Thursday, March 29, 2012

I Like the Rest, but the Part I Like the Best...


In January, after graduation, I moved out of the office at KIPP and into the 6th Grade Reading classroom.  Most of my responsibilities in the classroom pertain to the management aspect of teaching.  I handle the grading, organization, and overall management of the classroom.  I occasionally handle discipline.  I also teach Reading Focus Groups in the afternoons and on Saturdays.

The kiddos still call me Miss Holli for a few reasons. (A) It's easier because my mom also works in the building, and two Baldwin ladies throws the kids for a loop.  (B) Some of these kids have been calling me Miss Holli for three or four years.  It was easier not to switch.  (C) I actually prefer Miss Holli over Miss Baldwin.  Not that there's anything wrong with my last name, I think I'm just too laid back for Miss Baldwin. 

The best part of my job for me is the relationships I get to build with the students.  Because I was a secretary for so long, I was already building friendships as opposed to teacher-student relationships with them.  Now, even though they know I am technically a "teacher,"  they still don't really act around me like they do the other teachers.  They are more open to me then to some of the other teachers.  They don't build up the same walls with me as they do the "real teachers."  There's a certain sense of accomplishment knowing that students are begging to come to your classroom to work instead of going to PE to play

Some of my kiddos were playing with my phone during some free time.  I ended up with all these pictures on my memory card.  They were using an app called FatBooth, so the pictures are not really great, but I thought I'd share with you some of my kiddos.