Congratulations

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Congratulations
By lynn

Good idea leaving it up to the administration, that speaks highly of your flexibility and willingness to try new things.

I have taught grades k,2,and 3. I have always wanted to try first grade as some point, but
no time soon.

If this is your first year teaching I would suggest first. In my state mandatory state testing doesn't begin until 3rd. While I feel that first grade is very key, especially for reading you will not have the pressure of testing.

If you are new to teaching first grade, much like kindergarten requires you to teach and model everything, even lining up.

I think that this help you as a teacher, it will strenghthen classroom management skills for you. Teaching kindergarten for 5 years helped me learn how to teach children what I expected from them in all aspects, not just academics. It taught me the importance of modeling and constant monitoring. It taught me time managment because there is no teacher down time with kindergarteners. You are on the go all day. It taught me the importance of prepartion prior to the school day because K's can't wait while you look for some item you need for your lesson. It also taught me how important it is to keep kids "busy" all the time. I don't mean with busy work, but having every minute planned. K's don't handle down time well and therefore I had every minute planned with a meaningful activity. I still do these things with my third graders, but teaching younger children forced me to learn these skills that helped me in teaching other ages. However keep in mind that 1st graders are more needy; shoe tying, opening things, etc.

Either way I am sure you will be very happy. I said I would never teach a testing grade, but this year I taught 3rd and loved it. So don't be afraid to try something new I think it makes me a better teacher to have experience in different grades and willingness to try new grades. Congratulations on your new job.