Week 6

I began my first week with the new student teacher in my first grade classroom. I was initially worried that the students would like her more than me and I'd be sitting in the corner doing nothing all day, but I got two hugs from the little guys that day and I felt a little better. Mrs. B asked the students what was new in the classroom on the student teacher's first day. It took them a couple of minutes, but after finding a new shelf and poster, the students finally settled on the student teacher. When Mrs. B asked if anyone remembered her name, they all either shook their heads or guessed Miss Genna.

The first graders started working on a guided paragraph this week. The topic was butterflies, and the end goal was to have a completed packet in which they brainstormed, wrote a rough draft, edited their rough draft, and wrote a final draft. Needless to say, Mrs. B had a tough time with that project. The students were very interested in the butterflies, but not so much in the writing part. One student, whom I will refer to as C, kept insisting that he was on fire whenever Mrs. B went too fast for him. He often gets easily frustrated and yells at the other students. One day, as he was growling at his paper, he looked up and yelled, "Why is everybody staring at me?" One of the other teachers in the room, Ms. R, said it was because we thought he was cute in an attempt to cheer him up. Instead, he crawled under the desk screaming "I am NOT cute! I'm not cute!"

However, after a calmer couple of days, I saw another student whom I will refer to as J, ask Mrs. B why C yells at everybody all the time. Mrs. B prompted J to ask C that question directly, so J leaned across his desk and whispered, "C, why do you yell at us so much?" I was expecting C to yell back in frustration, but his answer was a lot more honest and mature than even something I'd expect from an adult. One thing I admire about C is that he never hides what he feels. C responded, "It's because it can just be so hard for me to concentrate" and my heart melted a little. The class was quieter for C for the rest of the day.

Since the student teacher was doing the large majority of what I had been doing for Mrs. B before, I was sent upstairs to Mrs. H's classroom for a third grade class. I still got to participate in my first grade writing class, but for the rest of the day, I now deal with third through eighth graders. It's been a big jump. While the first graders blatantly show belligerence just because they don't want to do their work, many of the sixth graders seem to enjoy giving teachers a hard time. One sixth grade student, after being yelled at for talking during a test, raised his hand and said, "Mrs. H, I hope you don't take this personal, but why you gotta be such a hater?" Sixth grade, so far, seems to be the most difficult group.

Furthermore, my senior project filming and research outside of my internship has been difficult as well. One of the Catholic schools at which I had requested to research replied, saying they currently had too much on their plate to accommodate me. However, part of me suspects they were wary about my research because I may not portray their practice of teaching Creationism in the best light. But besides that, I have made connections with students in different types and sizes of schools across the valley. I am confident I can get the results that I need from friends and coworkers in public, private, and online school, and I'm excited to see where their interviews lead me.