Post 1- First Day
Stephen de Jesus Frias on Nov 7th 2009
The first day…ahhhhhhh. Well now that I got that out… the first day was interesting, to say the least. When I first met my kids I was very nervous. I mean my arms were practically shaking! It was a mix of excitement and I guess fear even. They were really great though, and they seemed to like me (I hope!). We spoke amongst ourselves at first, got to know each other little better and pretty much put down that first foundation so to speak. I asked them about their interests and had them decorate their folders as I took some notes, jotting down some details for each child. They apparently knew each other already; they were in the same classes before, and they worked well together. Not only were they well behaved, but they knew when it was time to settle down and get work done. They even helped one another at times. As I went over the words with one child, the other did his folder, patiently waiting for his turn.
I tried to go over the list of words with the two boys, but I could tell how much work they needed. The longer list of words proved to be much harder than the first and it was apparent in the way both boys struggled. They both need a lot of help but they seem very dedicated and willing to work on it. I am very excited for next week where I will have a reading prepared for them and I am hoping that we can knock out some more words together.
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3 Responses to “Post 1- First Day”
Sounds like a great first day! Is there a way to engage the student who is not actively working as well? Just listening attentively can be a very good way to reinforce the material; rather than patiently waiting, can the other student be continuing to participate in some way?
Their willingness is your key to success! But don’t worry about being liked — that’s not what teaching is about, and you’ll do well to remember that you are the adult, responsible for their learning.
Keep up the good work!
Don’t worry no one saw you shaking 🙂
I agree..the longer list is too hard for them :\ Hopefully by the time we’re done with them they’ll know most of the words
I experienced the same problem with the longer list. I plan to review the shorter list with them every week and incorporate the words on the longer list gradually into their vocabulary. I’ve noticed that if I use only the longer list with my students, we spend too much time and we are not able to do other exercises.