My first year of teaching is complete! I had NO IDEA what I was getting into this time last year when I signed my contract at my school.
It was a fantastic year looking back. August 5, the evening before our first day, we had open house. When the last student/parents left, I looked around my room overflowing with school supplies & broke down. I had no idea what to do with all of the school supplies before the kids came back the next morning. There was no where for the kids to sit.
Lucky...no, luck had nothing to do with it. Blessed by God was I.. because I had an incredible mentor teacher assigned to me. Kym Buskirk came in to check on me right away & called in reinforcements. In 15 minutes, Kym, my principal, 2 other Kindergarten teachers, & an assistant teacher were helping me put finishing touches on unpacking/putting away. My principal hugged me for five minutes & has continued to mother me since that day.
I've come a long way since that day. No amount of education prepared me for organizing school supplies, teaching students with 21 different levels of ability, teaching boys how to use a urinal, teaching a student with a DD ruling (developmental delay), tiering 6 students, keeping up with paperwork, using assessments/data to make instructional decisions, wiping away tears-giving away hugs-putting on band-aids-teaching character education within the same 35 seconds, & teaching 21 sweet five & six-year-olds how to read, write, & count to 100 (& beyond).
and Ole Miss School of Education was good. My student teaching experiences were realistic, but there's nothing like being on your own to teach you how to really do this job.
My first class of students will always have a special place in my heart. Always, & they will be missed.
I have begun a new journey. Instead of teaching another year of Kindergarten, I have taken on the job of transition to first grade teacher. This will be the class for students who need an additional year before moving on to 1st grade. I will be teaching Kindergarten & first grade skills to prepare them for 1st grade. I have quite a group. It is diverse... still 17 different levels, but I get to add a new challenge this year... dealing with learning disabilities, 17 tier notebooks, & a few students with severe behavior problems.
Instead of being the sweet new teacher like I was last year, I have a new persona to take on.... serious, strict, & organized. Also, I have my first Jehovah's Witness student this year. No more lunch time prayer & Bible stories. I also have to be careful around holidays; I can't teach skeletal system at Halloween, Christmas, & Easter lessons.
Even though these things may seem negative, I am THRILLED about next year. I already love my seventeen students, know about their strengths & weaknesses, & can't wait to learn even more about teaching. :) If I'm going to teach a class like this, it needs to be during the season of my life I'm currently in... when teaching can be my focus.
I'll talk more about next year's group after Monday -- their orientation is Monday morning, & I have a parent meeting at 10 am. :) I'm planning to give them a taste of what we'll be doing in my class & teach them how to help their children with homework. These are seasoned parents.... they know how to do "big school" now. I think it'll be a better use of time to work on good study habits & answer their questions about next year. :)
WHAT SUMMER VACATION?
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Kindergarten, Calvary, & QU wedding!
School is winding down! :) I love my students so dearly & will cry when I have to say good-bye, but I am worn out. Trying to finish scrapbooks for them + end of year tests + teaching 1st grade skills to prepare them for next year = very tired, first year teacher.
I have prayed over a very important decision the past several months. I joined my church in Amory to help me become a part of this community I'm living & working in. I have taught preschool-Kindergarten choir, sung in the adult choir, & attended church regularly at this church. My pastor at Calvary, Bro. David, called me last Sunday to tell me he was praying for me & my decision... that it would be clear from God where I should be attending -- the place where I'm growing spiritually & socially.
That was God's answer... I am not growing as I should be at the new church. I feel lonely instead of feeling a part of the church. God's ministry for me has always been youth ministry... I've known this since 12th grade. I can't really do youth ministry here though without second guessing what other people could be saying about me. Questioning my integrity & rationale for working with youth, as a teacher in the schools. No one has ever said this aloud, but I can't help but to wonder if they're thinking it... maybe because I would think it? I don't know.... but I know my integrity & character was not questioned at Calvary. My purpose for working with youth ministry is to teach/minister, help the students see how they can live Godly lives as young people, & to encourage them when times get tough. I've been welcomed by so many dear people in this new town & church, but it still doesn't feel like coming home.
