This week I began student teaching in a Kindergarten classroom and I...LOVE IT. The teachers, the children, the school, the craziness. I am in a whirlwind of seeing my future and observing the skills that I will need to succeed in a room full of 19 five year olds. I am exhausted, physically, and each night feel as though I have been skiing for 8 hours. My body is sore from bending down, kneeling, dancing, and overseeing the interactions between 19 little humans who are learning how to socialize while simultaneously learning what the alphabet is and what rectangles are. My mentor teacher is fantastic, with a sweet and soft voice. She has gained the love and trust of each child in there, including the one on an IEP and the one who may have been abused by a religious cult in his short 6 years of life. She has somehow managed to create a caring and trusting classroom. I look forward to finding out how.
I now know all 19 names, but for this public blog, they will be changed to keep their identities confidential. Little Curly is my favorite so far (Yes, all teachers have favorites. We just can't show it), a sensitive boy who hugs me each morning and tells me something new. Quite a few students have already looked at me with big eyes to inform me that they love me. How could I not return that sentiment?! These children are easy to love so far and yet I am still learning each individual personality. Red is the perfect, know-it-all only child who can tell you everybody's business. Who's mitten is this? Red will know. What word is this? She will know how to sound it out. Why do pinecones close up on themselves when you put them in water? She somehow knew the answer to that too.
Albert is an advanced reader and writer. One who is reading almost at a second grade level. He is an expert on bats and has gotten the high scores on the formative assessments. He raises his hand all the time and is most likely not receiving the amount of individual support that he needs to keep advancing, considering there are students who still do not know some of their letters.
Throughout the year, I am sure I will get to the whole class in mini descriptions. For now, however, I hope to reflect on my teacher's style and her classroom management skills. As I said, her sweet and quiet voice surprised me amidst all of these very well-behaved kids. She disciplines with a disappointed voice, not an angry one. What makes this work is the way the children care about her feelings, as well as the feelings of their peers. "Ronald, it's making me very sad that you're talking over me," is oddly enough to get Ronald to readjust and start listening. There need not be yelling. Her voice is firm, but not angry, just disappointed. I was a child who hated the disappointed voice too. That was enough. I just wonder if this would work for a different group of kids. I guess you find out what works.
I have to say, I am a little bummed I don't get to observe what the first 6 weeks of school was like. Those are apparently this critical weeks of building the classroom vibe, discipline, expectations, and relationships. Those are the weeks of foundation. I get to see the smooth routines of the day and those all stem from those 6 weeks. Not that my classroom is perfect, but I am in awe of the difference between these Kindergarteners and the way Preschoolers operate in the school I worked in the last 3 years. The preschoolers I know will punch each other, hurt each other, and are basically uncontrollable. There is little empathy with them. I want to see how those children could become Kindergarteners who care. I suppose some of it is developmental, but I think a lot of it is how the teachers promote logical consequences for unacceptable behavior. If you waste time during word work, you WILL make it up during choice time. If you can't handle sitting next to your friends at meeting, you WILL be moved to a new spot. This children are learning self-control and self-regulation. It is up to the teachers to set these expectations, boundaries and follow through with consequences.
A lot of people put down teachers and teaching. This weekend my housemate made fun of my textbook, "Teaching Children to Care." "So what did teachers DO without that book, Meghann!?" He laughed as though teaching young children is something so easy and so innate. Why would you need a book? But that's not all...some other quotes by him included, "So you like...don't have any homework this semester? Wow, that's nice. It must be nice to have an easy semester" EASY!? I am working 40 hours a week plus extra hours for various meetings and planning. I am waking up at 6 am every morning and don't come home until 5:30 some days. I will eventually be taking on every part of the day as the main teacher. Trust me, this is not easy.
And finally, my favorite: "Do you ever wish you taught older kids so you could actually teach them stuff?" Because apparently learning your letters and phonemes and how to read and write (not to mention all the social-emotional skills) isn't real "stuff." I've decided to just ignore those comments.
Another point I wanted to reflect on is the perspective of my mentor teaching. One day after school, I talked with her about her journey. She has been there 10 years and she told me that there was one day this week where her friend was trying to convince her to play hooky. She told me how she honestly could not relate to her friend's desire to skip out on her job. "I love my job! I have a new student teacher, I love my children, I don't want to skip. I'm excited to go to work! And I realize that that's really rare." I can relate to this. While many of my peers are often complaining about their major or are realizing in their 4th year of school that that's really not what they want to do with their lives, I am blessed to be in a field that I adore. I even loved the Tuesday staff meeting! Yeah, I may be a freak, but I'm excited to learn a lot this semester.
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