First Week in First Grade

Today marks the ending of the first week of my field experience this semester. I’m in a first grade classroom and ABSOLUTELY love it! In the past semesters during my field observation, I paid close attention to the way my cooperating teachers managed their classroom and I was able to pick up on a lot of great strategies that I can one day use in my own classroom. One thing I was really looking forward to this semester was seeing how my cooperating teacher differentiated her instruction to meet the needs of her students. With only being in the classroom for five full school days, I was able to see the amount of care, trust, and love she has for each of her students. The way she interacted with each student was amazing. She was very stern and firm with her students, but they all knew it was because she loved them all so much. I believe one of the major key concepts in beginning to differentiate in your classroom is knowing your students and caring for them on an individual basis. My goal in my future classroom is to do just this! I want to know each of my students. I want to know their goals, interests, likes, dislikes, and what they’re feeling. I’m going to make an everyday effort to talk with my students and ensure they know the amount of love I have for them.