five insights

Well, Julie you set the bar so high with your catchy taglines, I hope I can keep up!  Here goes...

1.  Come with a plan, and plan to change it.  I have been constantly amazed over the last few months by the number of interruptions a classroom teacher must juggle.  A well planned day always makes me feel at ease (and I think the students as well) but I have also learned not to be too tied to the plan, because inevitably, it will have to change.

2.  Trust the students to lead the learning.  Some of the most interesting and successful lessons are the ones where I really relinquish control of the lesson to the students.  I allow their questions and curiosity to drive the lesson and ask more questions than I answer.  While it sometimes feels scary to put the control in the students' hands, I think this allows them agency over their own learning and gives them the opportunity to experience the joy of learning/discovering something new.  These always seem to be the lessons with the most "lightbulb" moments.

3.  Be energized by the kids.  In a classroom of 30 noisy fourth graders, it is easy to be overwhelmed and exhausted by the children.  I have learned that I can either feed off their energy and let it build mine up, or I can be annoyed by their energy and become exhausted trying to calm it down.  Obviously, the students' energy sometimes has to be channeled into an academic task, but the days where I can match their level are always the most successful and more enjoyable.

4.  Grading, record keeping and form filling out isn't always fun, but it is worth it.  I haven't had the best model of record keeping and grading in my mentor teacher, but when I took the initiative to grade the assessments and homework myself, I got a much better idea of where my students were meeting our learning goals and where more work was needed.  I hope in my future classroom, to take this a step further and build targeted small groups to address specific needs.

5.  To quote Diane, "if the teacher ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."  One thing I have learned from Diane is that it really is important to take care of yourself, and keep the duty free lunch holy.  You have to give yourself time to relax or you won't make it through the long haul.  Taking care of yourself really does make you a better teacher, because it means you are ready to give the kids the time and energy they need.