I remember at 26

I remember at 26 taking on an additional project at work that meant I had to get to work even earlier, and on my normal days off (I taught computers Tuesday through Thursday).

Towards the end of my second year teaching, my school decided that the following year they would start an early morning tutoring program for those students who were just not quite keeping up. They were going to do two classes of reading for first and second grade and then a reading class and a math class for third through sixth. I expressed my interest in doing it (in large part because it would mean more pay), and joined the group. For the next 3.5 years I taught an early morning math class four times a week. I think the most students I ever had was 10 at a time. We reevaluated if they should keep going every 8 weeks, so there were 4 sessions a year.

I loved my morning math groups. I worked really hard to make sure it was something they wanted to be doing and that it was something they wouldn’t feel stigmatized for by the other students. We played games. We used candy for place value. We ate breakfast in the teacher’s lounge at the end of each session (biscuits were a real favorite). It was a real fun thing for them and we did end up with kids asking if they couldn’t please come and do math.

I loved seeing them get excited for math. Several teachers reported that my students were asking more questions in class and participating more than they did before. I remember working with one boy on division once and the only way he could do it was by counting out the number of blocks in the problem and then dividing them into groups. And that way certainly works. So I kept giving him larger and larger numbers till he looked at me and asked if there wasn’t a way that wouldn’t involve him counting out so many blocks. He hadn’t felt a need to learn another way before then.

I am not a morning person, but I did enjoy those mornings.