The past 3 weeks at Calvary, I have thoroughly enjoyed the drive to & from church (great thinking/praying time), the Sunday School lessons (Young Adult/Career Sunday School), the worship services, and being around those who love me & understand me. God is making his answer for me as bold & clear as a neon sign.
Friday was my class' Q&U wedding. It was so much fun! I didn't do it the traditional way... with one bride, one groom, & lots of wedding party. Every little girl was a bride, every little boy was a groom. Girls wore veils; boys wore Q bow-ties. They walked down an aisle with QU words all over it... written by two little girls in smocked dresses I was afraid to let go to PE. :) Their vows were to promise to follow each other at the beginning of words forever. Our reception was "homemade" cupcakes & Kool-aide. The kids in my class .... this kills me to even say it, but they have NEVER had real cupcakes. You know, the ones you make with cake mix that are so easy! I baked these cupcakes in literally 30 minutes, & as sweet Riley said, "She didn't even burn them!" On birthdays/parties, we get cupcakes, but they are store-bought (Wal-Mart) cupcakes... and trust me, I understand... it was tempting for me to just go buy those Thursday for the reception, but after I saw those kids devour the ENTIRE cupcakes (not just the frosting), I was a convert. Many said they had never had a cupcake so good, & sweet Reese told me to bring more Monday! :) Ask to see pictures from the wedding when you see me in person... they're in my purse, & the kids are darling! The owner of a ballet studio here in Amory, Sally, taught a manners lesson Friday, too. She taught the kids how to eat soup properly (with punch), how to introduce themselves to others, how to pay someone a compliment, & how to write a thank-you note. The kids wrote thank-you notes to their parents for letting them attend the Q&U wedding. Days like Friday make teaching Kindergarten SO much fun!!!
I have prayed over a very important decision the past several months. I joined my church in Amory to help me become a part of this community I'm living & working in. I have taught preschool-Kindergarten choir, sung in the adult choir, & attended church regularly at this church. My pastor at Calvary, Bro. David, called me last Sunday to tell me he was praying for me & my decision... that it would be clear from God where I should be attending -- the place where I'm growing spiritually & socially.
That was God's answer... I am not growing as I should be at the new church. I feel lonely instead of feeling a part of the church. God's ministry for me has always been youth ministry... I've known this since 12th grade. I can't really do youth ministry here though without second guessing what other people could be saying about me. Questioning my integrity & rationale for working with youth, as a teacher in the schools. No one has ever said this aloud, but I can't help but to wonder if they're thinking it... maybe because I would think it? I don't know.... but I know my integrity & character was not questioned at Calvary. My purpose for working with youth ministry is to teach/minister, help the students see how they can live Godly lives as young people, & to encourage them when times get tough. I've been welcomed by so many dear people in this new town & church, but it still doesn't feel like coming home.
The past 3 weeks at Calvary, I have thoroughly enjoyed the drive to & from church (great thinking/praying time), the Sunday School lessons (Young Adult/Career Sunday School), the worship services, and being around those who love me & understand me. God is making his answer for me as bold & clear as a neon sign.
Friday was my class' Q&U wedding. It was so much fun! I didn't do it the traditional way... with one bride, one groom, & lots of wedding party. Every little girl was a bride, every little boy was a groom. Girls wore veils; boys wore Q bow-ties. They walked down an aisle with QU words all over it... written by two little girls in smocked dresses I was afraid to let go to PE. :) Their vows were to promise to follow each other at the beginning of words forever. Our reception was "homemade" cupcakes & Kool-aide. The kids in my class .... this kills me to even say it, but they have NEVER had real cupcakes. You know, the ones you make with cake mix that are so easy! I baked these cupcakes in literally 30 minutes, & as sweet Riley said, "She didn't even burn them!" On birthdays/parties, we get cupcakes, but they are store-bought (Wal-Mart) cupcakes... and trust me, I understand... it was tempting for me to just go buy those Thursday for the reception, but after I saw those kids devour the ENTIRE cupcakes (not just the frosting), I was a convert. Many said they had never had a cupcake so good, & sweet Reese told me to bring more Monday! :) Ask to see pictures from the wedding when you see me in person... they're in my purse, & the kids are darling! The owner of a ballet studio here in Amory, Sally, taught a manners lesson Friday, too. She taught the kids how to eat soup properly (with punch), how to introduce themselves to others, how to pay someone a compliment, & how to write a thank-you note. The kids wrote thank-you notes to their parents for letting them attend the Q&U wedding. Days like Friday make teaching Kindergarten SO much fun!!!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
spring break is coming to an end...
