Thoughts on 4th Grade

A new school year has begun!

This year I'm teaching 4th grade at Erpenbeck Elementary in Florence, KY. I have 20 wonderful kids who are learning how to think at a deeper level. I think part of their hesitation is just them not wanting to think. Or maybe they are still sleeping from summer break. Or maybe they are just not used to me yet. But it won't take long I'm sure. I'm already seeing them being more open with me and smiling more than last week.

I must say that I honestly love my job! I love how I get to influence lives. I love how each kid is so different, proving more of God's amazing creativity. I love how I'm being challenged to figure out what I believe is important in education. I love how I'm having to discover how much boldness is "safe" and what I must keep to myself until I get more comfortable with my surroundings.

My schedule this year is jam-packed. School begins at 8:40 and before I blink my eyes it's time for lunch at 11:20. The day is somewhat choppy, but I feel like the curriculum is so driven that I'm accomplishing so much. Time is never wasted with this year's arrangement of activities!

I'm starting to get to know some of my colleagues, which is making our new home feel more comfortable. I think over all I'm a one-on-one type of person so I might tend to come on a little stuck-up to begin with. But now that I'm getting a little more used to faces I find myself losing some of my hard outer shell. I'm trying to go out of my way to meet people and it seems to be helping. I'm also trying to deliberately not be too focused as this can also be one of my downfalls in making relationships. I also tend to be too self-conscious, causing me to be more stand-offish, as I'm overanalyzing anything and everything someone might think negative about me.

The parent support this year is fantastic! Parents really seem to care about what their kids do in class. They talk to me with questions and look to me for advice. I've always seen this type of support, it's just with 99% of my kids instead of your average 50%.

I had my first parent conference today. It was nice to get to talk to this parent about his kid and the ways I am working to individualize instruction as much as possible in my room. I accidentally got on my soap box about differentiation with him (Oops!), but he seemed to appreciate it.

Overall I must say that this "4th Grade Experience" beats my last 4th grade sentence by far. Does it compare to the last two years of teaching 3rd grade? It's too soon to tell quite yet. I do miss all my Texas teaching friends.

Basically it all boils down to this:
I love my job!
I'm really enjoying my kids!
I can't wait to see what this year holds...