Daily Blog: 9/24/09

Today was a pretty low key kind of day. I did no classroom activity other than walking around and engaging with the kids on their writing, math, and science lessons. I am still trying to figure out my boundary in the classroom. My MT still seems a bit stressed and frazzled and she apologizes a lot. I did tell her that there was no need to do that. I'm watching her, but not in a negative way. I think she thinks that she needs to be perfect, but I told her that even if she has to do something that wasn't completely planned, I'm still learning from her and the kids don't know any different. I'm still finding that I we just don't have that much to communicate about things- it's always rushed and that is of no fault to her. She really tries to stick to a schedule and the "book." Sometimes, I'm finding as I make mental notes to myself, a little too much. She'll say, the book says to do this.....and ask me if I think the kids got it or if it was too much for them. Lately, I think it's too much for them...there comes a point, even for kids, when repitition has gone completely overboard. I don't care what the manual says. Is that OK for me to think that? I just feel that there needs to be more awareness to the kids' attention level and level of engagement and modify from there. Is that right? These are the things that I wonder about as I watch...and I will probably always wonder about as everyday is a new day.