A Day in the Life of Gabrielle McDonald
My alarm goes off and I instantly hit the snooze button as I think to myself “just five more minutes.” But, as usual, those five minutes turn into fifteen. As I lie in bed for those few more minutes, I start thinking about all the tasks on my to-do list and put my pillow over my head. Then I think about the funniest thing one of my scholars said in class the day before and I begin to laugh to myself realizing it is officially time to get up.
I finally get up, shower, and get dressed. I search for things to put in my lunch bag for work. I save more money when I pack lunch rather than buy it, plus packing my own lunch gives me extra time in my day since I don’t have to go out and buy it.
I grab my backpack and lunch bag and race out of my house. Power walking to the train, I barely catch it. This is the moment I regret those extra 15 minutes of sleep.
I quickly grab a seat on the train (I know it’s going to be a great day when I can get a seat on the busy L train!) so I can get some work done. I have about an hour commute, so I study for my certification exam for half the ride and read an article for my class for the other half of the ride. I try to get as much work done in my free time during the week so that I can relax on my weekends….even if it means reading a journal article, on a crowded train at 7 a.m.
Next stop I get off the train and go to my favorite deli in East Harlem. I buy my brain food (bacon, egg, and cheese with avocado) and walk to East Harlem Scholars Academy where I stop by the staff collaboration room and eat my breakfast. The great thing about walking through the halls of Scholars Academy is that our scholars make you feel like a celebrity, giving me warm hellos and high fives on my way in. They make me feel so loved!
It is time to go into my Mentor Teacher's Kindergarten classroom. When I arrive, her scholars are just finishing up bathroom time so my Mentor pulls me to the side to give me a quick rundown of the agenda for the day.
Her scholars are learning how to write the alphabet and identify sounds, so I sit down and observe my Mentor Teacher as she teaches the lesson. I note which letters she is teaching them and how she is teaching them. It’s so interesting to see what techniques she uses to help them learn.
While students independently practice tracing their letters, I work with one student in particular who is having some trouble and support him while he masters the letter ‘F’.
My Mentor Teacher and her fellow kindergarten teammates use their prep period to review tomorrow’s lessons while their scholars are away in P.E., Spanish, and Music class. During this prep, the kindergarten grade team reviews the math assessment the scholars are going to take and create a rubric to assess their scholars’ academic performance.
My Mentor and I then go into the Staff Collaboration Room where we discuss what the scholars are going to learn in the next academic block.
Prep time is over and back to the classroom we go! We introduced scholars to manipulatives (i.e. objects students can touch to better understand a concept) and give them the chance to create images out of the different patterned blocks. It’s fun watching how kindergarteners use their imaginations to create different things and have conversations with their peers about them.
Lunch time happens to be one of my favorite times of the day because I get to have lunch with the other Residents. It’s a great time for us to bond and learn more about each other, while we share fun stories about the things scholars say. We also use this time to share the different things we’ve learned in our Mentor Teachers’ classrooms.
Through the EHTP Teaching Residency Program, we will teach our own after-school class each afternoon, so we use this block of time to prepare for our after-school class. We often have training sessions during this time and we engage in role-plays so we can master the tools we need to apply to run our own classrooms. By the time the After-School program begins later this month, I know I’ll be ready!
Today, our program director, Susan, teaches us how we will create a positive classroom culture in our own classrooms in the future. One of the components of classroom culture includes creating classroom rules and routines so your students know which behaviors are appropriate for class. After our training session, the other Residents and I pair up according to our grade-level teams to create our own rules for our soon-to-be after-school scholars.
Our days are jam packed, so we enter another training session after we complete our classroom rules and routines. Yes, such a long day could be tiring, but this is interesting information (and candy and coffee keeps us alert and energized!). This particular session covers how to write a classroom objective.
An objective is a measurable goal that tells you what a student will do and know by the end of a lesson. An objective is important because without it, it is difficult for students to know what they are supposed to be learning.
By this time we are wrapping up our day. We reflect on how our overall day went and what we learned. Our supervisors give announcements and end the day off by giving us our monthly metro cards.
Although the day is over, I decide to stay on-site and study for my exams with the other Residents. We usually use this time to ask each other questions and share our responses. To motivate and encourage each other we use the saying “we got this!” to remind ourselves that we’re going to be just fine.
My day is officially over, so I head home and prepare to do it all over again.
It is a jam-packed day, but the Residency has been such a rewarding experience so far. I feel like I learn and grow each day and by the time I finish this program, I know that I will have the training and skills needed to be successful in my own classroom. I’m also really looking forward to meeting my after-school scholars at the end of the month!
