I love teaching first grade....I think...

Now that I am back to teaching the in land of the little people (first graders), I wonder about whether I like teaching first grade more than sixth grade. First graders are so much fun and they just want to please you constantly. I love ending the day with a kid saying "you are the bestest teacher ever" or "I am having so much fun". On the flip side, I have had a student that has been crying consistently every day for the past week. Not the cute little sobs, but the out loud crying and hyperventilating for over an hour sobs! I thought he would eventually stop out of exhaustion, but he is a tough cookie! He didn't cry yesterday, but now his favorite word is no. Oh the joy of a defiant student! Another positive of teaching first grade is having such naive students. We had a fire drill this past week and some of them were actually concerned that there was a fire on campus. It was kinda cute, but now that I think about it, maybe they were just hoping that they could go home early. However, first graders are not able to understand sarcasm and idioms. This doesn't work well for a teacher like me. For example, the first week of school I was trying to get them to be quiet in line while we were walking back to class. It was a billion degrees outside and I was losing patience fast. I stopped the line and told them that we are waiting until it's quiet to continue walking. This of course didn't work so I added "we are going to sweat to death out here if you don't stop talking". I actually heard one kid say "sweat to death?" in a very scared voice. I guess he had never sweated to death before.

So after teaching first grade for three weeks I have decided that I love teaching first grade. Even though they drive me batty and take every ounce of energy and patience that I have, I love first graders. Teaching first grade makes my heart happy! I always think of my first graders as my little butterflies. They are like caterpillars when they start first grade because they are just chewing through the new information (leaves) at a fast pace. Towards the middle of the year they like to relax and process all of the new information (growing in their chrysalis'). Then at the end of the year, most of them have grown so much both physically and mentally (butterflies) and then they fly away to the next grade. I have an awesome and amazing class this year and I can't wait to see them as butterflies.