Mrs. Cassidy's 1st Grade Blog

Mrs. Cassidy's 1st Grade

This blog is wonderful!  Full of good ideas done by a good teacher with willing students.  It was amazing to me how Mrs. Cassidy found time to do all these fun activities with her students in light of the testing craze and how she managed to blog all about it, as though she didn't need to plan for the next day.  Maybe I'm a little skeptical and a little jealous.  Haha.  But her school is in Canada where they do not have the same testing regulations as the US.  It seems like she has a little more freedom in her curriculum and implementation than the average American teacher.  For instance, she did an entire unit on working with materials and objects and the had a "construction day" at the end.  The tables were covered with a variety of materials such as egg cartons, styrofoam boxes, paper, glue, beads, etc.  Each child had free reign to create whatever they wanted, then they got to explain their creations in front of the class and on the video to be used in the blog.  They Skype with other classrooms around the world including one in Brisbane, Australia, who sent them a couple books for Christmas.  

As I looked more closely at her pictures and videos, I realized that she usually had about 15 students (the class list on her blog lists 19 students).  Of course she's able to do cool projects and can find the time to take videos, pictures and blog!  She has a little more than half the number of students that most teachers in America have in 1st grade!  When I think about how I have 22 students in my 3 and 4 year old preschool class, I can only imagine how relaxed her classroom must be.

Another issue I would like to point out is the homogeneity in her classroom.  I believe I only saw one non-white student in her classroom.  I'm sure this is representative of Moose Jaw, Canada, and most likely the neighborhood in which the school is located, but it is in stark contrast to many classrooms in Albuquerque and other cities in the US.

I'm really excited about following Mrs. Cassidy's class through this spring semester.  I'm sure she'll tell me many good ideas, but I will have to keep in mind the classroom culture and cushy number of students before I start to directly apply them to my teaching.    

Fundamental Purpose in Teaching

Teaching can be a lonely job.  We're expected to love kids all the time (especially teachers of young children) and be peppy about it.  What happens when you don't feel peppy or don't like all your students all the time?  Does it mean you're a bad teacher?  I struggle with this issue sometimes in my preschool classroom.  It is a difficult job, but we're expected to be happy and energetic all day long.  I do love my job and my students, but to be happy all day every day is impossible.  Sometimes the children get on my nerves; sometimes the parents get on my nerves; sometimes my co-teachers get on my nerves.  When I feel like this, who can I turn to who won't see me as someone who's in the wrong profession.  Teaching is my passion, but it isn't sunshine and rainbows all the time.

When I was interviewing for my position, the director of my school asked me why I wanted to teach preschool.  I told her that I enjoyed children, but mostly I enjoyed watching them grow and develop in their own ways.  She replied that not everyone who loves children can be a good teacher.  Teachers cannot just sit there all day and muse over how cute all the kids are.  There are elements of discipline and objectivity that are needed in classroom management.

In my last blog, I talked about how teachers are also students.  We need to constantly reflect on our practices and methods.  Right now, I am reflecting on how I react to and view student's behavior.  I see that I need more patience and perspective in dealing with them.  I need to take a step back during the day, take a deep breath and realize that neither my students nor myself are perfect.  The fundamental purpose in teaching is not to have the best lesson plans and the most well-behaved students.  To teach is to be a facilitator of learning through individual student's needs.  We do not have to fit the stereotypical peppy kindergarten teacher.  We need to be teachers who learn from their mistakes and are honest with themselves.  And, yes, we need to be teachers who care deeply about children.  

My Beliefs about Education

   I love teaching, but I only realized it a little over a year ago.  Education is for everyone and may be achieved in a variety of ways.  But for teachers, education means school and academics.  Not everyone enjoys or is good at school, so teachers need to make education accessible to individuals.  It is a challenging but rewarding task.  To me teaching is opening doors for children.  They get to choose which doors to walk through based on their interests and abilities.  I'm so excited to have a classroom where I can guide children to reach their highest potential.  Yet, education is not only helping children realize their dreams.  It is also about teaching them practical lessons in subjects such as math, science, English, etc.  Theses day to day lessons give students the knowledge to be well rounded individuals, and it is during this time that teachers and students build the relationships necessary to open doors together.

Teachers need to be in constant evaluation of their methods.  Education should not and cannot be the same decade after decade or even year after year.  We need to ask ourselves "why?" about everything we do in the classroom.  Teachers are also students.  If we do not continue to learn, our methods will become stale and ineffective.  Education is the process of life long learning.  Teaching is the process of developing life long learners.  By opening doors of knowledge for children, we give them opportunities to go through them even later in life.  Hopefully, they will take advantage of this and be people who want to learn more and more throughout their lifetime.