First Day Jitters

After weeks of anticipation, my first two observation days at Ray Lewis School have come to an end. I have the wonderful privilege of being placed in a grade one, two split classroom for my first placement experience as a student teacher. I have immense feelings of excitement and I am confident that my students and I will work together; we will learn new areas of knowledge and enrich our days with work and play.

Although I was only in the school for two days I definitely experienced and gained greater knowledge about the school environment, the classroom and routines, as well as classroom management.  Each morning after the announcements, and the singing of O’Canada, the children scramble onto the carpet and sit patiently, waiting for their day to begin.  Each day a special student helper leads the morning routine. This student models the role of the teacher, and begins by having the children review the calendar, in which they determine what day of the week it is. The children also discuss the weather for the day, and they add a number to their number chart each day. I was amazed to see that the special helper and the children automatically knew what to do after the announcements without the direction of the teacher. This just emphasizes the importance of implementing routines into the classroom. The children felt secure with the morning routine, and they knew exactly what was expected of them.  I believe having an efficient routine in place creates a productive classroom environment allowing the students to achieve more.

I also got to see the Smart board being used in the classroom. This was very exciting and intriguing. The children were learning about compound words. They played a fun game of compound word concentration in which each student had a chance to come to the board and pick a tile. After the game was finished, the children were allowed to write their names on the board in whatever creative writing style of choice. It was wonderful to see such a simple task of writing your name evolve into something so engaging.

The teacher has also implemented a token economy into her classroom. A token economy is a positive reinforcement program for building and maintaining appropriate classrooms performance and behavior. The students are rewarded with a sticker for various good work, and for good deeds, such as playing with someone who is alone, sharing, and helping one another. The children’s stickers are placed onto a chart, and when they reach twenty-five stickers they receive a small reward. I have seen the token economy in various classrooms and I definitely feel it is one of the most powerful tools for improving and maintaining appropriate school behaviour.

All in all, my first two days at Ray Lewis School were great. My associate teacher is extremely supportive and willing to assist and guide me through this new journey. She welcomed me into her classroom and I already feel at ease and comfortable.  Working with the children and being a part of the classroom confirmed my passion for wanting to teach and educate children’s young minds.