On May 10th, I will be a guest teacher for my son's 1st grade class.
— John Stevens (@Jstevens009) May 3, 2017
I'm scared. Help. What should I expect? Any tips?#elemmathchat #mtbos
When I got the email from my 1st grade son's teacher about coming in to teach a lesson to the class, I was thrilled. No, I was mortified. So many questions ran through my head.
What are they like?
Are they all missing teeth?
Do they smell funny?
Are they going to like me?
What do they know?
What if a kid pees his/her pants?
What if I talk too fast?
What if they think I'm lame?
How do I handle the potty passes?
Is my son going to be embarrassed?
Am I supposed to discipline if he acts silly?
What are they like?
Are they all missing teeth?
Do they smell funny?
Are they going to like me?
What do they know?
What if a kid pees his/her pants?
What if I talk too fast?
What if they think I'm lame?
How do I handle the potty passes?
Is my son going to be embarrassed?
Am I supposed to discipline if he acts silly?
This is how I imagine my day going. Not good.
Rather than (completely) freaking out, I opted to reach out to the most useful group of people I could possibly think of: the #mtbos. Sure there are still nerves, but clearly they can help, and they certainly didn't disappoint.
OK, got it. So, all I need to do is:
From the sounds of it, I'm screwed.
In all seriousness, I'm sure it's going to be a blast and I can't wait for the opportunity to work with my son, his classmates, and an incredibly comfortable teacher who is so willing to try new things that she's asking one of her students' parents to come in and take over the math portion of a lesson. I know that this isn't normal and I don't want to treat it as such. I want it to be special, even moreso than a regular day where I work hard to help students understand a concept.
With that, you need more context, then I want to ask the same set of questions from you again... Tips? Ideas?
The standard that we will be working on:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.G.A.1
Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided) versus non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw shapes to possess defining attributes.
The end of the school year is coming quickly, with only two weeks remaining after the lesson I will teach. She calls her class "the sweetest first graders on the planet!" My son is not embarrassed at all; in fact, he's super excited to have me come to work with his class. His class has access to a set of chromebooks if we would like to use them. His teacher is comfortable using tech, and they have used them a few times with success.
What do you do? What's that one lesson, technology or not, that will leave a lasting impact? Drop a line in the comments below, please.
As I'm reaching out and getting responses on this, I am quickly thinking about how a first year teacher might feel. I have almost too many good ideas (but keep them coming) to implement and can't help but put myself into that position. If I were a new teacher, would you offer the same advice? Is it because you know me? I am so grateful for the community we have and want to make everyone feel the way I do right now.
Happy "Stop Picking Your Nose" Fishing
- Practice my hugs (there will be plenty)
- Sing the Cookie Monster song (or something like that)
- Be prepared for random stories (I can only handle so much of this)
- Keep my standards high (game on, kids)
- Read a book with a math story (can I read them Tracy Zager's book?)
- Rehearse routines (hey, some things are the same w/ high schoolers)
- Be prepared to tell stories (oh I have a few of those)
- Keep them moving (what if we just go for a long walk?)
- BreakoutEDU (so I lock them in the room & make them escape?)
- Small chunks of info (good to know)
- Splat (Nice work, Steve)
- Poison (Wait... what's going on here?)
- Bring stickers, pens, something... (King size candy bars OK?)
- Don't make eye contact (now wait a minute.)
From the sounds of it, I'm screwed.
In all seriousness, I'm sure it's going to be a blast and I can't wait for the opportunity to work with my son, his classmates, and an incredibly comfortable teacher who is so willing to try new things that she's asking one of her students' parents to come in and take over the math portion of a lesson. I know that this isn't normal and I don't want to treat it as such. I want it to be special, even moreso than a regular day where I work hard to help students understand a concept.
With that, you need more context, then I want to ask the same set of questions from you again... Tips? Ideas?
The standard that we will be working on:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.G.A.1
Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided) versus non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw shapes to possess defining attributes.
The end of the school year is coming quickly, with only two weeks remaining after the lesson I will teach. She calls her class "the sweetest first graders on the planet!" My son is not embarrassed at all; in fact, he's super excited to have me come to work with his class. His class has access to a set of chromebooks if we would like to use them. His teacher is comfortable using tech, and they have used them a few times with success.
What do you do? What's that one lesson, technology or not, that will leave a lasting impact? Drop a line in the comments below, please.
As I'm reaching out and getting responses on this, I am quickly thinking about how a first year teacher might feel. I have almost too many good ideas (but keep them coming) to implement and can't help but put myself into that position. If I were a new teacher, would you offer the same advice? Is it because you know me? I am so grateful for the community we have and want to make everyone feel the way I do right now.
Happy "Stop Picking Your Nose" Fishing
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