A Day in the Life of a First Grade Teaching Assistant

I have survived my first week of school at my new job as a teaching assistant.  I work in three first grade classrooms so I have a total of 60 students.  Although I'm bummed about not being a classroom teacher, I love that I get to know all the children in first grade!  That's way more students to teach and love than if I had my own class of just 20.

To give you a taste of what my job is like, here are some of the things I do during the day.  I'm the first to welcome the students to class in the morning as I take attendance and the lunch count.  I help them with their morning work and remind them that when writing the number 16 the one comes before the six.  I show them how to push their pencil into the sharpener so it actually gets sharpened, after they've been standing there for 5 minutes without making any progress.  I tie shoes, give permission to go to the water fountain, and show them how to line up in a "toothpick line" when we leave the classroom.  I hold glasses at recess and give hugs when they fall down because they were running too fast.  I remind the boys that one person can go down the slide at a time, not ten.  I examine loose teeth, and holes where teeth were the day before.  I draw stars and smiley faces at the top of their work, and I sit with them to explain things they don't understand.  I tell them to put all four chair legs on the floor.  I help them up when they fall out of their chair because they did not keep all four legs on the floor.  I create bulletin boards, and display the kids' work, and brag about them to the other teachers.  I remind them that it's ok to make mistakes, and that's why I have a job in the first place, because if they already knew everything, they wouldn't need a teacher.  I usually come home at the end of the day covered in marker and glitter.  I also come home exhausted.

I know this year is going to be challenging.  This school is a lot different from where I student taught in Okinawa.  Beaufort Elementary is a Title 1 school meaning they get special funding since the majority of the students come from low income homes.  Many students come to school hungry because they didn't get breakfast at home.  Often they come from unstable homes, so the only time they hear words of affirmation are at school from their teachers.  This makes our job that much more important!

I think one of the most important parts of my job is to pray for my students daily, since I might be the only one doing so.  There have already been a few students referred to social services for various issues.  It's clear that there is plenty to pray about for these kids!