There is never...ever...a dull moment in Kindergarten. Yesterday we had Harvest Day, which the primary teachers (K-2) had been planning for about a month and a half. The students (and us) dressed as farmers. The kids were so cute in their plaid shirts, blue jeans, hats and bandanas. It was a nice change from their school uniforms. Actually, it's really funny to see them in anything but their uniforms...it's like having new students! All afternoon we rotated through seven classrooms, each a different "station" and did activities such as spoon races, a fall leaf mural, snack, a Harvest story, and so on. The kids LOVED it. They won prizes, collected treasures and got really really really....excited. Even though I didn't let them eat their candy, they still went home like they had had a gallon of sugar.
Warning: Skip this part if you have a weak stomach....its not that bad, though.
To add to the excitement, yesterday I got the lovely job of cleaning up vomit. Thankfully it wasn't on the carpet in the classroom, but in the hallway outside. Oh, it was lovely. I tried to find the custodian, but they were helping with lunch, so the duty was left to me. One of my college professors has children at the school and she happened to be walking through the hallway at the time I was cleaning. I told her, jokingly, that she hadn't taught me this in college. She laughed. :-)
I also got to comfort a middle schooler (our school is K-8) by telling her that I didn't have a boyfriend either. I tell you, the pressure teenage girls put on themselves these days is incredible. I don't know if I helped or not, but at least I could be relateable.
Happy Saturday....I really love Saturdays. :-)
Til next time,
The Kindergarten Teacher!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
How It All Began...
It may sound like a little bit of complaining, but it really isn't. I'm just telling you how it was, without any exaggeration. :-)
I was told in college that a new teacher (or any teacher, for that matter) should accept the first position offered to them, even if it is not an ideal job, because people (principals) talk and they want loyal employees. I can understand that. The elementary education field is very competitive, believe it or not. So, I accepted my first and current teaching job at a brand new charter school three days after my Senior Internship ended and 10 days before graduation. I know what you're thinking: the dream! Right? Well, it kinda is. My Heavenly Father literally dropped this opportunity into my lap. I hadn't applied for the job or even submitted my resume to the school. It was one of those small-town, "Oh I know her, so I'll hire her" type of things. That, and a great recommendation from my College Supervisor certainly helped.
It was May, three months before school began, and there was absolutely nothing in my classroom. My thought was, "I guess they haven't gotten all the stuff yet" (that is exactly what I thought). So I began to collect...and collect...and collect. I collected what I thought was a decent amount of supplies, and took it to my classroom one day over the summer. Now 1/16 of my classroom closet was full. Hm. "I guess the stuff hasn't come yet.....still..."
...
Let's fast forward three months. August, my first day of pre-planning. Two weeks before school starts and my classroom is still empty, save one rolling chair, an 8-ft plastic table and a crate with three packets of construction paper provided to me. Yeah, three whole packets. This is kindergarten, remember. I was freaking out, to say the least.
So what does a brand new teacher with no resources do? This one prayed.
Then I started making my contacts...other kindergarten teachers mostly. Teachers who had literally opened up their filing cabinets over the summer and had given me a copy of everything they had. And then I continued to make things...signs, posters, rules, calendars. And then I started to buy things...supplies, folders, glue, crayons,things to sort, things to cut, books to read, and the like. I hadn't even begun to think about the first day of school...oh, did I mention that I teach the only kindergarten class in the school?
The first two weeks were absolutely the toughest two weeks of my life. Day One was scary because "they" (the students) were coming. Day Two was horrible because I knew that they were coming back. I'll spare you the not-so-lovely details of those two weeks.
Long story short, I made it. And even though 93% of my classroom was either made by myself or a family member or bought by myself or a family member, I made it. And successfully, by my own assumptions....actually that's a good question. Not having another Kindergarten teacher at the school all the time to compare notes with is a bit nerve-wracking.
Week Three was even better, and now, at the end of Week 10, I wake up every morning wanting to go to work. Praise God I have a job that I love. I hear my name 74,432 times a day, I repeat every thing I say at least three times, and it is not uncommon to hear a random "I love you, Miss H" or "I love your toes, Miss H". Seriously, it's awesome. My students are learning, really learning, and both they and I are loving it.
Anyway, there were a few obstacles I neglected to tidy up. Those tables and chairs arrived 2 days before school began (thanks dad and brother for putting them together). I had no access to a copier for 8 weeks (thanks dad and brother for making copies at work for me). I had no school-issued computer until Week 6 (good thing I had just bought a new laptop for myself). I still do not have a projector installed, so my students have to look at PowerPoint pictures from my laptop (the easiest way to show visuals). But, thanks to my Heavenly Father, I'm still alive and surviving Kindergarten.
Those were the physical obstacles. I think I'll save the other trials and joys of teaching for another post. Let's just say I'm learning lessons about trusting God through EVERYTHING, not worrying too much and how crucial it is to surrender my talents and days in Kindergarten to Him. He is in control of everything, Praise be to His everlasting name.
