Lessons in history

I'm starting to get the feel for what it means to be a student teacher finally. Last semester it always felt like I was a guest in the classroom. A little more than a substitute but not as much as a classroom aid and definitely not a real teacher. I may not be a real teacher yet but I sure feel part of the classroom.

recently I discovered a fun way for me to put my own spin on the morning routine. It seems that virtually everyday of the year has something important that happened sometime in history. The first day I descided to do this happened to be the day when Gandhi was assassinated so the kiddos had a picture of Gandhi spinning yarn as their morning writing prompt. Turned out they had no idea who he was. "Is he black?" one student asked. Another said he might be a slave and someone else thought he was homeless. The last one nearly made me laugh. He does look homeless in the picture.






But more importantly, I was able, however briefly, to talk about who Gandhi was and what he accomplished. There were quite a few of them who had questions. It wasn't much history but it felt inspiring seeing them so curious. And it was nice to know that I could put my own spin on an activity my coop already had in place.

Part of me is still uncertain about whether my coop agrees but part of me is uncertain about everything so I'm sticking with it. There are a lot harder things ahead though when I start planning everything on my own. What I can say with confidence is that I love my students and I really want them to do well. the trouble is getting over my own difficulties so that they can accomplish that goal.