Teaching Kindergarten has been quite the exhausting, roller coaster experience that I knew it would be. Why would any sane person want to do this, then? I spend my day on my feet going from child to child (I have 22 of them) for one reason or another: Tying shoes, applying bandaids to boo boos, helping with a pencil grip and letter formation, helping get a lunchbox or homework out of a backpack, taking off jackets, cleaning up vomit, wiping bloody noses, controlling chaos during "choose and do" and "center" activities, and trying to prevent food flinging and chocolate milk spraying during lunchtime. All the while, I am entertaining by acting silly to get the children's attention...and making them laugh to keep it. Not an easy task to accomplish with 4 and 5 year olds. In the middle of all of this, I am trying to teach a curriculum based on English Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, P.E. (yes, I have to teach P.E. since our P.E. teacher quit), Art and Science Standards while fielding a multitude of questions from 21 sets of nervous parents. To top it off, I have identical twin boys who hardly speak English and dress the same every day! I've had to resort calling them "JohnnyJames" (not their real names)...Oh, yeah, back to my question: Why would any sane person do this?
I can only speak for myself, but the main reason I do this is the feeling I get when I touch a child and earn his or her love. When I have that love, the child can't help but learn and grow. The sad part of my job is that I hardly have any one on one time with the kids so I need to make an extra effort to capture those moments to connect with each child.
Four and five year olds say the most amazing things. I am bone tired these days, but I always leave school with at least one funny story to share.
Yesterday, I asked a little boy if he enjoyed the 'listening center'. He replied, "Yes, but I'm really sad I missed the "L"s yesterday." (he was absent, and that was the letter of the day)
Today, another teacher found one of my students shivering under the water fountains. When asked why she was there, she said, "I left my jacket in the classroom and I'm cold. Metal conducts heat to make me warm." This same student told her mom she better get a 'back up husband' in case "something happened to daddy."
I've also had another student pretend to drink wine from her thermos and told me her dad found me on Facebook!
I didn't think Kinders could rival some of the things my second graders used to write to me in their journals:
"I am sorry. I will rescue you, my princess. From Andrew"
"I love you so much. You're so beautiful to me. I like when you work and I like your hair. Love, Alex"
"Thank you for all those stars. I really like them. I'm sorry for calling Andrew gay."
"I have a lot of questions for you, as usual. Please answer besides the letter A. 1. What is your favorite color? 2. How old is your son? 3. How old are you? Sincerely, Ian"
I never thought I could teach Kindergarten but I am discovering it's the hidden gem grade level.
An added bonus is I am able to leave by 3pm every day instead of staying until 5pm (I'm only paid until 3).
Now, if only parenting a 16 year old boy was as easy!
