new teacher

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new teacher
By Michelle

I myself moved from fourth to first grade--what a trip!! I have found that you need to rely on the experience of teh kindergarten teachers, as well as your first grade co-workers. Be prepared for lots of tears, vomit,
and untied laces. But every day is a new day, fresh with smiling laces and no vomit.
As for supplies, lots of paper, pencils, crayons, and books. I have every book I ever read as a child, as well as those I've bought myself over the years. The children will show up on the first day with a new tablet and a box of ten pencils, which you may never see after that day. They like to take

things home and leave them there. I let my children take home only the paper they will need for their homework: math and spelling gets two sheets, the rest stays in their desks. They do not take their pencils at home: they put them in the pencil can on my desk so they will have them the next day. They keep a homework pencil in their homework folders so they can do their homework. I also put their names on everything, as they like to keep whatever they find. I also sharpen them myself, as I went through three pencil sharpeners in my first year.
The most important thing to remember is that Rome was not built in a day, so be patient with the children. It will take a while to learn to read, write, spell, remember to flush the toilet, call you by you name. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.