W0RK WORK WORK, THAT'S ALL I EVER DO

This post is for Whirlwind, so she can understand the life of this teacher.

I work in schools with kids whose parents, for the most part, have not worked with them at home to learn:
letters
numbers
how to spell their name
how to write their name
how to use a pair of scissors
how to color with crayons

So when I get them I don't know what they can do or what they can't. I have to figure that out as we go and it is like herding cats. They all want to talk about themselves and if you pose a question to the class... at least three of the ones you call on ask if they can get a drink or go potty.

I actually found myself answering a student who asked me another question like I was a kid the other day... out of exhaustion.

I have not taught Kinder before. I have always wanted to. It is the hardest work I have ever done, and I am loving it.

I did not have all the "manipulatives" I wanted to have, and many have to be "made" or produced to fit what I want them to.

For instance: This week the letter we are learning is R... I know I know, we don't follow the alphabet and I don't know why but I am not asking that question... I can't question everything.

I have to figure out things that start with R... now before you think of them for me, I have already pulled all my stuff for them, so if you want to be helpful, look at S or B for me.
I have a box of stuff from a hundred years ago that another teacher pawned off on me. I look through it, there is some great stuff, Rabbit, Raccoon, Raft Races, Racing Car races, etc. I have to create centers that go with it, along with learning centers with homemade playdoh (which I hope to make tomorrow if I can find a good recipe), and projects for them to take home to remember the letter R. I have all that, we are going to make a Rabbit puzzle, you color and cut out and he is by an R. There is a Racing Raccoon story book they will color cut out and put in order after I read the story to them on the felt board (thank goodness the story was already done by the hundred year old teacher) and then we will make racing rafts out of popsicle sticks and paint them red. (thought about rainbow painting...nah, too much)
then there is the raccoon paperbag puppet, and the paper racetrack and cars to use with magnets to race.

And my friends, that is just for the letter R. We are reading Mary Wore Her Red Dress, working on sequencing, we have to make a bubble map, read the chants, read the poems, have time to have guided reading in a small book, find the words that start with R. Find the words that are the sight words we are learning for the week, last week they were can and am, I am not sure what they are this week...read alouds that work with the letter R, like Little Red Riding Hood, the Little Red Hen, Clifford the big Red dog... and we are working with all the colors, not just red, in Math. Sorting and shapes is the math.. have to learn all the shapes, and colors, which most of my students know, but some don't. Then throw 3-D shapes in. Bring two food boxes, two cans, some ice cream cones and party hats to school as a demo...

My list of supplies is endless and I haven't even gone over Math centers or Science or Social Studies.

The woman who was in the room before me knew she wasn't going to teach again, much less in our district, she wanted to be a principal, so she left me a mess, I don't know what I have or recognize some things for what they are until I hear what I need some times. Then I go, oh yeah, I saw that, where did I put it? I don't know.

It takes time to prepare, I am a perfectionist, feeling my way through it for the first year... plus I always have the "oh but I want to do this instead" syndrome, so that means more preparation. While I am there with kids, they have to have the entire day with attention. I get nothing done besides them so I have to be ready... and each day, someone says, you need this poster made by such and such, or you should have this on your wall, and I have something else I have to create from scratch... it all takes time. So yeah, I stay late, I go to Make and Takes, which is where I was Thursday, and an ATPE dinner (prof. org). I take professional dev. sessions, and I write very detailed lesson plans, I teach myself a new song a week. I like the days of the week sung to the Addams Family theme, so I don't mind singing it everyday. I don't want to sing a song I don't like.

I just set up the listening center yesterday so the kids can listen to books on tape and go through the books. I pulled the tapes that go with my big books and chants and poems, so I can play them sometimes instead of reading.

Then we go to Art, Music, PE, computer lab, library, and counselor, and my class is split for specials, Art Music and PE. So, five of each go with another class, and I have to keep up with all their rotating schedules and if they made it to that place...

and much much more. Yesterday they handed me progress reports... I put them down and said that when someone explained to me what I was suppose to consider I would fill them out.

I don't get in a hurry like I once did. If I don't send something home the same day the office gives it to me, I don't care... I will send it the next day.. unless time is of the essence, then I do.

I suspect that teachers who have taught Kinder for years can leave shortly after school is out, esp. if their students came to them with more skills and there is parental involvement by all parents, or almost all parents. I don't fit into any of those categories, so it multiplies (as someone else said to me, and I love the analogy) exponentially in the amount of time I spend preparing for each week.

When parents or other adults come in, and they see what herding 22 baby cats is like, they usually say something to the tune of "I don't know how you do it).

I don't either, but I love it.