Beautiful

Why did I choose "Beautiful" as a title you ask? Well, it is because that is the first word that comes to mind when I think of today.  Reason being, the students had to write sentences using certain words today.  One of those words was "Beautiful".  One student (my new favorite!) wrote the sentence "Miss Trundle is very beautiful".  My heart melted!  That isn't the only reason this word struck me today, though.  There were many students who wrote "My mom is beautiful" or they would name their friends in class, one girl even wrote "I am beautiful".  However, one that was very bothersome to me was a girl who wrote, "I'm not beautiful".  Of course, I think every child in my classroom is beautiful because I've grown to know and care for all of them.  This little girl is a gorgeous blue-eyed blonde, and it really scares me that at 7 years old she is writing something like that.  I know it could've been meaningless, but I'm afraid to ignore it in case it is a cry for help.  When I corrected her paper, I wrote "Yes, you are!" next to her sentence, but I am going to start paying much closer attention to what she says and writes. 

On another note, I was not in the classroom for the first 2 hours of the day today because we had a 2nd grade data meeting.  This meeting was to discuss the reading/writing levels of our students, and to place them in groups with other students who are at roughly the same level.  They call this RTI, or "Response to Intervention".  So, those students who are lower level get help in the area(s) they need, and the children in the higher levels continue to work on comprehension and fluency.  There are a few children in 2nd grade who are high level, but have behavior issues.  They are all in the same group, and with them are a few students who are always well behaved to serve as role models almost.  None of the teachers wanted to take that group (we have RTI for a half hour each morning).  I'm not talking small behavior issues; one student has had almost 20 referrals and a couple suspensions already this year.  So, I volunteered to take that group today.  I sort of got a look from some people who were wondering if I was crazy, so in response I just said "I need the experience and a true challenge".  So, I'm hoping that I can work with them and "wow" some people ;)  I'll be working with them until I'm done student teaching!  I'm actually looking forward to it.

When Mrs. Miller and I returned from the meeting, it became clear to me that the students are finally starting to realize that I am their teacher right now.  I had at least 6 students jump up and greet me with hugs, saying "We're so glad you're back! Our sub didn't know how to do anything".  Being a sub myself, I made sure to leave her a very detailed note and I'm sure she did what she could, but children are creatures of habit.  If you throw one little thing off balance, it drives them crazy.  What made me smile is that they came to me with their concerns, and not Mrs. Miller.  It felt great!