Week One

It's been a few days since I've blogged... sorry for the delay.

I'm in my apartment listening to Miles Davis tonight. I have always enjoyed jazz music, but his stuff I really like. Very relaxing. Makes me want to write or study or something unusually rare. :)

Week One as a Teacher -
My first week of teaching Kindergarten was really good! I have quickly realized, though, that passion isn't enough sometimes. Preparation is a huge necessity. So, as a teacher, lesson planning for each class is essential. I think this first week I took preparation too lightly. Too boring. I won't be thinking that way anymore. I thought, eh, I love kids, and I love teaching - this will be cake. Nope. Having 10 minutes left over in a class full of 16 five-year-olds doesn't go so well no matter how much passion you have. Heh. Keeping their attention is hard to do even when you have something planned, let alone when you run out of things in your lesson plan. "Okay, kids, who wants another coloring page?!" ... Plus, being out on Thursday due to a stomach virus didn't help much - I feel a bit behind. I feel much better about this next week. Interesting side note: Kindergartners don't have school on Friday afternoons! BUT teachers have meetings. Just when I thought I had more time to plan, it was snatched away.

I was just thinking, my favorite part about teaching so far is seeing the kids faces light up when they finally grasp a new concept. I love pointing to a picture of a vocabulary word and hearing the whole class shout out at the top of their lungs the correct answer - "PENCIL!!". When we are going through their little student books and I say something like, "Ooo! Who can point to the pencil case? Pencil case...", some of my students will call me over to their tables just to show me that they have the right answer... it's really cute. Though this next favorite doesn't have much to do with teaching directly, it's a wonderful feeling when the kids come into class saying, "Teacher Emily! Teacher Emily!", running over to my desk or wherever I happen to be in the room to give me a big hug...

My students really like puppets. I have Mr. Frog and Mr. Monkey. They especially get a kick out of the different voices the two of them can make. One class I had to teach the whole 30 minutes with Mr. Frog; it held their attention.

I have figured out who my "testers" are. In class one, I have two boys, one named Daniel (who is very squirmy and likes to dance while he's seated in his table. He can't contain his excitement for English class, I suppose. Heh) and one named Sean (who likes to laugh at everything). They like attention, so rather than continually discipline them, I pick them to help me with different activities, though there are times when they disobey that I have to send them to the back of the room to stand in the sad box for a few minutes. Sean doesn't take discipline very seriously, laughing while standing in the back of the room, so I'm going to have to think of something different for him. Let me know if you have any ideas.

The class two tester is a boy (always seem to be the boys...) named Kai. He did not want to do anything I told him to do, and wouldn't even go to the sad box. I had to carry him over and make him stand there. As I started bringing out the puppets and class was interesting and he could see other kids having fun, he asked me if he could sit down at the table and learn. So, I told him it was okay with me and handed him his book. He ended up being one of the kids who would call me over to show that he had the right answer... :)

There is something about the way the some parents really push education on their children, so much so that they sort of start to live in a dream world, thinking their child can do anything, regardless of age. There is a student named Ethan in one of my classes who does nothing but cry the whole time. Literally. And it's loud too. He is supposed to be a level below, but his dad thinks he can handle it. He can't. If he can't stop crying through class by the time Wednesday comes around (the week marker), I am told he will be going back to the level he should be at. Luckily, that situation will be handled by my principal and not me.

Anyways.
That's a bit about my first week. I hope and strive to make a difference in these childrens' lives. I am honored to be their teacher.

Until next time,
E