First day of Field Experience

So Wednesday was the first day of field experience for this semester. I was placed in a first grade classroom and, when I found out, I was so excited! I would like to teach either first or second grade so it's really nice to observe children in a grade that I could teach one day. When I arrived at the school, a fresh wave of nerves hit me. I was so nervous that the teacher would dislike me, the students would be unruly, or that I would find out I really hated being in first grade. When I finally was able to go into my classroom with my partner, all of my nervousness faded away. The teacher was actually on hall duty when we walked in and I wound up introducing myself to the resource teacher who was watching over the students (whoops). The students smiled when we walked in and when we sat down at a little table in the back of the room one little girl, L., introduced herself and said we could read her worksheet if we wanted. When our teacher finally came in, about three minutes later, she introduced herself and welcomed us to her classroom. The morning announcements began shortly thereafter and then came morning routine. I was surprised by how many songs were incorporated into both the announcements and morning meeting. The students sang "The Star Spangled Banner," their elementary school's "School Song," a song to call them to the carpet, a song for the days of the week, a song for calling a student to the board to answer, a song for checking the weather...so many songs! The children really seemed to enjoy their morning routine and only one boy showed any trouble with paying attention. I later found out that that boy was new to school and still learning the routine. After morning meeting, the students went into their reading groups and worked in centers around the room. I think I managed to work with almost every student, playing their spelling games, watching them on the computer, helping them sound out words, watching and providing feedback on their writing, and listening to them read stories to me. I learned every student's name (!), my goal for the first day of field experience. The time seemed to pass so quickly! I am looking forward to working with these students for the next couple weeks.