The Broken Record

This was my first week in the classroom to present the Life Skills curriculum.  Granted, I didn't think we would get started this week b/c I was still in the process of scheduling several schools before we broke for the long Labor Day weekend.  But, those schools are now scheduled so I'm off and running!

This past week I was with just the 6th grade classes--our district has 10 elementary schools and about 18 sixth grade classes.  Come the first of October, I will add the 8th graders to my schedule...but luckily I'll only do 1 eighth grade team this semester and the other 3 teams will be in the Spring.  I haven't done a count to know how many students I have, but I know there's more than we accounted for as I ran out of books within the first two days!

They always say, that when you teach someone, they teach you new things as well.  What have I learned so far?

1.  The kids are completely fascinated with my earrings...and I haven't even worn anything fun/bold yet!

2.  They think I'm tall...if only they could see Justin!

3.  They have NO problem testing boundaries when the teacher steps out for a minute, but they also redirect very well :-)

4.   They seem very eager to learn

And I'm glad to see they're interested in Life Skills.  Really, I am.  This week we focused on Self Image and Self Improvement...by the end of Friday, I was a broken record.  We talked about everything from defining self-image to doing a reflection activity of who we are as a person, to things we want to change about ourselves to setting a goal that will be worked on for the next 15 school weeks.  Next week's topic is about decision making...and not just making GOOD decisions but HOW to make decisions.  To me, that is such a basic part of life but it's also very obvious that many younger children do not know how to make decisions...regardless of how simple or complex that decision is.  Some of them have had every waking minute of their life planned for them--while some have never experienced structure and just float through life as things fall apart around them. 

I'm sure that as the weeks pass, the students will teach me more and more each day.  I've also learned during the past week to wear comfortable shoes!  On Friday, I wore a pair of shoes that I wear all the time and I can walk anywhere in...but by the end of the day  my legs were throbbing, I was exhausted and even after a good night of rest & Tylenol, my legs still hurt all day Saturday.  Apparently the Life Skill necessary for me to learn is how to pick out better footwear!