An Average* Day

* there is no such thing, but for the sake of this entry, I'm going to imagine that there is!

To give you a good look at an average day in the Teacher Education Program at Penn GSE, I'm actually going to go through TWO days. Why? Because there's an average day for Mondays and Wednesdays, when I'm student teaching, and an average day for Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday when I'm in class.

So, let's dive in.

MONDAY:
8:00 - Arrive at school.
8:25 - Go outside to greet the students!
8:45 - 10:00 - How are you? song, Alphabet song (not the one you're thinking of, though!), Attendance, Journal time (yes, kindergarteners can journal! It's awesome).
10:00 - 10:10 - Children get ready for recess
10:10 - 10:30 - Outdoor recess; little prep for the teacher. I usually eat a quick snack and do some planning, or I'll head out to observe the kiddos.
10:30 - 11:45 - Calendar, Read Aloud, Message Time
11:45 - 12:15 - Lunch and Recess (prep for the teacher - so hard not to eat my lunch during this time!)
12:15 - 1:00 - Math! This is the part of the day that I get to teach! We sing The Big Number Song, and then I read the students a math-themed picture book. I have started doing Number Talks  with dot cards, but I have also done voting activities with my students that require counting using a one-to-one ratio. I also introduced Math Message Time, which is a math-focused spin on regular Message Time.
1:00 - 1:45 - Music or Gym for the children; Prep for the teacher!
1:45 - 2:55 - Science/Social Studies or Choice Time, where there are a variety of activities set up around the room
2:55 - 3:05 - Children get ready for dismissal
3:05 - 3:20 - Dismissal
3:30 - Walk to Penn for class
3:45 - Walk past Dunkin Donuts or stop at Dunking Donuts, depending on how tired I am!
3:50 - Arrive at class, chat, finish readings
4:30 - 6:45 - Social Studies Methods class!

TUESDAY:
10:00 - 1:00 - Math Methods class
1:00 - 2:00 - Eat lunch, do some homework, stretch my legs
2:00 - 4:00 - Work in Admissions/Financial Aid department!
4:00 - 4:30 - Break!
4:30 - 6:30 - Seminar class

There you have it! Two sort-of average days as a TEP student!

Have a good week, everyone! Make sure to vote on Tuesday!