Starting tomorrow I have to hand the reigns over to my student teacher (ST). She's completely capable...no worries there. Part of me relishes the easy time I'll have at work for the next couple of weeks, but another part of me really wants to experience this time of year.
Spring in First Grade is the best. The students finally, finally! get it. They can do so much now that they seemed incapable of doing in the fall. Every year it astonishes me to see kids who could barely scrawl out a simple sentence in the fall legibly write 4-8 sentences on a topic. With ease.
They can sit still, read a book, sign in to Accelerated Reader (if you only knew the stress of that), problem solve, and add and subtract. They know the rules, and, for the most part, follow them. I don't have to use the eyes in the back of my head so often anymore, and they listen to reason.
While planning with my ST, I suggested an Easter egg project for art, but now I want to do it! She taught them the money unit and experienced the frustration and confusion that comes with trying to figure out why they didn't get the fact that one can make a value (say, 15 cents) in several different ways. Then she got to experience the feeling of success after reteaching that concept.
She once sent me a text that said, "First grade is exhausting!" Don't I know it, sista! She took over when I got sick (see Germ Factories) and pretty much kept it up since I came back. I'm glad, because now her solo 2 weeks won't seem so daunting.
I'm torn between being grateful that I get a little break and having a chance to get caught up on paperwork and little odds and ends that never seem to get done, feeling guilty that I have this time, and wanting to be a fly on the wall when she has those little guys all to herself. I'm stressing...will she remember to update the behavior chart? pass out nickels? fill out daily reports (behavior contracts for a small few), put things away? run off needed materials? etc, etc...of course she will. She will learn by doing, and not doing. That's how I learned.
So...for the next few weeks, I get to create my own work. Organize my file cabinets, clean out cupboards, find all my "lost" manipulatives that I know I have somewhere, update cumulative folders.... I don't have to be the exhausted one for a little while. I get to have energy at the end of the day. Yippee?
Don't feel guilty. You've earned this time to set your "house" in order! And since your ST has learned by observing such a great first great teacher, she will do a terrific job. But your kiddos will be so glad when they have you back at the helm.
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