The 25%

I have probably learned more in the past week than I will all summer long.  Trying my hand at teaching 4th grade has been quite the experience.  I will say, though, that I am definitely getting attached to some of them.  Because there are 2 middle schools, and each middle school has 2 teams of students, I have a 25% chance of having some of the kids again, assuming they don't move out of the district.  There are a few that I'm rooting for!  On the flipside, there are a few of them that I'd prefer landed in the opposite 75% ;).

One thing that I enjoy about 4th grade is that they are still VERY eager to please.  With my 6th graders, there are kids who are absolutely fine with sitting for an entire hour (every day) with their arms crossed and heads down.  No amount of praise or encouragement will make a difference.  Fourth graders, on the other hand, thrive on praise.  I've allowed them to work in groups, and I've noticed that if I praise one group for an EXCELLENT job in a certain area, the others hear that praise and try their very hardest to earn the same compliment.  Even the trouble makers- they still have some amount of pride in their work.  I like that!  I suppose somewhere in the journey from 10-12, kiddos change a bit!

One thing that I need to work on is training myself to only answer students who follow the procedures.  I tell them that they need to raise their hands and wait to be called on, but more often than not, if Mr. Blurts-a-lot yells the correct answer across the room, I will accept the answer, leaving Procedure Patty with her hand in the air, unable to answer.  It's so much easier to go with the blurted right answer, rather the right behavior...but I'm realizing it's not sending the right message and making class more chaotic.

On Thursday, a few of the kiddos really warmed my heart.  I know for a fact that I am not nearly as good with them as their actual 4th grade teachers (One of them was the district teacher of the year.  No big deal, right??!), but they do seem to like me.  One kiddo has brought me a Hershey's kiss for the past 2 days, and today, several from my 5th section made it clear that THIS was their favorite class out of alllllll of summer school.  Not bad for my first week, am I right? :)

Hopefully the kids do some funny stuff that I can write about.  It's about time that they made me laugh...!

-Mrs. Combs