Well....I have some news!!!

I've been subbing since I graduated (this is my second year) and I was at a school today when the phone in the classroom rang. It was the secretary at another school in the district offering me a long term position in 3rd grade!!!!!!!!

I was ecstatic!!! I accepted....of course! We're not sure how long the position is for (it is for a personal leave).....it could be 6 weeks, 6 months, the rest of the year.....i dunno. But hey I'm excited!!!!!! I've had these kids once this year and a bunch last year when they were in second grade. They are excited that I'll be there and even got to say hi to me on the phone when I was talking to the teacher! It was adorable!

Luckily, the teacher that I'm subbing for will still be around (she is going to be acting principal because the principal is the one taking the leave of absence) and I will also have a student teacher till the end of the year. So at least I'll have some company and advice right in the building. I am also working on a FABULOUS 3rd grade team which is awesome! One of them was actually my college orientation leader! How funny is that!

Well anyways....thought I'd share the good news! YAY!:D

Congratulations, hannahgirl. That is wonderful news. I remember how difficult it was getting my first teaching job years ago.

Enjoy working with your grade level team. To me, that makes all the difference. I am fortunate to have an incredible team that I am part of.

As for the student teacher, enjoy having another body in the classroom, but please be aware that this can be a HUGE responsibility. During the last three years, I have had a student teacher for part of each year, and I have to say that my work load is at least doubled when I have a s.t. Generally, there is a lot of paperwork and extra preparation/planning that must be done with a second person. That being said, I love sharing my classroom with a student teacher - it can be very rewarding for the students in the class as well me. I always feel rejuvenated and refreshed when working with someone who is new to the field!

Have a great time! :) Courtney

I figured y'all might appreciate this - I am student teaching at a middle school and I chaperoned my very first dance on Friday! It was so much fun - 7th and 8th graders have soooo much energy and the Napoleon Dynamite-esque slow dances were hilarious. And the kids at my school are pretty well-behaved, so there wasn't too much "discipline" required - just a couple "don't do that again" looks.

How fun! You must be one special person to work with middle school age students! (Keep in mind this is coming from a first and second grade teacher.) I always enjoy all of the "extras" that we get to do as teachers. Although we don't have dances at the primary level, we do have lots of Family Reading Nights and Fun Fairs. I think it is always exciting to see the kids outside of the traditional school setting.

Alphaxikt, enjoy your student teaching time. Before you know it, you will be done and looking for your very own classroom. It is definitely a fun time!

Ok, elementary teachers - I need a little bit of help. I volunteered to teach a session at my college's "Writing Rally"; this is basically an event where students K-5 get to come (with a parent) and write a book. However, this means that I get 15-20 3rd graders for 1 hour and 50 minutes, and I am supposed to help facilitate as they write their book.

Any ideas on how to do the introductions, make the kids comfortable, and ultimately or get them excited and ready to work? I am a secondary person, so I have never worked with kids younger than grade 7, so any info on the capabilities/skills of 3rd graders would be greatly appreciated!

I taught third grade for two years and teach fourth now. Keep in mind that they are about a fouth of the way in the year and, depending on the area you are, some may still be at a second grade level as far as ability goes. I would expect that each child will be able to come up with a topic sentence and four supporting details to support a paragraph for sure. However, I have successfully taught five paragraph essays in third. A good topic is popcorn. You can use a web design to have a branch for taste, texture, smell, etc... Each obviously gets it's own paragaph when you write. Model, model, model is KEY!! (PM me if you want more help...I could go forever! :))

Ok...I have to make a little rant here bc this had me so annoyed today!

I teach Pre-K. It's very high academic wise (writing, science, social studies & math as well as early reading skills, as well as social & emotional development. There's a lot going on with kids who have never ever been around other kids their own age and kids who are significantly more well adjusted. Along with the fact that they are 4 (some still 3!) and need help with tying shoes, opening thier milk @ lunch and other fun stuff. But, in short, it's a challenging job, I'm lucky to have it & I LOVE IT. Many of my co-workers say it's the best job they'd never want to have.

A retired teacher came back today to sub in our building. She was in the lunch room catching up with some older teachers. She and I were sitting next to her & she asked what grade I taught.
"I teach Pre-K"
"Oh well that's easy!!"

it took all the grace & class I have to NOT reply...
"It's not. But I'll be sure to request you as a sub next time I'm out so you can see for yourself!"

I'm so glad most of my co-workers who are regular classroom teachers at my school see the value in Pre-K and respect me for what I'm doing with my students.

Pre-K....you must have the patience of a saint! I know my place is NOT with the young ones. I'll take my 9 and 10 year olds any day! It's so an apples to oranges thing when comparing grades and levels. I'm sorry that she said that to you. :mad:

Edited: Darn spelling!!

I give you a big hug. I teach toddlers 18 months- 3yrs. That age group is not for the faint of heart. I love working with the toddlers.

I am teaching a structured Pre-K class now... the great thing - we are HIGHLY reccomended by schools in the area...

The bad thing - the people I work with dont have degrees and act like they're in highschool. Gah.

So I am finally quitting - in like 8 days - and subbing. I have an interview at an Edison charter school here in Pittsburgh and then one on the 21st at a Catholic school.

Gah. I hope I get something!

This is exactly what I want to do. I just graduated from Bama this year with a journalism degree, but I really want to enter this program to teach high school English and advise the student newspaper and/or yearbook. Does anyone here do this or know anything about it? I'm basically clueless when it comes to certifications and whatnot, but I'm guessing if my Master's is in secondary llanguage arts ed and my Bachelor's in journalism, I'd be good to go for that.

Hey kk_gphib_01!
My journalism teacher in high school did the same thing and he was fine. He teaches high school English and Journalism classes. And he advises the school newspaper. You might want to see if schools do something similar like that.

p.s. I'm a journalism major!!!

anyone here teach anything other than high school, middle or elementary school? lately I have been considering getting into teacher but I know I couldn't handle dealing with high school students or little kids

um... short of becoming a professor, what other options are there? teaching something non-academic to adults?

The only thing that comes to mind is GED or ESL classes. We have those at my school for parents from our community as well as adults who teach parenting skills classes.

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We're operating on a 2hr delay for the transit strike here in NYC. My pre-k kids are off the wall. On top of it being the week before the holidays, they know our routine is off and are acting up like never before!