Trial Run

9/10/10

The PE teacher was out unexpectedly today, so the students were given an extra 1/2 hour of recess. Because PE is prep period for the teachers, I was asked to stay out (along with the other aids) to oversee recess. This was kind of a bummer - though it was a nice day out, I would have loved to sit in on the planning process for the remainder of the day.

Finally back inside, the 5th graders were given the chance to go through a trial run of switching classes. They had an all-grade meeting to go over the logistics, and then were sent back to their classes to give it a go. The students did an awesome job and were so respectful while in the hallways - no talking and were nothing but business. This is the first year in which they get to switch teachers for classes, so I think they're super psyched to start! I remember when I started switching classes in 6th grade, I thought I was a big deal!

At the end of the day, I began to read from the book "The Night of the Twisters" by Ivy Ruckman. The book is told by a boy who is about the same age as the students (10), who is about to go through the worst night of his life (a night filled with many tornados). My CT likes Read Aloud time to be "chill" time for the students. They can lay down on the floor/rug, put their head down, and just relax. A luck few are drawn from the "luck of the draw" canister, which has poker chips with each students name in it, to be given the chance to sit in a coveted seat: the queen's chair (a high life-guard style chair), and an array of beanbag chairs. The only rules are: no talking, no drawing, just listen and enjoy the story. I loved reading to them, and I got some great non verbal responses (laughing, gasps, etc.) that let me know that they loved it as well.

One small note: today is the day before the 9th anniversary of September 11th. I asked my CT if she was going to say anything about 9/11 being tomorrow. She said that because they were only 10 and were too young to remember, she wasn't going to bring it up unless one of the students mentioned something. Having lived in NYC during the attacks, I was disheartened to hear this decision. I feel that it's important to inform children about important days in history to the level they the need hearing. I didn't expect for her to show video of the Twin Towers, but I was hoping that we could talk about how it was a sad day for the country - especially in light of the Islamic Center debate and Koran burning threat that have been in the news so much lately. I feel like students may have questions, and it would be good to give them answers. I offered to field any questions that may have come up, but my CT said that she was nervous that with my experience, students may get a bit emotional. They may have, but I feel like that would have been okay - many people (including myself) get emotional around this day. It's good for students to know that adults and children can be sad about things that happen.