January 12th - Week 1

Happy New Year,

For the start of 2017, I have the pleasure of working at one of the four local schools in Lincoln County, ME, Great Salt Bay, which houses grades K-8 for the Damariscotta, Newcastle, and Bremen area.

Arriving at 8 a.m., I am welcomed with morning greetings from the 1st graders. This morning a girl told me how she hopes the rest of her day goes well. This morning she was getting ready to walk her big, black German Shepherd, but fell onto the ice and into a big puddle creating a very wet pant leg. Before settling in, I wished her a wonderful day, and then began to read one-on-one with the 1st graders. This is meant to be extra practice for the kids, but they never make it seen like work. They all want to come read with me and continue to progress as each session continues.

After, I assist with 2 different kindergarten classes during their Daily 5 lesson. The Daily 5 lesson is designed to enhance the kids reading and writing abilities. They rotate between two different stations each day. Here you can find them sounding out different vowels, reading to a friend, or stamping the letters to a word written down. Keeping them in check and offering an extra hand is my primary responsibility.
One of my highlights this week was from Mrs. Ball's K class. They have a morning greeting where the students take turns going around a circle and shaking a students hand while saying "Good morning (students name). It is nice to see that the kids are implementing Kieve's rule, that everyone and everything has the right to be treated with kindness and respect. This activity also teaches them much of what our imfamous LEADSTAR teaches: listening to the entire message, using eye contact, avoiding distractions, not interrupting, speaking loudly and clearly, ask questions (for example, Laney not knowing my name), and repeating the message.

All of a sudden it is lunch time. I do go to lunch early, but so far the day has zoomed by. I love spending part of my day hanging out with the K class, but having lunch with them is even more exciting. They know how to tell such cool stories. Its nice to see their imaginations and creativity at work! Today I spent lunch hanging out with the boys. One of them spent the entire lunch period telling me how to read time. He continued counting 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24. I stopped him, informing him, that he was indeed correct, and that there are 24 hours in a day. He was even table to tell that 3 could also be the 15. I am sure it didn't make much sense to him, but he clearly knows how to count and is striving to learn how to tell time! He continued on, telling me the difference between night and day not only here in Damariscotta, ME, but also knowing that the other side of the world is opposite of us. I think he is onto something great!

In the afternoons I spend a portion of my time with the second graders. Here I help with various tasks including creating maps of Tanzania, a country they are studying, as well as making sure the students are excelling in spelling and math.

The rest of my afternoons will be spent with the 5th graders! Here I will bring Kieve to GSB. Today I introduced LEADSTAR to the 5th and 6th grade combination class. Some of the students had the privilege of working with Maggie last winter. I look forward to seeing how they retained and apply the information this year and how they become leaders to the new folks.


That's it for this week. I have gotten a grasp of how the school works, what my schedule will be, and what I look forward to accomplishing during my short time here. Next week, I will have more time working with the 5th grade classes, I will start a cooking club that Maggie introduced last year, and I will begin a short yoga session with the 8th grade students. I am looking forward to my new weekly adventures!


CAPTIVATING...
The best thing I heard all week:
K: "Kasie, look, look" (a student is pointing to a jet stream trail)
Me: "Wow, look at that!"
K: "Its Wonder Woman!"

I could not stop smiling :)