Week One

I'm almost at the end of week one. It has been rough but my cooperating is really nice and is so patient. The kids are great. Other teachers and staff at the school have extended good wishes and welcomes to me. At the end of the day they ask me how it is going.
My placement is a bit unique. It is a first grade class but is split between two teachers. One teacher does just the language arts and the other teacher does math and content. For my first four weeks I'm with the langauge arts teacher. I'll be with the other teacher the last four weeks. The students go to one teacher for homeroom then switch for lessons. After lunch they switch again. So not only do I have to remember over 40 names I also have to remember who is in which teacher's homeroom. I've already taken over one small part of the daily routine - a daily language review or DLR as she calls it. Although some activities are the same for both groups, the teacher might do something different with the afternoon group than she does with the morning group. There are various reasons for this: art, music, special events, and different levels within the two groups. I'm thinking I'm going to have to plan many different activities for each group.
It seems to be the little things that trip me up. For example, I couldn't figure out how to do a double-sided paper on the copier. I finally asked someone to show me and afterwards I felt a bit stupid. But I know now so bring on those copies!
I went to a private school growing up so everything is so new to me. I've had the classes and done the observations but it is a different story when you are supposed to do it yourself. I think the one main thing I have learned this week is how much I need to learn. So many details. Here, at the end of the first week, I'm starting to feel more comfortable in the classroom. I no longer feel as though everyone can hear my heart pounding when I do the DLR. I'm feeling pretty sure that next week will be better.