Beginning at Tyler Elementary

My first week at Tyler Elementary was a success! I felt so welcomed, and I had a great week! My cooperating teacher is really good, and I know I am going to learn a lot from her. I have eight students in my class: three third graders, three second graders, and two first graders. It is considered an instructional class so they are in the general education classroom, but they are pulled into my classroom for math and language arts. I think it is a great way for the students to get the instruction that they need, but also be a part of the general education class.

As I think about both placements, one thing comes to mind: just about every single thing is different. Not in a good or bad way.. just different. 

Here are some of the major differences:

1. The students are very different. First of all, they are so small!  They are first, second, and third graders, and they are so little! I'm not used to being around teeny tiny 6 year olds, but I'll have to admit, they are too cute, and they say the funniest things! I laugh a lot. I love it. My students have mostly learning disabilities so it is completely different than my students at St. Coletta's. They do not have behaviors like my last students. The worst behaviors that my students have is crying, which I can definitely handle.
   
   
2. TECHNOLOGY! Tyler uses technology, and it is wonderful. There is internet! (Which my last school did not have.) There are projectors and elmos in just about every room. Each class goes to the computer lab once a week, and there are also two computers in each classroom. There are also laptops and iPads that the teachers can rent out for their classrooms. Might I add, all of the computers and laptops are Macs, and I, being an Apple advocate, am loving it!
   
   
3. It is more of a "typical" school. St. Coletta's is a very unique type of school, and it is in an industrial area. Tyler is a regular elementary school surrounded by a neighborhood. At Tyler, I have more of a "real" classroom with fun and cute decorations. It is definitely more of a welcoming environment. I also get a plan period and a lunch break, which I love because I did not have before. 

I have already begun to build relationships with my students, and I know that I am going to have so much fun teaching them. I am really looking forward to the next few weeks, and I know that I am going to learn so much.