Survived the First Week of Fifth Grade!!!

WOW- This has been one crazy week. I feel as though all together it went by really quick although each day in itself seemed longer than usual. Well I think I should start with saying how amazing the new school is that I am at- I absolutely LOVE IT!!!! The school spirit, resources, teachers, and students are phenomenal. There is something so refreshing about teachers who love what they do and talk about their activities with one another.

Now on to describing my class in particular... well it is a fifth grade, average ability level with an amazing teacher that taught at the GATE level for many years prior. There are 35 diverse fifth grade boys and girls who are growing and extremely active and social. Their mere size is a huge difference from my last assignment with second graders, and many of them are almost as tall as I am. The students at this level are very interesting because unlike the lower grades, these kids really want you to work and show them why they should listen to you. I am currently working on being very firm, not their friend but their mentor. I have no problem standing my ground with the rules but am working on really focusing on who is on task and how to keep the students' interest. With this large amount of students luckily there is three of us to differentiate and really focus in on the students' needs. This week has already been exponentially eye opening, and I think this class will be the biggest challenge that I have faced just due to the amount of students and the difficulty of the curriculum and classroom management. I am stepping forward, excited to learn and can't wait for these students, my master teacher, and the school itself to teach me HOW TO BE A BETTER TEACHER!