The high expectations are overwhelming to students because of the drastic shift in requirements from a non-testing grade (2nd) to a testing grade (3rd). Just imagine a class of students running into a brick wall at recess and falling to the ground in tears… that is the feeling of trying to survive the first quarter. “The Gap” refers to the immense jump in responsibility from second to third grade, where students go from being told what to do to having to self-regulate and manage their time effectively. Reminders were an absolute requirement for students to achieve a task on time or at all really. There is little ownership in tasks and personal responsibility is minimal. They are still 2nd graders who rely heavily on the teacher and their parents. The first quarter of third grade is quite trying for many students. So, here goes… What to Expect when Teaching 3rd Graders The Gap In efforts to help anyone embarking on teaching third grade visualize what the year may hold, I compiled a list of expectations based on my own personal experience. This helps ease fears and eliminate the “freeze” moment in front of students. With new teachers, I try my best to help them visualize their year prior to embarking on it so that they can begin the problem solving process before they are in the moment.
Now that I work with new teachers, one question I get asked often is…”what’s it like to teach ? “Every time I find myself repeating an answer to a question, I realize I need to publish a blog post about it because that means there are probably people out there wondering the same thing. Of course, no two years were the same, but as I was growing in instructional best practices, I was gaining peace of mind knowing what to expect and that was quite a gift. I always LOVED third grade and got pretty good at it, just like anything in life that you have the opportunity to do over and over again. 🙂 A year later, I switched schools to try out a different population of students (I highly recommend doing this in your career too!) and landed right back in my safe place- third grade. My first teaching job was in third grade where I remained for three years before helping out our “challenging behavior” fifth grade class which was followed by me begging to go to second the following year to rejuvenate. It really helped me better understand what I needed to do as the teacher to best prepare my kiddos for the next grade level.
If you have the opportunity to teach multiple grade levels during your journey, I highly suggest it. I was lucky enough to move around to grades 2nd, 3rd and 5th. I taught elementary school grades for 8 years before moving into a coaching role. Image created using graphics provided by MelonHeadz & Miss Senorita
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