As part of the Teaching as a Profession 3 course, I get to gain hands on experience in the classroom setting. I started my practicum Wednesday morning at Jere Whitson Elementary School where I have been placed with a first grade teacher. I came into the process with high expectations and an open mind due to the fact that I had previously visited for my field experience last school year. Although I was placed with a different teacher, I was beyond excited to be back at this school. I didn’t participate in much, considering that the first day is more of a job shadowing. I observed my mentor’s classroom setting, lesson, and interaction with students. The classroom environment was a typical first grade classroom with a huge rug for learning, tables as desks, cubbies, a multitude of games/enrichment activities, and centers. It was slightly messy, but I attribute that to my teacher moving from kindergarten to first grade over summer. Next, I focused in on the lesson and content that was being taught. We started the day with Flowcabulary which was a math video with a song about inequalities. After splitting into RTI groups, the lesson was about grammar, nouns, and consonant sounds. Basically, my mentor presented a slideshow with activities and had the students participate. Her interaction with the students was my favorite part! She helped when necessary with morning work, gave each student the opportunity to answer questions, and allowed students to participate in everything. Hopefully next week I will be able to dive in and get started helping my teacher. I can’t wait to see what happens!

As a new blogger, I am always looking for inspiration. I recently searched the internet to find some of the best first grade blogs. I specifically looked at organization, materials, and theme of the blogs to decide which ones were going to be my favorites.

1. Fluttering Through First Grade. This blog caught my eye from the search page! The clever title foreshadows the blog’s theme of butterflies. The home page has a calming color scheme with the title at the top. Directly under that is three menu options for the blog posts, the online store, and the teachers involved in creating the threads. Their posts range from how to teach math in a fun way to classroom decorating tips and tricks to having/implementing a growth mindset. This page not only keeps you interested, but also provides valuable and helpful information to anyone looking for solutions. Here’s the link: https://www.flutteringthroughfirstgrade.com/
2. Organize and Educate. I love simplicity. As you can tell by my blog, I like neat and organized with a calm collection of thoughts. That’s exactly what Organize and Educate does in this blog! The author created a layout of the page where each article/blog post is sectioned off. This promotes focus on a specific topic and isn’t overwhelmingly abundant with scattered information. Not only is the clean look attractive, but the content is very insightful. The most recent post is about creating a writing block in the classroom so that every student can take their own pace. The other sections in the feed shed light on how teaching is a difficult job but it gets better and how centers are the best part of the day. Overall, the blog is visually pleasing and interesting to read. Here’s the link: https://www.organizeandeducate.com
3. The Teacher Talk. Materials and lesson planning activities are sometimes difficult to create. Luckily, the author of this blog provides fun and engaging worksheets and kits for every subject in first grade. Not only is there a detailed explanation with each activity, but there are pictures and tips to help the implementation process go smoothly. This is another simply designed blog with bright colors and easy access. The three main sections are blog feed, resources, and read-alouds. I love that the writer included read-alouds as a section because that is a big subject area in first grade. The content in this blog is helpful in preparing first time teachers for new events and activities, such as parent teacher conferences or crafts. My most favorite part of this site is the alphabetical list of blog posts/resources on the right side of the screen. Having that tool allows for finding things quickly and efficiently. Here’s the link: https://theteachertalk22.blogspot.com/

There are thousands of first grade teacher blogs out there to find, but these three proved to be the ones I ultimately would visit when I needed assistance or resources. If you see an educational blog that you think I might like, comment the link and i’ll take a look!

Welcome to my blog!! I am so glad you are here. This blog is designed around the Teaching as a Profession level four class to allow me to share my thoughts on ideas, experiences, and lessons throughout the year. I am focusing on elementary grade levels because I am positively primary. Click on my ‘About Me’ section to read more!