Mini-Teachers

We tried something new with our extended day group (about 7 kiddos today). We coined them as "mini-teachers" and worked with them to make them experts of a topic they'd be teaching the class tomorrow for reading. The topic: Making Connections while reading. There are three types of connections readers can make (text to text, text to self, text to world). Each group worked on one specific type of connection to create a definition of it, a poster describing it, and find examples from our read aloud books to share real examples with the class.

Right before we left for the day, we had a rehearsal run where the students practiced, in front of our small group, what they would be saying to the class during reading tomorrow. I cannot wait to see how our "mini-teachers" do tomorrow!

I have to say, I love working with the smaller group of kids in our extended class time. We have a select group of students who stay longer after school to allow us to provide extra support. It's a time when Ms. B and I can start showing these kids who we really are as teachers. We've also been able to build relationships with them and don't have to deal with behavior issues (yet).

Oh... and don't tell, but I actually USED the copy machine by myself today! ... A moment that I took for granted last year in my previous school... A moment I thought would NEVER come in this school. How did I get to use the copy machine, that is guarded by a code and hidden behind a locked door, you wonder... When we asked how we could get copies made (the ones we had turned in way ahead of time and had failed to get copied), the Principal opened the Assistant Principal's office (as if it were a given that we'd make our own copies there). Luckily, someone had provided us with the copy machine code and we, super secretly, made the copies... but the Principal knew and was ok with it, so I don't feel so guilty about making the copies I needed to be the best teacher I could, even if it was behind the A.P.'s back. Although, the A.P. informed the code sharer that she'd be changing the code on the machine soon enough since someone knew it. She'd have it changed in a heartbeat if she knew more people knew it! I'm not sure yet why the code is CIA top secret.

Although it only lasted for a moment, I felt like a teacher who was trusted... I felt like someone believed I could make the right decisions about what I copied for my students and what I didn't waste paper on. Someday, I'll own that feeling again... I guess I just have to work extra hard to prove myself here... or something like that!