Teacher Talk Tuesday
I know, I know... it's late, again! ahhh, apologies my readers
Oh the week following spring break... in first grade this was a magical time really. The kids returned a bit taller, they understand and thrive on routine, and they understand you when you sit them down and put the fear of god into their minds by telling them they will soon be big second graders. The work hard, they feel proud of their accomplishments, and you can almost steal five whole minutes to work at your desk while the kids are completing their work.
The week following spring break in fifth grade is a completely different story. The sheer noise level in my classroom during the first 10 minutes of class on Monday was crazy, they were buzzing with stories of what they did, where they went, who they saw, how the got to where they went, how bored they were if they didn't go anywhere, etc, etc, etc. They were in flip flops and shorts and some of the girls were sporting their spaghetti strap tank tops and it was about 9:06 when it hit me... I'm now in charge of 28 budding middle schoolers. ugh
I caught wise quickly and started the day like this, "Welcome back from spring break. I understand you're very excited to see your friends and beginning our math lesson today is one of the last things you really want to do at the moment. I will give you the next 10 minutes to chat, hangout, do whatever you'd like within reason if you will give me your undivided attention after." They agreed and we went about our day but, by the end of the day, my ears were ringing and I was exhausted!
I couldn't help but remember two little friends from my first grade class last year who, while discussing spring break, also revealed some startling insight into their concept of time:
Boy 1: "What is everyone talking about?"
Boy 2: "What they did over break."
B1: "Oh, you mean the time when we went away from school for like, one whole month."
B2: "I don't know, don't we come to school everyday?"
Happy spring everyone!
Oh the week following spring break... in first grade this was a magical time really. The kids returned a bit taller, they understand and thrive on routine, and they understand you when you sit them down and put the fear of god into their minds by telling them they will soon be big second graders. The work hard, they feel proud of their accomplishments, and you can almost steal five whole minutes to work at your desk while the kids are completing their work.
The week following spring break in fifth grade is a completely different story. The sheer noise level in my classroom during the first 10 minutes of class on Monday was crazy, they were buzzing with stories of what they did, where they went, who they saw, how the got to where they went, how bored they were if they didn't go anywhere, etc, etc, etc. They were in flip flops and shorts and some of the girls were sporting their spaghetti strap tank tops and it was about 9:06 when it hit me... I'm now in charge of 28 budding middle schoolers. ugh
I caught wise quickly and started the day like this, "Welcome back from spring break. I understand you're very excited to see your friends and beginning our math lesson today is one of the last things you really want to do at the moment. I will give you the next 10 minutes to chat, hangout, do whatever you'd like within reason if you will give me your undivided attention after." They agreed and we went about our day but, by the end of the day, my ears were ringing and I was exhausted!
I couldn't help but remember two little friends from my first grade class last year who, while discussing spring break, also revealed some startling insight into their concept of time:
Boy 1: "What is everyone talking about?"
Boy 2: "What they did over break."
B1: "Oh, you mean the time when we went away from school for like, one whole month."
B2: "I don't know, don't we come to school everyday?"
Happy spring everyone!
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