My first week as a full-time teacher

Last week marked the beginning of my full-time student teaching. I anxiously spent a full day preparing for my first week to make sure everything was ready to go. I was most nervous of running out of activities and standing in front of the classroom with a blank expression. Since I didn't want that to happen, I filled my lesson plans with a multitude of extra activities.

As I have mentioned before, my research is about teaching diversity in an early childhood setting. My goal is for my preschool students to become informed and more well-rounded with a grasp on the world as a whole. At the beginning of my study, my students couldn't even point out the difference in skin color among people, which is why I chose this research topic in the first place.

I am focusing specifically on two countries, Mexico and China, and how they compare to our life here in the United States. We have previously done a West Virginia unit so the students have something to compare to. On my first week of teaching I taught about the environment of different countries. I wanted to teach about types of trees found in Mexico and China since we just completed a tree study and the units have to tie together. In my center, I showed the students a globe and explained the North pole, South pole, and Equator. I showed them where we were in comparison to the poles and equator and asked them to about the weather and our seasons. I then showed them China and Mexico and asked them to predict what the weather is like there using the poles and equator. The students responded really well to the globe and were able to document their learning by illustrating "winter in America" to 'winter in Mexico."

I took the students on virtual tours of China and Mexico using a smartboard. I made a webquest of China and an interactive power point of Mexico. The students loved these and learned many things about the countries including a few words in Chinese and Spanish, clothing, food, and traditions.

Overall, I feel like my first week went really well and I am excited to continue my research!

Over the past month and a half...

So, I was having technical difficulty locating my blog after MIX switched over to Gmail, but the good news is that I finally found it.

I have not yet started my six-week research period, but I have fallen into a great routine with my host teacher. I lead circle time almost every day which includes calendar, weather, read alouds, and finger plays that correlate with songs. Depending on the current unit, we do a corresponding activity. For instance, right now we are working on a tree unit. Every day we focus on a new question: What are the parts of trees? Who lives in trees? What can you make out of trees? Who takes care of trees?

After circle time I teach a center with about 6 students. We group our students according to ability level. The centers last for about 15 to 20 minutes before the students are alloted a half hour for free play.

I have learned to appreciate my host teacher and teacher's aid. They are so welcoming to me and genuinely treat me like a colleague. Listening to other interns' stories about their horrific experiences in their PDSs make me feel extremely happy to be where I'm at! My host teacher and teacher's aid have wonderful ideas that help me when I need assistance for a center idea or something of the sort. They also always take my ideas with an open mind.

The semester is sailing smoothly thus far, and I am looking forward to beginning my research next week!