of some students.  Unfortunately, these students had other tasks they needed to complete with their teachers, so we did not get the chance to observe them today.  Instead, we mainly focused on completing some, preparation work, so I did a group of intern-like jobs.  I delivered notes and papers back and forth from teachers, highlighted lines for a teachers’ skit, helped with an agenda for a teacher’s retirement party, made photocopies, typed some notes, organized a roster for classes next year, and went to the bank for a money exchange. While I did these little tasks, Mrs. Theroux talked to me about some of her students and told me a little more about herself and why she feels her job is so important. She emphasized how necessary it is to acknowledge the children at all times, even when you are having a bad day and are just not feeling well.  It is also important to always be a role model. If a teacher were to slip up and say a bad word in front of his or her student while speaking with another adult, the child might remember these words for later use. Sometimes it can be hard to stay in a role model character all day long, but this is one of the most important aspects of teaching to keep in mind.  Students look up to their elders and will repeat the phrases they learn from them.

After the preparation work was complete, we had one last fourth grade classroom to visit to talk about opinions. We did the exact same lesson with the same friendship tip and opinion poll exercise.  

Right after this class, our lunch groups started flooding into the guidance office. As always, the fourth grade came, then the third, the second, the first, and finally the fifth. Each group played a different game. The fourth grade chose “hangman,” but instead of being violent and hanging a person, we called it “hang flower,” and the students would draw a flower in place of the person. The third grade played “truth or dare.” This is an actual game with cards that asks the kids to be silly and not afraid to go out of their comfort zone a little bit.  Some of the dares would be “pretend to be a cow,” or “sing a patriotic song.”  The kids seemed to love this game. The second grade played with a magic 8 ball as they asked questions about their futures.  Mrs. Theroux told me about a student in the past who asked, “Will I be a high school hunk?”  The first grade played “truth or dare,” and finally the fifth grade came and wanted to play a game called “change.”  This is when one person leaves the room, changes something about their appearance, then comes back in the room for all the students to discover what is different.  Students would turn clothes inside out, or untie their shoe laces. When lunch was over, the three girls from yesterday, who were having a problem, came back. They were still having troubles, but it did not take Mrs. Theroux long to figure out how to solve this issue.  She told the girls that if they ever have similar problems they can always find an adult to help sort things out.  I could not help but hope that maybe someday they will come to me for advice.  After the three girls returned to their classes, I went over my goals with Mrs. Theroux and talked to her some more about what my senior project entails.  It seemed to me that so far everything is all in order.