Til next time,
The Kindergarten Teacher
I was told in college that a new teacher (or any teacher, for that matter) should accept the first position offered to them, even if it is not an ideal job, because people (principals) talk and they want loyal employees. I can understand that. The elementary education field is very competitive, believe it or not. So, I accepted my first and current teaching job at a brand new charter school three days after my Senior Internship ended and 10 days before graduation. I know what you're thinking: the dream! Right? Well, it kinda is. My Heavenly Father literally dropped this opportunity into my lap. I hadn't applied for the job or even submitted my resume to the school. It was one of those small-town, "Oh I know her, so I'll hire her" type of things. That, and a great recommendation from my College Supervisor certainly helped.
It was May, three months before school began, and there was absolutely nothing in my classroom. My thought was, "I guess they haven't gotten all the stuff yet" (that is exactly what I thought). So I began to collect...and collect...and collect. I collected what I thought was a decent amount of supplies, and took it to my classroom one day over the summer. Now 1/16 of my classroom closet was full. Hm. "I guess the stuff hasn't come yet.....still..."
...
Let's fast forward three months. August, my first day of pre-planning. Two weeks before school starts and my classroom is still empty, save one rolling chair, an 8-ft plastic table and a crate with three packets of construction paper provided to me. Yeah, three whole packets. This is kindergarten, remember. I was freaking out, to say the least.
So what does a brand new teacher with no resources do? This one prayed.
Then I started making my contacts...other kindergarten teachers mostly. Teachers who had literally opened up their filing cabinets over the summer and had given me a copy of everything they had. And then I continued to make things...signs, posters, rules, calendars. And then I started to buy things...supplies, folders, glue, crayons,things to sort, things to cut, books to read, and the like. I hadn't even begun to think about the first day of school...oh, did I mention that I teach the only kindergarten class in the school?
The first two weeks were absolutely the toughest two weeks of my life. Day One was scary because "they" (the students) were coming. Day Two was horrible because I knew that they were coming back. I'll spare you the not-so-lovely details of those two weeks.
Long story short, I made it. And even though 93% of my classroom was either made by myself or a family member or bought by myself or a family member, I made it. And successfully, by my own assumptions....actually that's a good question. Not having another Kindergarten teacher at the school all the time to compare notes with is a bit nerve-wracking.
Week Three was even better, and now, at the end of Week 10, I wake up every morning wanting to go to work. Praise God I have a job that I love. I hear my name 74,432 times a day, I repeat every thing I say at least three times, and it is not uncommon to hear a random "I love you, Miss H" or "I love your toes, Miss H". Seriously, it's awesome. My students are learning, really learning, and both they and I are loving it.
Anyway, there were a few obstacles I neglected to tidy up. Those tables and chairs arrived 2 days before school began (thanks dad and brother for putting them together). I had no access to a copier for 8 weeks (thanks dad and brother for making copies at work for me). I had no school-issued computer until Week 6 (good thing I had just bought a new laptop for myself). I still do not have a projector installed, so my students have to look at PowerPoint pictures from my laptop (the easiest way to show visuals). But, thanks to my Heavenly Father, I'm still alive and surviving Kindergarten.
Those were the physical obstacles. I think I'll save the other trials and joys of teaching for another post. Let's just say I'm learning lessons about trusting God through EVERYTHING, not worrying too much and how crucial it is to surrender my talents and days in Kindergarten to Him. He is in control of everything, Praise be to His everlasting name.
Til next time,
The Kindergarten Teacher
Sunday, October 23, 2011
What It Really Means
Welcome to the beginning of my new blog! I primarily have created a blog for the following few reasons:
1. I have just recently started my career as a teacher (in Kindergarten, for now) and want to document this era of my life.
2. My best friend has recently moved halfway around the world, and this is just one more way to keep connected.
3. There is always the little satisfaction of knowing that, somewhere, someone might want to read something that I have written, as annonymous as it might be.
I am a very "color inside the lines" type of person, but lately I feel like I've been doing a lot more of coloring outside the lines, figuratively speaking of course. Here I am in a career that I thought I knew all there is to know, but have really been finding myself living out what my brother has said many times to me: "Fake it til you make it". I'll be honest. Sometimes that is exactly what I do. More to come on this subject, but for now, I must go plan some lessons.
Sincerely,
The Kindergarten Teacher
1. I have just recently started my career as a teacher (in Kindergarten, for now) and want to document this era of my life.
2. My best friend has recently moved halfway around the world, and this is just one more way to keep connected.
3. There is always the little satisfaction of knowing that, somewhere, someone might want to read something that I have written, as annonymous as it might be.
I am a very "color inside the lines" type of person, but lately I feel like I've been doing a lot more of coloring outside the lines, figuratively speaking of course. Here I am in a career that I thought I knew all there is to know, but have really been finding myself living out what my brother has said many times to me: "Fake it til you make it". I'll be honest. Sometimes that is exactly what I do. More to come on this subject, but for now, I must go plan some lessons.
Sincerely,
The Kindergarten Teacher
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