
Growing, Learning
by Yanndery Flow
Transitioning to the classroom from administrative support at the middle and high school was a great move for me. I am so grateful to Waverly for giving me this opportunity to grow and learn. What kept me from pursuing teaching since I graduated college in 2008 was my fear of classroom management. In the remote learning environment, classroom management is new to all teachers, and we are all learning. It is a process to get to know students remotely and to discover and meet each student’s needs. I’ve been applying what I learn in my credential program, using my intuition, and am also reaching out to colleagues for their advice and guidance. Waverly’s Learning Specialist, Jennifer Johnson, has been a great resource, as has my teaching partner, Brittany. I also recently shadowed one of Oonagh’s kindergarten class Zoom meetings (she’s a magician!).
Even though I am happy and fulfilled in my new role, I really miss the middle and high school students. It’s funny that I used to chat about Pokémon with some of the high schoolers who play Pokémon Go and that this is also a topic of interest for my first and second graders! The Minecraft conversations I took part in at the middle and high school have transferred over to my class of first and second graders. It’s also been fun talking with the younger ones about Wild Kratts and Wow in the World–both things my own daughter used to love.
I am happy to be finding ways to add my own areas of expertise in my first official teaching role. A new student’s parents were concerned about his Spanish lessons continuing at Waverly during remote learning. This student is fluent because of his early exposure to Spanish through caregivers. So, I volunteered to teach our class Spanish! We have integrated these lessons into our classroom three times a week. When I was at the high school, I used to dialogue in Spanish with a few high school students who wanted to practice their skills. I am happy to get to take the lead in these lessons, and that so many of my students are excited to be learning Spanish.
I look forward to the days ahead and to a year of learning alongside my students!