2nd chances
2001 was the year I became an employed teacher. It was my first year and what is always true of first time anything I made more than a few cardinal mistakes. I can't say any of them made a lifelong mark on the children I interacted with but they changed me. Today I was reminded of one of those lessons.
Since I am a teachers assistant in the am for K-4 which involves typical copies, cutting out and other tedious tasks it also included fluency testing, small group instruction and other more "teacher" like activities. The principal has commented about how I am too good to waste several times and 4 of the teachers have also said how they are going to use me as another teacher and not just a copier because I am so wonderful. It is good to know I have managed to show my worth in such a very short time. In the afternoon I actually plan and teach Science, Soc Studies and Art. Art is an interesting one because well I am no artist but it is first grade and I can handle the curriculum there.
Our first Science Unit is how animals change and grow including life cycle of frog and butterfly. Being the involved teacher I have I took the time (ok hubby took the time) to locate some tadpoles from the pond for me. It took him quite awhile but he did it and they are SUPER amazing simply because they are so big. I assume they must be bullfrogs. On Tuesday I was a superstar for not only my 1st grade class but also for the second grade class who was reading Frog and toad AND the Kindergarten class I help with centers. Woohoo! To me making my signature in a positive way.
Then hubby picked up some tadpole food Thursday. He gets two gold stars for all his help except I should have wondered more about the fine print which says rapid growth. The next day one had both sets of legs (front and back) the other looked as if his front legs were going to sprout very soon. I had brought them home for the 3 day weekend anticipating that their tales would be smaller but not totally gone by Tuesday when they returned to school. Except that was a pipe dream. Sunday morning when hubby opened the garage door to head to work they were gone, hopped out of their watery home and had left the building. A somewhat quick search found absolutely NO remnants of them anywhere. I do pray I don't find them not fully grown dead weeks later.
Anyway, today as we went on another tadpole hunt I recalled my first year teaching. When I was the Health teacher and like this year have knowledge of all the elementary kids. I told one of the 3 Kindergarten classes that we were going to make soap before I had tried the recipe. BIG mistake, HUGE mistake for any parent or teacher to make. NEVER say you are going to do something you might not do. Weeks and months of random questions about the soap that never was I learned the hard way to speak AFTER you know. Here I am again starting an animal observation that ends badly. I mean what kid cares that I say they were fully grown. They want to see it for themselves. I would NOT do that again, no way no how. My dear husband who loves me enough to do things he would otherwise not was focused and didn't give up. #4 and I prayed for finding them and God was so good. I know silly but it matters to me and therefore to him.
He scooped up mud pile after mud pile both feet buried in the mucky mud that surrounds the edge of the water. He never shook his head, murmured under his breath or anything like that. He simply remained steadfast. Sweet rewards later we gathered the hermit crab cage verified it would hold enough water and made them a new home plus the most important part a lid that can stay on top at all times.
Now there are 3. 2 medium, 1 small and a full size frog a bit bigger than the large tadpole I once had for good measure. The frog will get released back at home tomorrow night and the tadpoles will remain. Maybe I will let the kids name these guys and the stimulating tadpole food will speed the timeline up. Either way I still get to be a super cool Mrs. Colbert keeping learning at the heart of it all too. I do believe I have learned a thing or two too :)
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| Round 1 |
Our first Science Unit is how animals change and grow including life cycle of frog and butterfly. Being the involved teacher I have I took the time (ok hubby took the time) to locate some tadpoles from the pond for me. It took him quite awhile but he did it and they are SUPER amazing simply because they are so big. I assume they must be bullfrogs. On Tuesday I was a superstar for not only my 1st grade class but also for the second grade class who was reading Frog and toad AND the Kindergarten class I help with centers. Woohoo! To me making my signature in a positive way.
Then hubby picked up some tadpole food Thursday. He gets two gold stars for all his help except I should have wondered more about the fine print which says rapid growth. The next day one had both sets of legs (front and back) the other looked as if his front legs were going to sprout very soon. I had brought them home for the 3 day weekend anticipating that their tales would be smaller but not totally gone by Tuesday when they returned to school. Except that was a pipe dream. Sunday morning when hubby opened the garage door to head to work they were gone, hopped out of their watery home and had left the building. A somewhat quick search found absolutely NO remnants of them anywhere. I do pray I don't find them not fully grown dead weeks later.
Anyway, today as we went on another tadpole hunt I recalled my first year teaching. When I was the Health teacher and like this year have knowledge of all the elementary kids. I told one of the 3 Kindergarten classes that we were going to make soap before I had tried the recipe. BIG mistake, HUGE mistake for any parent or teacher to make. NEVER say you are going to do something you might not do. Weeks and months of random questions about the soap that never was I learned the hard way to speak AFTER you know. Here I am again starting an animal observation that ends badly. I mean what kid cares that I say they were fully grown. They want to see it for themselves. I would NOT do that again, no way no how. My dear husband who loves me enough to do things he would otherwise not was focused and didn't give up. #4 and I prayed for finding them and God was so good. I know silly but it matters to me and therefore to him.
He scooped up mud pile after mud pile both feet buried in the mucky mud that surrounds the edge of the water. He never shook his head, murmured under his breath or anything like that. He simply remained steadfast. Sweet rewards later we gathered the hermit crab cage verified it would hold enough water and made them a new home plus the most important part a lid that can stay on top at all times.
Now there are 3. 2 medium, 1 small and a full size frog a bit bigger than the large tadpole I once had for good measure. The frog will get released back at home tomorrow night and the tadpoles will remain. Maybe I will let the kids name these guys and the stimulating tadpole food will speed the timeline up. Either way I still get to be a super cool Mrs. Colbert keeping learning at the heart of it all too. I do believe I have learned a thing or two too :)
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