First day of student teaching

WOW, today was so crazy. To begin with, my partner Shannon and I were both sweating before school even started, literally because it was so hot and probably because we were nervous. Since i had not slept well last night or the night before i was on a high dosage of caffeine so had no difficulty waking up or getting ready for the day. As the morning started we welcomed our little second graders into the classroom and met the parents. It was interesting to see how the first day goes with the kids' nerves and the scheduling. I found that it is helpful to let the children sit where they want because they feel more comfortable. There was some obviously shy kids, and others that were big talkers, i thoroughly enjoyed the presence of both. The day went very smoothly as we helped pass out papers, books, took the children on a tour, read a book with them and many other first day activities. I basically got all of their names down in the five hours since it was a short day, and i was pretty proud of that, however i am sure tomorrow when they come in a different outfit and move spots i will probably have to learn them all over again. I did have an interesting experience with my master teacher, she advised me to work on my own writing skills as i have poor penmanship. I completely agreed and actually found her tips very helpful, the concept I need to keep in mind is that if I am teaching how to write, i need to make sure all of my own lines are straight and letters are as easy as possible to read so that it is easier for my students to read my writing and learn from my example. I also learned today that there really is not time to teach Art, PE, Science, or Social Science in an improvement school which was disappointing, but at the same time I feel as though with three of us in the room we might be able to integrate and get more done. I feel as though integration of subject areas is a really tough task but a great challenge for incoming teachers to conquer, hopefully I will be able to work on this amazing fete.