Monday Subbing!

It's official!  I had my first day of work on Monday!  I substituted in a K-2 school about 10 minutes away from my house and it was awesome!

I was a little nervous because I didn't know any teachers or students at the school, and certainly did not know my way around.  With about 3 maps in hand, I navigated the maze that it is, (seriously, it is a maze!) and picked up various children to work with back in a special education room.  It was a lot of fun working with the kids one-on-one.  Such a different feel than balancing 24 students! Towards the end of the day, I spent about an hour or so with a first grade class.  I was really impressed by them.  I thought for sure it would feel drastically different than 3rd grade, and it did feel different, but everything flowed.  It came with total ease.  Maybe that is due to my early childhood background and many hours working with 3-5-year-olds?!

It was strange to be the "odd man out", and have most people think of me as a sub and not a teacher.  Many people asked if this was my first time subbing.  Over and over, I explained a little bit of my story and where I came from.  I want people to know I have experience.  I want to be valued like a regular teacher.  Luckily, I met many friendly teachers who told me they were happy to have me be a part of their district. :-)

I'm excited to get my next sub call...eeek!  I have to say, subbing just one day, and working with those cute little faces helped fill a little hole in me that has been empty for the past few weeks. 

I saw a great Chrysanthemum display in the First Grade hallway that showed off the children's names and how many letters each of their names have in them.  I didn't snap a picture, because I didn't want to be rude and assume the teachers would like their work posted on my blog.  Instead, I found some great Pinterest pictures / activities that remind me of the display.  They are too cute! 

Check out the Chrysanthemum ideas I was able to find:

In the center of the hallway display there was a poster very much like this...

Courtesy of First Grade Wow

With it was a name chart similar to this...

(I'm not sure where this pin originated from.)

What a great beginning of the year activity to help everyone get to know each others' names!

Here are some additional  ideas I found on Pinterest:

I love the idea of wrinkling a large heart each time Chrysanthemum's feelings are hurt, and then showing the children how the wrinkles will never disappear even after trying to smooth them out.

Courtesy of First Grade Wow

This one includes a story map, comprehension questions, and a sheet for students to write/draw about their own name.

Courtesy of First Grade Fanatics

In this craftivity, children draw a portrait of themselves inside the chrysanthemum and then write about what makes them "wilt" and "bloom".  Love it!

Courtesy of Hollie Griffith

This is an activity for children to complete at home with a parent.  It helps the children to learn where their name originated from and what it means.

Courtesy of The Techy Teacher

Finally, this free packet has the materials you'll need for the First Grade Wow activities I posted above, along with additional ideas.

Courtesy of First Grade Wow

Enjoy, everyone!

P.S. We were supposed to receive our dates for San Diego today, but no such luck.  Now, we're supposed to hear tomorrow.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

XO <3, C