January 3, 2022 (9:20am-4pm)
Upon entering the room, the kids have a few things to get started on on their own right away. They all have a name tag that they grab at the front of the door and then they get started on bell work (short worksheet that seems to involve coloring of some sort) or finishing their breakfast.
Kids also took time to go to sharpen their dull pencils for the day.
Mrs. Emerson pulls all the chairs to the colored dots on the floor that form a circle. The students read a daily affirmation and then take turns sharing about their break.
All the kids use ASL sign for connect to show the student talking that they also liked the new spider man movie etc.
Today was my first day in the school and I was definitely a bit nervous; it helped that most of today was spent solely observing. I think the most unexpected thing that I noticed was how much time the teacher spends managing the students and moving from one activity to another. The teacher is constantly reinforcing habits that have been put in place to help make communication easier and more efficient. In this class, Mrs. Emerson used a bell, a hand raise, and clapping to get everyone's attention. For tomorrow, I would like to make sure I talk to the teacher about how I can be more involved and helpful in the class.