I have realized with this job more than with other teaching jobs that I have had, whether it was student teaching last fall, another one of my teaching practicums during college, or the paraeducator job I had last spring, that I have been teaching my students and learning from my students, which both seem obvious, but also learning WITH my students. I have noticed this in the 5th grade class that I help with reading everyday, the elementary school health classes I help teach, and in 6th grade beginning band. I have also been learning a lot from the different teachers that I have the opportunity to work alongside this year.
Health:
For November and December in health class, our topic is nutrition. While I have been working on finding lessons that are appropriate for the different age groups (since we teach kindergarten through sixth grade), I have found that my mind is consumed by nutrition. Every time I eat, I start thinking about the different nutrients in my food. I don't know if this is me going crazy, or me trying to be more healthy. Or maybe a little bit of both. Yes, that's probably right. I have been learning and thinking more about the nutrients that my food contains, rather than if my food is organic or all natural. I think a combination of both of these thought processes though, is the key to a good diet. I spent a while on Friday looking through a nutrition book, both for my benefit and for my students. I have been thinking more about becoming a vegetarian since I don't eat much meat anyway. All this talk of nutrition has made me realize that if I do make this decision, I need to pay a lot of attention to the vitamins and minerals I am getting. It's less about protein, because there are many ways to get protein that are not meat, but more about those little vitamins and minerals that are more difficult to obtain in a vegetarian diet. But if I just pay more attention, especially to B-12, it is definitely doable. Making this topic appropriate for K-2 is more difficult. And I am learning right along with them.
5th Grade:
I think I finally understand the basis for that show, "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" It kind of makes me want to be a 5th grade teacher because they must be smarter than 5th graders? Right? 5th graders learn so many interesting things, and they retain the information so much better than most adults, it seems. One boy in my 5th grade class could probably recite at least 10 facts about each of the planets after learning about the solar system last week. It is amazing. And most of the kids are able to write about what they have read without referencing back to their reading. Last week the kids were learning all about the solar system, and a few weeks ago they were reading about the American Revolution. Since I will usually read with an individual student or a pair reading together, I have also been learning a lot about these topics. It seems like the 5th graders remember the information much better than I do. But! if I become a 5th grade teacher, I would be teaching the same or similar information each year, so I would in turn become smarter than a 5th grader. Good logic? I think so. I have been continuing to train my brain with Lumosity so hopefully that will help me retain some of this information too.
Some interesting facts I learned about the solar system last week:
1. Although Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, it is not the hottest because it has no atmosphere to trap the heat. Venus is actually the hottest planet.
2. Jupiter is the planet with the most moons because it has the strongest gravitational pull.
3. It would be very difficult to get to Jupiter and all of the other gas planets (all the ones past Mars I believe) because of the asteroid belt.
4. There are probably aliens somewhere in space.
Okay, I am probably stretching it on the last one, but it is pretty amazing to learn and remember how big and expansive space really is. Our solar system with our one amazing star (the sun) is just a tiny tiny tiny part of the universe. Doesn't that make you think that there are other stars out there with other planets orbiting them, that happen to have the same characteristics as Earth that make living things possible. I'm sure there are some more intelligent people out there that will disagree with this, or tell me something that proves this wrong. But it's cool to think about. And makes me feel pretty small. But we live with what we've got I guess.
Band:
Disclaimer: I don't understand this picture, nor do I know what kind of flute that is. But it is what I got when I googled "Saxophone vs. Flute.
For the first month or two with the 6th grade band, I played the flute along with them since that was the instrument that made the trek to Washington, and what I am most comfortable with. I was able to help the flutes, and also learned a lot about how to teach an instrument. But now for the past couple of weeks, I have been playing the saxophone. I started playing the bari sax in high school, and then played the alto sax in pep band at UVM for a while, until I realized the saxophone I had been using had some mold issues and other issues, so I got a little scared. I have been using one of the Pateros School saxophones, and I have been having a lot of fun playing along with the kids. I have also been learning a lot myself about the proper ways to play the saxophone since I only had a few lessons on the instrument in high school. And I think it requires less skill and an easier embouchure to play the bari sax than the alto. So when I switched over to alto, it was difficult at first. I still have some difficulties, but hopefully I am helping these 6th graders along, while also learning a lot myself. It is exciting to play the saxophone since I am learning and mentoring simultaneously.
So yeah, learning, teaching, mentoring, tutoring…It's all been going great, and I am continuing to enjoy my time in Pateros and in Washington State. Since it was Veteran's Day today, we had a three day weekend so I did some exploring on Saturday. I went to George (Because it is George, Washington!), Vantage (to see Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park), Ellensburg (to drive through), and then drove back towards Wenatchee via Blewett Pass. It started to snow on the top, so that was exciting. Then yesterday I went ice skating. I only fell when I was trying to perfect my backwards skating. So that seems like an accomplishment. Next time I will wear full hockey player padding so I can really practice skating backwards. I'll be so good.
And to once again leave you with a random picture…here's a photo of the snow sneaking its way towards Pateros. Slowly, but surely...
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