Life in 1st grade has been very exciting the past two months! We've started learning long vowels in reading, which is equally exciting and terrifying. We had fun visiting 'Teacher Emily's Store' in math while learning about money and are currently in a really fun dinosaur unit in science. Third quarter - the longest of the four quarters - ends this week, which means some final exams and report cards are on the horizon! Take a look at the photos below to see some of the fun activities my students and I have done this quarter.
Some of my students making their old women/men craftivity and accompanying writing project. We had a really, really exciting day on the 100th day of school in early February. I'd been playing up the 100th day of school since August and boy did it deliver. It was probably my favorite day of school so far! It's really incredible to see how far all of my students have come the past 7 months and that day was a chance for me to reflect on how my students have grown and how I've grown as a teacher.
Wearing our super cool 100 glasses.
A 'write the room' activity for ay and ai words. My students love being active, so they walked around the classroom reading different ay and ai words and sorting them into the correct columns. This activity was a real success and I'm going to do it again with other vowel digraphs and vowel pairs!
John Ehsa (my student's uncle) ran for an FSM Congressional seat and while he sadly didn't win, my students were very excited that they got John Ehsa pencils and pencil cases!
Dr. Seuss's birthday was last week and thanks to Jennie Lorensen and the teachers of Delta Kappa Gamma we got to celebrate with our very own Cat in the Hat hats and new Dr. Seuss books to read! The students were so excited to have their very own hat and loved having a few new books in the classroom.
I'm doing my best to instill a love of learning and literature in these little students' lives. I'm so grateful for the hundreds of books that have been sent to our classroom so far! If you ever find yourself with children's books on your hands that you don't need anymore, know that they would be very loved here in Pohnpei.
One last story before I head to bed for the night: I knew to expect the unexpected coming to teach in a developing country, but I never imagined that I would be pantsed by a student. Lo and behold, last week I found myself with my skirt down to my knees after a student tripped and in an attempt to steady herself, grabbed onto my skirt. Clearly she didn't calculate her weight versus my loose elastic waistband! Thankfully we always wear basketball shorts under our skirts, but the situation provided much comic relief for me and my class.
Stay tuned next week for a post on generosity and compassion! My 6-year-old students often fulfill the call to "love your neighbor as yourself" better than I do. I'm so thankful for their sweet hearts, enthusiasm, and how they show me so much grace as I try my best to be a better teacher for them each and everyday.
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