The First Day of School is Already Over

One student was absent; one got added after school started. We have 15 total.

And as quickly as it approached, it ended.

When the students first lined up, I had to corral some of the ones used to messing around in the back of the previous lines. Since I knew that a couple of these students had difficulty lining up, I purposely positioned myself at the end of the line to help manage and get the last few boys to join our class rather than running around the gym (or joining other teachers' lines as a joke).

In a quick summary of how the day went, I have to say it went decently well.

I did have the majority of the students acting up, being very defiant, or telling me "no" if I asked them to do simple tasks. Some students have developed probably years' worth of bad habits like whistling, and clicking their mouth while I'm teaching or while a student is talking.  Another student laid under her jacket in the corner on the floor. I had a few students who wandered out of the room, loudly passed gas, belched, blurted out, yelled or made noises, shoved other students, etc.

But, somehow I was able to keep my mind at peace and quickly think of ways to enforce good behavior and help guide positive behavior. From years of studying classroom management, I was quickly getting to know my students and learning what motivated them as individuals.

I added the Yupik translations for days of the week. And a volcano. :)

I also decided to wait to let the class officially set Class Expectations until the second day of school, and it worked out because I didn't use my "clip chart." I wanted to stay away from drawing attention to who was having to move their clip to red, or any negative attention. During activities, there were times I felt like I should possibly send a student back to his/her seat, but I really wanted to give students a new beginning and didn't want students to get frustrated easily. I didn't want any child to feel labeled like "the bad kid." Unless the student is harming another, I don't send them out in the hall, to the assistant principal's office, or home. In the past, I've learned that students will act up just to get out of class because they're avoiding something like conflict with another student or frustration with academics. I expect them to learn how to stay in class and have proper behavior. That went pretty well.


Some students in this class don't seem used to taking orders. And they would say "no" to commands like 'please turn off the water' or 'come out with me to take a quick assessment' and then argue on the second time I'd ask them. But, by the third they'd either give in or make a choice, then move on with whatever our activity is. My goal is for them to all listen on the first time.

I'm incredibly thankful for the few role models. They did a great job of helping me guide the students in the correct direction so no further consequences happened. I liked to see them use friendly reminders and helpful whispers to pay attention. I hope to see more and more develop into positive leaders.

Our small group center by the class library.

I feel like towards the end of the day I had a better picture of how each student reacted toward certain situations. I saw eyes light up when I praised them for completing a task after they didn't have faith they could. I had the pleasure of seeing a student at the end of the day utilize our clean up time at the end of the day saying, "I'll sharpen my pencil so it's good for tomorrow morning." I got to see my three returning students who are more quiet by nature, lead in their own unique ways. Finally, they're the sixth graders and the veterans. I'm excited to continue finding out what motivates each of the students in my class to learn, laugh, and love learning.

This evening we went to the restaurant for the first time with the new teachers. We had some amazing burgers and even got to meet our wonderful chef's parents. (They are from the Philippines but are here in Alakanuk. It's interesting for me to try think of the comparison to their home in the Philippines versus here. I'd like to get to know them better.)

Then I came back home to take a bath and make cookies for my class. I have officially dozed off about three times while writing this. Good night. I hope there are not too many errors! (I'll edit later... and still I'd like to add some "before pictures" of my classroom.)

Simplicity works for now. I'll have students create more later.

My desk area, and the piano I still need to figure out how to tune.

Our sink area, as well as the corner where I keep lots of curriculum.