Blog Entry 1

This blog entry is out of order, but this week I had an amazing opportunity to join a class in going on a field trip. I was in the same first grade class (Mrs. Wensel's). We first went to the fire station, and then over to a play. It was a blast being a chaperone. These kids are so well behaved that they hardly needed any other parents to be there. It was just me and Mrs. Wensel taking over, but most of the kids were very attentive and listened to what we were telling them. An interesting thing that happened at the fire station was that when one of the firemen was explaining what they do when they get a call, was that every kid was paying 100% attention. They were all intrigued with the firemen.
What I noticed out of this experience the most was the way Mrs. Wensel really takes charge of her class. Her students are so little, yet they all seem to really like her. I asked her afterwards how she has such a well behaved class, and she said that at the beginning of the year, she was really strict with them and laid down what needed to be done. Afterwards, she is now nice to everyone and a "fun" teacher. She said that that has really worked in the past for her. She said it is important to make it clear what needs to get done that day, but not be too mean that the students don't want to participate. I hope to be like that as well when I am a teacher. I also am really enjoying these first graders and leaning towards teaching a younger grade.