1st day in field

My first day in the field was great! I am in a 1st grade classroom with 21 students. The teacher, Mrs. Martin, said she has had student teachers before and seems willing to help. The classroom looked like a typical traditional 1st grade classroom. A parent volunteer was in the room all morning helping Mrs. Martin with things that needed to be done in the classroom. I think that the parents involvement and willingness to help is fantastic. She wanted us to just observe a typical morning and is going to put Liza and I to work next Wednesday helping the kids. The morning flew by! The kids hardly seemed to notice we were in the classroom. They started their day with an independent phonics sheet and a daily oral language sentence while Mrs. Martin took roll and lunch count. Then the entire class participated in "morning meeting," including calendar, day count, and the weather. Next they did some Everyday Math using the smartboard and a handout from their Everyday math workbook. They did the work together and then independently. The teacher called on different student for answers. After math, they did reading from their reading textbook aloud by taking turns around the room. After each section they discussed what was going on and help a question/answer period and she allowed children to share experiences that related to what they just read. After reading each child had snack they brought from home and a restroom break. During this time, Mrs. Martin a literally only a few minutes to talk to us about her expectations. We exchanged emails in hopes of being to communicate that way since her morning is full with the students. I look forward to seeing Mrs. Martin's teaching style and learn as much as possible from her this semester, as well as, getting the opportunity to work with her students.