Grace Over Perfection - Month One

Students are working together to count how many shapes are in their pile. Students decided to sort between the different shapes then count. 

I walked into my classroom on the first day of school with my heart racing and a million thoughts running through my mind. Anxious, nervous and most of all over joyed, a day I thought I had planned from the moment I walked into the door.

But I hadn't! Transitions didn’t go as planned. My carefully outlined schedule? Tossed out the window by 9:30 AM, and I found myself quietly asking, "what did I get myself into?"

I had to stop, breathe, & remind myself of something I tell my students: “Give yourself grace.”

Pictured Above: Students worked together in small groups to sort different shapes for the learning concept of graphing.

This is a new beginning. A new classroom. A new set of expectations, not just for my students, but for me too. Being in a departmentalized setting this year, teaching math, science, and social studies, it’s different. It’s fast-paced. It’s a learning curve.

Jumping into teaching, I realized my students were behind, which made activities more difficult to teach. I quickly begin to panic. I found myself asking  "how can I teach according to the pacing guide if my students aren’t able to tell me the difference between numbers or letters?"

Pictured Above: 3/4 majority of the students did not need the reference mat but one student in the group did. These young  ladies all worked together to help one another while sorting between small, medium, and large. Students used the desk to get them separated and organized.

Noticing that the majority of my friends are unable to identify numbers 0-10, I practiced how to read different points and create groups using the data provided. Some days were frustrating because of testing. From independent to whole group I found myself thinking there’s a lot of tests given. I quickly began finding myself working longer hors because I wanted to get it perfect. There is no such thing as perfect; every day is taken with grace. 

Students worked together in small groups to sort different size butterflies. Student sorted between small, medium, and large.