The End of the First Day

Well, my first day is over. It was great, the kids were awesome and Kristin is going to be a blast to work with. The whole process was laid back and I really liked how we were in the circle for the directions. There were a ton of new things to learn and do and I plan to look through the History book tonight to familiarize myself with the 1920s which I will be introducing starting on the 13th of June. Today I helped out and observed- the kids seemed to be interested in me and it seemed like a good start. Tomorrow we are doing community building stuff and the kids will present their CARES posters- have an RC background has really helped me. Okay, I will write more tomorrow, and probably have some pictures to go with it.

Gretchen -May 31

Today is a good day all around for Dana, for Kristin, for Crosswinds and of course for Augsburg..we take great pride in the work our student teachers do with students and in their schools. My wish for each of us is for continued learning and collaboration. This communication is a first for me, and I look forward to seeing its impact.

Enjoy getting to know your students, Dana!

First Morning- First Impressions

This seems really laid back, I guess being nervous was stupid, because I was more nervous about meeting the adults then the kids. I have been here for thirty minutes and everyone is very cool. I have already written a blurb for the weekly newsletter and I am researching ideas for the Decades Project that we will be starting soon. Both Kristin and Gretchen have my blog address and the ability to add things as authors now. The pictures I have attached are of the school from the driveway- it is in the middle of nowhere, but very pretty. The second photo is the house teacher workspace which includes a big room with about 7 desks, 8 people and a table that I have been assigned to. This is where we all eat lunch but it is nice to have a space to put my things down and to go to during prep time. I also noticed that it faces Kristin's desk, so we can talk across the space without it being awkward. I will update later today.

Preparing for My First Day

Today is May 30th and it was my last full day at NVS. It was exciting but scary to end my teaching there for the year. I will miss the kids but I will be there for their last day of school so today was not goodbye forever. We are such a small school that I know all of them personally and I am excited to see what they become in the coming years. The kids that were Kindergartners when I started are now going to be third graders- they are growing and changing so much, so fast.

Tomorrow is my first day at Crosswinds- I feel a little nervous. I want to learn all that I can and think that this is the place to do it. I've never worked at a school with block scheduling before and I am very interested in seeing how it works. I also haven't ever worked in an open school, but when I visited I was amazed by the coolness of the layout and the way that the rooms seemed so learner centered. There were no decorations really, but the kids had added their own touches to their desks and lockers. I also heard from a colleague that there is waiting list to get into the school- I am excited to hear that. I hope that means that all the kids that are there want to be there and are excited about learning.

To prepare for my first day I started this blog and searched the internet for information on each of the decades of the 20th century. I still have lots of questions and hope that I have time to talk to Kristin about them tomorrow.