Well, it's been quite some time since I last updated... so here are some fun things.
1) I FINISHED THE FIRST 9 WEEKS!!!! WOOO HOOO! Most of my kids did well, and parent conferences were so good! I actually really enjoyed getting to know parents better and getting to talk with them without their student around. One thing I love about RAPS is that this was NOT the first time I had met any of the parents because of other things we have offered and required.
2) My kids are still hilarious and still a challenge. We are learning how to control our arms and legs.... one day we had a conversation about sportsmanship after one student pulled another down by their shirt collar.... immediately I was reminded of one of my favorite commercials of all time where Peyton, Cooper and Eli Manning are playing football in the backyard as young boys and Peyton gets drug down by his shirt collar. He shouts, "You can't grab by the neck! That's not fair!" So, we talked about why men in the NFL don't pull each other down by their collars. We've also learned that it's never ok to punch a classmate... or be sarcastic or sassy... or just downright disrespectful.
Obviously, those are the challenging things. All of my kids have their sweet, hilarious moments. For example, one sweet, innocent child was tardy to school one morning. He'd never been tardy before-- he walked into my room and handed me his tardy slip...... and with a sad, hurt look on his face, he said, "Miss Koontz, why'd they call me tardy?"... I'm pretty sure he thought "tardy" was slang for "retarded" lol. It was pretty cute.
3) I've found some great mentorship/friendship in the mom of 2 of my friends, Jamin and Kristen Daly. I lead lifegroup with Kristen my Junior and Senior year of college, and led lifegroup with Jamin the second semester of my Senior year and all of this year so far. Their mom, Kathy, was a 3rd grade teacher for many years in New Mexico and I heard legendary stories about her for years. I've had the privilege of meeting her many times in college, but since she's retired and I've become a teacher, she's been so kind to offer me her wisdom via facebook and visits to Waco to see Jamin. I am really so, so thankful for her! And another tidbit about Kathy-- she was here visiting Jamin for Parents Weekend at Baylor-- which was conveniently the weekend my dad announced he was divorcing my mom. Church that Sunday was so hard to not cry through, and I sat next to Kathy. I cried a lot, and she put her arm around me and I felt so comforted. :-) It's the little things, ya know. ;-)
4) I still hate grading homework--- I don't know why... it's just so tedious. It's funny though, 2 of my friends have offered, excitedly, to do it for me. Watch out Laura and Jeff--- someday I might take you up on it!
5) Reading is the content area that I could use more assistance in. On average, on each reading test, about 35% of my kids fail... at least 15% of those would pass if they would follow instructions and write complete sentences. The others are really struggling with vocabulary, comprehension and writing complete sentences. Luckily, we have 2 awesome reading specialists who help out some of these wonderful kiddos. And if anyone from Baylor is reading this, please don't be offended. I do not feel ill-equipped to teach them-- somehow many of these punkins are passing for the quarter... and if I factor in the other 2nd grade class, we probably have 35-40% of our grade struggling on the tests... and some grades above ours have ditched the tests from the curriculum and made their own because the tests are just so obscure. This is the first year for this curriculum, so nobody really has a huge bag of tricks in this department. But my bag of tricks is definitely the least full at this point.
That's all I really have energy for-- so I hope whoever reads this enjoys this little insight into the life of a first year teacher.
