First Grade Classroomfrom The Diary of a First Grade TeacherFirst grade classroom - Bright and early every morning the action in the classroom quickly springs to life as one-by-one my first graders arrive at school... The WAY they enter the classroom gives me important information. The eager beavers come REALLY EARLY, wide-eyed and perky ... They need a few minutes to talk and to explore before they settle down. Others, still bleary-eyed, stumble in as the tardy bell is ringing. They FEEL their way, trying to quickly find their desks ... They need a few minutes to wake up and to adjust. So that’s what they get … while I check the roll.
First Grade Classroom Soon – unless they’re sick - everyone is awake and ready to go! Early ActionThis morning, Amy rushed into the classroom and headed straight to me. Gently hugging herself, she complained, “Oh, Teacher, I never knew HOW MUCH much my shoulders hurt ‘til I got me a sunburn!”Stevie sailed past Amy, waving his arms in the air. “QUIET, QUIET, QUIET, everybody,” he yelled to the other two students who stared at him, blankly. “I got to tell the teacher A-HALF-A-PAGE!” Student HelperEvery day I have a different student who serves as my student helper.We start the day with my “helper” telling us the current date. Today was Weesie’s turn… Pigeon-toed and cute-as-a-button, she stood in front of the class, waiting anxiously for the last bell to ring. When it rang, she was ready… “Today is Friday,” she squeaked, “September the two.” Then, as she headed toward her desk, she pointed to a piece of border hanging from one of the bulletin boards. “LOOK, Teacher! Your doo-dad done come undoo-did!” Recess is Over!At recess, the bell had rung and all of the children - except one - were lined up, ready to come inside … But Joe Joe took his time.
First Grade Classroom He was swinging and enjoying himself. I blew my whistle... Finally, he jumped off the swing and joined us. Once inside, I spoke to him. “Whenever that bell rings, I want you to be the FIRST ONE I see going to line up ... Do you understand?” And on and on I went. But I could see my lecture bored him rigid ... He examined his shoes as if he had never seen them before. I continued, “AND - as I remember - you’ve done this once before!“ “Huh?” He was interested now. “Once before WHAT?” Feeling GuiltyWhen Ema told me she had a stomach ache, I said, “Do you want to go to the bathroom?”She clenched her jaw and groaned, “Ugggggh!” “What is it?” With her tongue, she made the tsk sound. “Why do you ALWAYS ask me that?” I answered softly. “I thought you may need to go.” “NO, I don’t HAVE TO GO!” Tossing me a sidelong glance, she stormed away. But in a minute, she was back beside me. “LOOK, I don’t have to go,” she said, taking pity on me, “but - IF YOU REALLY WANT ME TO - I will.”
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