My first observation was not an observation really, but meeting my teacher. Due to a student teacher and overstaffing in my last room (when does that ever happen in schools?) Wezi and I were moved from first to third grade at a new school. So that first visit was a chance to discuss plans with my teacher, and to go through introductions and such. We ended up taking a content block, and we will be teaching a science unit on Simple Machines. Yay!

Our first observation happened last Thursday. Since we are just observing during 488's normal meeting time, we were in the classroom for morning meeting. It struck me how diverse the class is, especially since there are only 18 students total. Not only is the group extremely racially diverse, but the maturity level amongst the students varies a lot, too. (We were already warned- we have 2 girls who will start crying at random points throughout any given day. I think I've identified them already). I left the observation feeling a little unnerved because jumping from 1st to 3rd grade is a huge leap- their reading and writing skills are drastically different, the complexity of material has changed, third grade doesnt seem to be so focused on classroom management. Those were just the first things I noticed. I am just afraid of preparing this unit and then coming in and having it be way too easy for the students because I've underestimated them.