Month One complete =)

Okay, so everyone said that student teaching would fly by, but I never thought it would go by quite this fast.  I mean, it feels like I just started but I have already completed 4 weeks!  So lets see, the last time I updated was wednesday.  The end of last week was pretty uneventful; Friday was a half day so all we did was read, take spelling tests, and watch a movie.  After the students left, Mrs. Miller and I spent the rest of the day organizing the room and decorating for Valentine's Day.  The room looks really cute, and I'm going to do a few projects with the students this week to make it look even better! 

Today was a great day.  Mrs. Miller wasn't there because she is still sick, and by law there has to be a substitute.  So, even though I am teaching all day and have complete control, she still has to have a sub sit in the room and basically do nothing.  She was good company, a fellow UM-Flint student who was very curious about the student teaching process. 

I had a great conversation with the building principal today about Math.  He is taking a math course at a University right now, and he has a lot of the same views about math as I have.  He encouraged me to implement the techniques I learned in the classroom, and even suggested making math a half hour longer each day to leave time for these activities.  I hope to lengthen the time slot at least 2 or 3 times a week.  I feel very lucky to be working in a school with such a great principal.  He is very involved and cares a lot about the students, and I can tell that he wants me to attempt new ways of doing things instead of just doing exactly what I see the other teacher doing.  He said to me today, "we don't ask for student teachers just so they can learn from the teacher; the teacher can learn a lot from you, too".  It was great to hear!  I'm very comfortable and happy there.

I have a student in my class who is very intelligent.  He is slightly immature as far as behavior; he is out of his seat a lot and talking when he shouldn't, but the things he says are sometimes amazing.  For example, today we were reading a Time for Kids magazine that highlighted major events of 2010.  One of those events was the trapped miners in Chile.  I asked my students if they knew what/where Chile was, and most of them didn't even know it was a country.  Noah raised his hand, and said: "It's in South America.  That's directly below us.  It's by other countries like Brazil".  I was amazed!  He has so much knowledge.  I just know he'll go far in life.

The upcoming "snow storm" is all people are talking about around the school.  I personally wouldn't mind a snowday on Wednesday, it is my birthday afterall.  A day to sleep in would be fabulous! =)