Growing as a Teacher

At the beginning of the year as I looked out on those eager young faces I was ready to teach them all about reading and writing and the wonders of science and social studies. I thought that was my most important job. I had gone over the EALR's and curriculum and knew what was expected of me, or so I thought. My biggest learning curve when working with first graders is that I also need to be a monitor of their basic behaviors in life. They need guidance on how to talk to each other in a respectful way, how to tie shoes, put on coats and zip up, use scissors and clean up after snack. We have created a little world that has its own government, economy and industry. I can now see that it is my job to teach these students how to live within a community so that they are more prepared for the world that they are going to be participating in. I previously thought that these ideas were going to come from the home. Many will come from parents and other mentors in their lives but I can see this is also largely my responsibility. This has changed my outlook because rather than only focusing on not pushing my personal ideals onto this class I must also be aware of the school wide ideals that I must be sure to promote.