A Day in the Life of a Third Grade Teacher
September 30, 2009
Third grade marks that magical juncture when students are no longer learning to read but, as educational experts put it, "reading to learn."
They are putting the teacher's opinions ahead of those of their peers, moving away from a world of parent-planned play dates, and seeking stimulation in mathematics and language arts.
As a third-grade instructor for eight years, Deborah Thonus of Marstons Mills East Horace Mann Charter Public School in Marstons Mills, Massachusetts, has witnessed this scholastic evolution firsthand. Thonus has taught first, second, and third grades for nearly three decades and maintains an instructional Web site on the craft for fellow educators.
"Third grade seems to be the "˜bridge year' between primary and intermediate grades, and it comes with a new set of challenges," Thonus says. "I tell the students during the first week of school that I am not their teacher"I am only a coach. The coach is still in charge, just like for any team sport they play, but the students are in control of their own growth."
While a first-grade teacher might provide strategies, exercises, and tricks to enhance reading abilities, it is the students themselves who ultimately figure out how to read, Thonus explains. Instilling a sense of self-confidence in these students before they hit third grade is paramount, so that eventually, they can become adept self-learners.
"To be their own best teachers, I tell students they need to sit where they can see, choose the best learning partners, listen carefully, ask questions, follow directions, and never give up," Thonus says. "Third-graders still look up to their teachers, so to ask them to act like one improves behavior instantly. Building this idea of personal responsibility for their learning changes the atmosphere in my classroom."
One of Thonus' favorite behavior management gurus is Lee Canter, co-author of Assertive Discipline: Positive Behavior Management for Today's Classroom (Solution Tree, 2001). Drawing from this book's theories about assertive discipline, Thonus has instituted an "STP" (Stop, Think, Plan) club in her classroom, which encourages conflict resolution.
Rick Bavaria, the senior vice president of Sylvan Learning, a nationwide tutoring company, writes a weekly blog about such classroom tactics. As a former assistant superintendent for the Baltimore County Public School System, Bavaria has spent 40 years in the education field and works with third-graders on literacy and math skills. Third grade, he says, is when most students first begin to need tutoring due to their ever-shortening attention spans.
"A special challenge for third-grade teachers is to harness the energy that eight-year-olds have. They need to expend a lot of energy at recess so they can focus in the classroom," Bavaria says. "Third grade is also the last year when you can really capture their undivided attention. Boys' grades tend to drop in fourth grade, because they're exposed to so many more things"little league, boy scouts, etc., so you have to keep them interested in class. It's truly the year that prepares students to be lifelong learners."
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