October 11 was day one of an experience I will never forget. I entered Ms. Smuck's first grade class early before class even began to prepare. I was one ball of nerves. As the kids started piling in, I was by the back table sorting through worksheets for the day. Some of the students were asking Ms. Smuck if I was a new student. I thought they were so funny and I was stoked to get to know them.
In the class we have one paraprofessional, Ms. Rodrigo, for Audria. There are a total of twenty students and each and every one of them are so precious and so bright.
Class began with some traditional D.O.Is and morning carpet time. I had been warned about one of the students that seemed to never sit still. Alex, I was told, was a daily struggle. Ms. Smuck warned me that I would probably be spending most of my time with him.
She was not kidding.
Alex takes energy. He's currently on the token system. He can earn up to six tokens (each with a Star Wars character on it.) If he does, he gets five minutes of running time in the gym. Why? Because he's a endless fire ball of energy. However, I quickly learned to manage. Before I needed to take away tokens I managed to get him to behave just by "sandwiching" him. You're probably wondering what in the world that is. Well, I asked him to give me a high five but instead of giving me one he took his two hands and sandwiched my hands between his. Thus a tradition was made. Before I knew it, I became a reward to Alex. Whenever he sat in chair when asked, put away his folder, or carried scissors safely from on destination to the other he recieved a "sandwich."
Not only did I immediately connect with Alex but the rest of the class enjoyed my company. On that first day the class made captain hats in honor of Columbus Day. It was so fun getting to go around and compliment the students on their great work and wear our hats together.
I quickly learned that teaching first graders wasn't just playing games and making cute little crafts. I started grading and filing papers. I started helping out with assessments and printing worksheets. All the behind the scenes work that gets done while the students are away. I've given spelling tests and read books to the kids.
The more time I spent with Aiden the more I noticed small things about him. He always went straight to the back of the line. He never answered questions even when he knew them. If he did choose to answer he would shout out the answers. I figured it was confidence thing so I began encouraging to branch out and try something new. I challenge him to stand in the middle of the line. I challenge him to raise his hand. I challenge him to stay in his seat and pay attention.
One time, the kids were constructing lists and Alex wanted to make a list of Star Wars characters. When it comes to projects where the kids can just talk and work it seems impossible to keep Alex on task. So I challenged him.
"I bet you can't finish that before the big hand is on the six." I challenged him.
"Yea I can!" Alex whined.
"I don't know. You're going to have to prove me wrong." I responded. It worked.
Well, partially.
He stayed on task for about five minutes until loosing focus and sparking a conversation with the boy behind him, Lazzaro.
Lazzaro is a trip. He's so bright and catches on so fast to everything he learns, but his attention grabbing personality tends to disrupt the class. His voice is loud and booming and he always has something to say. He's so smart and I'm still trying to figure out how I can help him channel that energy into staying on task and keeping quiet. I've tried a few positive reinforces and they help for a bit, but he needs a permanent reminder that he is smart and bright and fully capable of excelling and that displaying that kind behavior will get him the attention he craves.
I've learned so much yet, there's so much left to learn. I'm so excited to see what lies ahead in Ms. Smucks class. She has been such a great mentor and I've loved every moment with her and Ms. Rodrigo.
The shoe definitely fits.
