Week 5

Well, even though this blog is entirely late, I still have a good bit to say about week 5. The one thing that I want to talk about the most for week 5 is our class getting a new student. It was nothing new for me to be introduced to a new student, because it seems like every year I have met new students that have come from all different places. This new student though, was in the middle of the year, and that has not happened very often to me while I have been in any classroom throughout my student teaching. I remember last semester when I was doing my 5-9 placement at Mountainview, our fifth grade class got a new student, but I did not like the way that he was introduced to our class. It was pretty much like, "Ok class, this is _____, and he is a new student to our class." This year though, Mrs. Decker impressed me to no end. The student was brought back to our class at the very beginning of the day, even before the students got there, and it was a Friday. She was in tears, and I could tell that she was not very excited to be with us. Mrs. Decker talked to her like it was a daughter of her own, which is no surprise as Mrs. Decker always tells me how she treats her students as she would treat her own whether it is discipline or love. We took this new student on a tour of the school to get her relaxed, and Mrs. Decker even got her breakfast. The one thing that I loved the most about Mrs. Decker, and the way she handled the situation, was that she made this student feel included from the time she entered our room. She talked to her about her family, about where she came from, and how excited she was to have her in our room. I was truly astounded by the way Mrs. Decker took this child into her room, and life.

Another thing that impressed me about this was how the students treated our new student. When we took her to breakfast, a few of the other girls in our class were introduced to her, and they acted like it was their long lost friend. They were so excited to me her. Then when we got back to class, and started our morning, a few of the students gave our new student some things to greet her. This included a homemade bracelet from a girl, and a pencil from one of our little boys. I thought this was a very special moment to be a part of in my student teaching, and I learned so much from this experience.