Today was my first day of student teaching at the elementary school. It was a much more proper first day because I had never attended this school, unlike my first placement, so I got to experience the uncertainty and bewilderment that most of my fellow student teachers did with their first placement.
Overall, I am surprised to report that it went pretty well. I didn’t expect it to be a bad deal or anything, I just wasn’t looking forward to it the way I was my high school experience. I have always been really uncomfortable around little kids, maybe because I was kind of the baby of my family (I could explain the kind of part, but trust me, it is a little complex for 5:00 on a Monday). Plus, I did not have any real great art experiences of my own from elementary school to draw upon and comfort me. The only thing I can actually remember is being yelled at for not coloring my Santa and his reindeer scene neatly. Bad flashbacks aside, I was relieved to have a good time today.
I am placed at a rural elementary school, which is a change from my first placement. And…bonus! All the kids are shorter than me (so far anyway). I’ll admit there are a couple who are giving me a run for my money in the height department, but it is an astonishing change from the high school age crowd. Though I don’t get to talk incessantly about photography, I can do the art that these kids are doing. I am not a master painter or illustrator, but I can take the kindergarteners in this area any day (little boost for the old self esteem, eh?). Plus, the kids are much more accepting. I got three hugs today, and all of the kids were willing to talk to me and show me their work. It makes me wonder what happens to these kids by the time they get to high school to make them so selfconscious and reluctant to ask for help. I am sure it is a symptom of their developmental stage, but it was nice to not have to pry the work out of the kids’ hands to see what was going on.
One area that has not changed is the pace of the classes. Even though I am at the elementary level, I am a specials teacher so there is a constant stream of classes in and out of the room. We saw six classes, one from each grade level, for fifty minute chunks with five minutes of prep time in between. Insanity. The funny thing was I was startled each time my cooperating teacher just started the class without waiting for the bell…until I remembered that there are no bells in elementary school, between classes anyway. You don’t have to take attendance each time either…weird! It strikes me as odd that the administrative differences feel so strange to me. Apparently it doesn’t take long to settle into a routine and grow accustomed to certain procedures. I will keep meeting new kids until Friday, when I will have the same kids that I met today again. It makes me happy that these kids get art each week, sometime twice. I don’t remember that being the schedule when I was in school.
So for now, I am exhausted at the end of my first day, and much more hopeful about the remainder of my seven weeks.