DAY 106

Kindergarten! I really like this bunch of little people. This was my second day in this classroom this week (since I took Thursday off to take my parents to appointments) and I really enjoyed it. Sure, there was a lot of re-direction, but I tried to be gentler, and I really enjoyed having fun with them too.

I taught them how to count by 3s, which they hadn’t done. I wrote 3-6-9-12-15-18-21 on the board – we said it three times together and then I erased one number at a time and checked to see if they could still say them all. Their excitement grew with each erasure and when we got down to no numbers – only dashes, they were shouting as they said the missing numbers. I put on a shocked look and said, “You can read invisible ink?” 🙂 We did it again at the end of the day – what fun!  And – ta da – another notch in the old “Pizza Hut Song” handle. 🙂 Of course we did our work too, but there’s a lot of learning in Kindergarten that isn’t bookwork.  I don’t wish ill on their teacher, but I would love to be in this classroom again! Maybe she can take a short trip or something. 😉 There’s another teacher expecting a baby any day – will probably end up in there, but her group was more difficult.

I got and gave LOTS of hugs today too. 🙂 And now as I walk through the hallways I am greeted by many kids from other classes. “Hi, Miss Sharon!” and a few still call me Mrs. B.

Distasteful: there are the moments when someone is tunneling with a tissue up a nostril for what seems like forever, and I had to clean urine and poop off the toilet or floor twice today (not a big deal), and one girl must be hyper – she just can’t seem to do what is required – would rather flit from place to place “getting in everybody’s business.” Sigh. I sent her up into the Peace Loft (a loft which is in the corner and I think generally reserved for good-behavior kids) with a book and just let her stay there about 30-45 minutes for MY peace and quiet. Didn’t hear a peep out of her. The aide was shocked to see her up there, but it helped the classroom overall, so – I made it clear that it was a “substitute’s rule” situation only.
Oh – I actually changed a class rule for while I am there. Some classroom snacking procedures just drive me crazy – this one lets the kids snack any or all the time they want WHILE they are working from 9:20 until 10, even if they just finished school-sponsored breakfast. It’s a nuisance. So – I said “everyone who brought a snack will have one at the same time at 9:50.” It worked out much better and they didn’t mutiny. At the end of the day, the teacher spreads out plastic coated folders on the floor and the kids eat snack and do Show and Share and announcements. I just don’t like doing it that way – food on the floor bugs me. So – we did our meeting and then the kids went to their tables and had their snacks there – standing up, because we had already stacked all the chairs (which has to be done in every classroom at the end of the day in every school that doesn’t have one-piece desks!)