glad I’m not a first year teacher November 4, 2009

On Monday Miss Slinger called before work to say that she was not feeling well, and wouldn’t be in.  I said that was fine, and was on my way to work before I remembered that my Monday help (a special ed teacher and a Spanish speaking aide) had both emailed last week to switch to Tuesdays.  I was at work before I remembered that someone from the local university was going to be in to do a formal observation of me and my classroom (it’s part of a study I agreed to participate in).  And then five minutes later I found out that we had a mandatory staff meeting.

The staff meeting was sad — a disabled boy from an older grade died suddenly over the weekend.  I didn’t know him, but many teachers did, and the mood of the staff was somber.  When we were done discussing the impact of this loss on the staff and students, I had to go to a meeting with a teacher I would be observing the next day.  So I got back to class with only about five minutes to get ready, and there was my observer.

For some reason, this did not stress me out.  I’m usually a stress monster, but I was just amused.   And I kept a smile on my face all morning.

I smiled as the kids came in, signed in, and got to work on their journals.  The woman from the university looked surprised, but I’ve set up some really great routines in my class, and my students know exactly what to do.

I smiled as they worked in their centers, and as I rotated from center to center to talk to them about their work.  “Oh, the house corner is on fire again?  You guys know what to do.  Call 911 so the firefighters can come put it out….”

And mostly I smiled because I am no longer a first year teacher, and I have years of rich experience to draw on.  My classroom is a humming place because my years of struggle and trying to figure out what I was doing are behind me.

Sometimes it’s nice not to be young anymore!

I love this class October 28, 2009

We walked to the library today for preschool storytime.  When I had the kids on the carpet in our room to remind them about walking safely, holding hands, crossing the street, and all that, Cherry raised her hand.

“We can listen to the cars say ‘RRR!’” she said.  (We learned the /r/ sound this week, with a story about getting in a race car, turning the key in the ignition, and hearing the engine go “RRRR”!  The hand motion for R is turning a key.)

“You’re right, ” I said.  I’d never had a child make that connection before.  “We can listen for cars going ‘RRR’.  We can also look for the letter R and the other letters we know on signs.”

So we started walking and pretty soon they were seeing S, M, A, R, and T everywhere.  (Yeah, somehow the letters I’ve taught them so far spell out SMART.  That was totally unplanned, but wonderfully appropriate.)  I have never had a class like this one.  They really listen to what I teach them, and then they talk about it while playing, or walking, or drawing.

We got to the library in plenty of time, and my class was beautifully behaved, as usual.  The story theme was monsters.

I crossed my legs (the grownups were in chairs) and Pumpkin noticed my foot near him.  He turned and gave me a beatific smile.

He held my foot lovingly for the rest of storytime.

And when we got back to school, I gave them a long recess and everyone pretended to be a monster.

pumpkin, my pumpkin October 27, 2009

The special ed teacher who comes to my class once a week to work with two of my other babies pulled me aside after class the other day.

“You know, I was watching Pumpkin today and he seems like he’s doing much better.  He’s even in line right now, with the other kids.”

She’s right.  He has been learning.  He has learned school routines, and he knows where he’s supposed to be at any given time, and even what he is supposed to be doing.  He still interrupts me, but he is more likely to be able to answer questions, or to be on-topic in a conversation.

When we did our letter sounds today, he looked at me when I showed the M card, rubbed his tummy, grinned, and said, “MMMMM!”

checking in September 17, 2009

This is a snuggly class.  They are constantly touching me.  I call it “checking in.”  A child comes up to me, holds my hand for a minute, and then runs back to play.  Another child comes and leans on me for a while, and then when he leaves, another child comes over for a hug.  They don’t even talk about it, they just come and get their little snuggle, and off they go.

We read “Snuggle Wuggle” today, and I told them that we were reading it because they are so snuggly.  A few of them then proudly announced that they were planning to snuggle me at recess.  And sure enough, several children came over to me at different times to lean on me.

two sets of hands are better than one August 21, 2009

I’m going into the weekend feeling pretty Zen.

This morning Ms. Mellow and I met at school, and kept chatting, and all of a sudden, all the furniture was in the right place, and a lot of baskets and organizers were, too.  We are farther along than I thought we’d be, so I’m ready to officially return to work Monday, and spend lots of time in meetings and staff development.  We’ll have enough time to get the room presentable for the open house on Thursday, which is great.

It has been interesting talking to her as we go along.  We put up the calendar, which led to a conversation about calendar time, and all the options with that.  We put up a pocket chart, and I told her how I use it for a word wall to go with each theme.  We talked about the science center, which definitely needs work, and how I’d be happy to follow her lead there.

It’s a good experience to talk about what you do in the classroom, because it makes you think about WHY you do it.

Here’s what I’m going to do today August 14, 2009

Yep, going kayaking on the lake.  My children are coming with me, and it’s sort of our last summer activity.  Next week they will be at camp, and I’ll be running around madly, starting to get my room ready, and trying to finish all the things I was supposed to do this summer.  (The week after that I’m back at work.)

But that’s next week.  Today, it’s still summer.

Ahh, summer vacation June 15, 2009

I have been absent from blogging for three weeks now, and I apologize to anyone who might have missed me.  The last few weeks of the year were crazy.  I was under the weather (the migraines continue) and just couldn’t bring myself to write.  Now I am back and I will have stories to tell about the end of the year.  Including the one about the preschooler who got suspended…..

In the meantime, I’m cleaning house, sleeping in, reading vampire novels, and enjoying my family.

hugging May 7, 2009

Today right before I was going to start explaining the options for centers time, Princess interrupted me.

“Can I have a hug?”

“Not right now, sweetie.”  She pouted.

I said, “You can have a hug when I give you your clothespin for centers time.”

Someone else said, “Can I have one, too?”

“Of course.  When I call your name to get your clothespin, I’ll ask if you want a hug, and then I will give you one.  If you say no, though, you don’t have to have a hug.”

So every single child — except for Harold, who never wants hugs from me — got the clothespin with their name on it, and a hug from the teacher, before going off to put their clothespins on the centers time pocket chart.  It was disgustingly cute.

Donald Crews April 17, 2009

 

We are learning about Transportation now, and my bookshelf is full of books about trains, planes, buses, boats, and cars.  Of course we have a Donald Crews shelf — with Truck, Freight Train, and Sail Away on it.

 

Princess finished her journal page this morning, then took Freight Train off the shelf and brought it to me.

“Teacher, what does this say?”

“Freight Train,” I told her.

“fff,” she said, pointing to the letter F.

“Yes, that’s right, that’s the word Freight.  Freight starts with F.”

“Duh, duh, duh, ” she said, pointing to the D. 

“Yup, that’s D.  D is for Donald.  Donald Crews wrote the words and he drew the pictures.  And you know something else about Donald Crews?” I asked.

“What?”

“He has brown skin, just like you do.”

“I LOVE this book!” she yelled, and clutched it to her chest.

spring break April 8, 2009

I haven’t been posting because I am on spring break, in a warm place with sand and palm trees and — most importantly — margaritas.

I am a happy teacher who is having a well-deserved lazy vacation in the sun.  I have read three novels in four days and just started novel #4.  Also — in reference to Mrs. V  — I have a fresh pedicure with coral nail polish, and now my toes look lovely, too.

See you soon, back in the real world.