mangofandango | (no subject) (Reply)

I had my first site visit today, to a middle school. I got there at 8 (oh man I so have to adjust my sleep schedule before next semester!), and stayed until 11. During that time I talked to the librarian, observed three 6th-grade classes, and got to wander around the room and help some of them with their research. They were each researching an animal that lives in or around Narragansett Bay, and the most popular animal was the harbor seal. :) The kids looked really young to me, given that the last time I was in school and around huge groups of children, I was a 4th grader and the 6th grade kids looked so OLD to me. :) But they were all shorter than me, and all young-looking. I helped them use the encyclopedias, and answered their questions about taking notes and understanding what they were reading.

I liked the middle schoolers. As their librarian put it, they're old enough that they are starting to understand what they're doing, but they still need some help and they still think of adults as human beings. They combine some of the things I like about little kids and some of the things I like about older kids. So. Maybe I should observe at a second middle school, because I think I might want to do half of my practicum at one.

Tomorrow, I visit an elementary school at 8:30 in the morning. Whee!