Date: January 26, 2023

By: Shaylee Marr

Coming in, I was so excited to meet my mentor teacher and the first-grade students I would be interacting and engaging with throughout the next few months! My MT introduced me to the students and ensured I had an area in the classroom where I could see everything. The MT began with an activity titled “All About Me!” in which the students drew characteristics of themselves on the front of the paper to help me start to learn their names and how they looked. On the other side of the paper, they put three things/strengths and one wish/goal for themselves. With this activity, the MT made me feel welcomes and aided in an instant connection with the students as they were allowed to come to my desk and present their worksheets to me personally. Throughout the day, the MT allowed the students to give their work to me and assist within the classroom. With this, I felt I was a part of the class, and the students trusted me to guide them.

My goal for the first day was to begin learning the names of the students using the “All About Me!” worksheets that the MT provided me from the students. I want to do this while also gaining a better understanding of how the students are as individuals. Another goal would be to find more ways to interact with the students without interrupting their learning experience. Finding a new and inventive way to better understand them as individual learners while they are still within their regular learning routine is essential for my success in future lessons. By engaging with the students more often, I can learn their names easier and identify them using key characteristics of who they are as individuals within the learning environment. With this engagement, students will become more comfortable with me being around them while they are in the classroom. This week has gone quite well, and I honestly can not wait to come back to the school after reviewing the “All About Me!” forms to understand each child better so I am better prepared for helping, observing, and guiding within the classroom!