Today was so bittersweet. It was my last day of student teaching. It was such a fun day. The kids had their spelling bee and they had extra recess after school so me and another teacher ran around with them and played tag. All of the kids made me uber sweet cards, my mentor teacher got me a really nice gift and I learned so much from her throughout my whole internship, and I found out…*drumroll* that I have a job for the spring semester! It’s a long term substituting job but I couldn’t be more excited. It’s going to be for a second grade classroom, which scared me a little at first since I only have experience with 4th graders. But the more I think about the more excited I get. The only things that may have an effect on this job are my certification tests. I take my PPR on Wednesday and my ESL certification the week after. I HAVE to pass these tests. Luckily I have been studying for several weeks. I plan on cramming this weekend as well.
I finally feel as if things are falling into place. The end of 2013 to the end of July kind of sucked, but I feel like I finally have a plan and I can see the end of the tunnel. It will feel nice to get started on my career and to get some experience under my belt. I was really lucky today because one of our 4th grade team members taught 2nd grade for 8 years and had a TON (and I mean a TON) of 2nd grade teaching materials she no longer needed so she gave them to me! My car is loaded down with TE’s, books, book sets, fabric, flash cards, and all kinds of 2nd grade teacher necessities!
I found this job because the school needed to add another 2nd grade teacher to the team due to the influx of students coming in. So I have about 3 1/2 to get my future classroom together. Thankfully, my mom is going to take off a day that week and help me get my classroom set up. I hope all of my students and their parents transition well, having a new teacher midway through the year. I know it would make me a little uncomfortable to know that my child was going to have to adjust and learn to trust a new teacher. I want them to be comfortable with me and know that I am there for their child! I just want everything to go well! And hopefully if there is this many students in their 1st grade then they will keep me for the next year!
If anyone has any tips or advice on running or setting up a 2nd grade classroom I would love to hear it!
Desabelle 