SPRING BREAK came at the perfect time this year. The weather was beautiful (until today..) and I'm refreshed & ready to hit the ground running with my students from now until Kindergarten graduation in May.
It was so good for me to be back with my ministry -- youth. God has shaped me into a Kindergarten teacher, obviously, but I do a much better job within the church working with teenagers. This year, I've been teaching preschool choir on Wednesday nights, which makes for very long Wednesdays. I teach all day, stay late getting cleaned up & ready for Thursday, drive to choir, teach choir for an hour, go to prayer meeting, & then my own choir practice until 8:30. When I say LONG day, I mean LONG day. My patience is so thin by the time preschool choir starts, & it's so hard on me not being able to structure my choir the way I do my classroom. I can't really get on to the kids because it's church, so in turn, it's me against 17 three-six-year-olds, and they run all over me. This doesn't happen at school because I am so structured, but I don't know how to maintain a structured church classroom without stepping on anyone's mama's toes. Next year, I've got to get away from this and start doing what I was designed to do- minister to teenagers.
One of the BIGGEST challenges I've faced this year is figuring out when on earth to assess my students. Supposedly, first-year-teachers typically struggle with classroom management, paper work, lesson planning, feeling secluded, etc... I don't have any of those problems. I had trouble with classroom management until the fourth day of school, when my principal asked me if I needed help getting my class under control. That was enough for me to evaluate what was going on & to get it under control, and I did.
Paper work takes time, but I'm good about not waiting until the last minute to do things. I've got my kids sample work divided by subject (language & math), we keep a writing portfolio, their assessments are updated & organized.
Lesson planning is time-consuming but it comes pretty naturally for me. Learning to not plan way too much was something I needed to work on at the beginning of the year, but I've got it down now.
Feeling secluded was never, ever an issue. I have a wonderful mentor teacher, Kym, who experiments with my ideas with me, is honest when things are good or terrible, gives me lots of materials & ideas, and ends up mentoring me with other aspects of my life, outside of teaching. She knows more about my personal life than my own family does.
My biggest hurdle is when do you test these babies? It's not like I can put up dividers & give them tests whole-group like you can with older students. We do have to test this way sometimes (Terra Nova, Kindergarten grade-level tests, etc), but for me to know which letters of the alphabet my students know & don't know, I have to test them away from their classmates. Did you know 5 year olds cheat without knowing they're cheating? They do. They can pretend to know the answer just by waiting a half-second after someone else has answered the question & then they'll write it or say it aloud. In college, I was always told, assess while you teach. Give the students a project or activity, and assess the skills as they work, but it is NOT that easy with five-year-olds who are new to the world of cutting, gluing, coloring, and writing. I am proud of my students' progress, don't get me wrong, but the only time I've found I can test my kids individually is during centers *when I should be teaching a guided reading group!!
I was working on my lesson plans for this week... getting so excited about teaching a writing lesson during my small group time & I realized, I've got to be finishing up this checklist... which means instead of teaching my fun lesson, I have to pass it on to my assistant teacher to teach & I get to assess. I wish first year teachers could get student teachers. I got to do all of these kinds of lessons while my supervising teacher assessed, so the kids were able to get it all in. AND oh my goodness, to observe a first year teacher's struggles in the classroom might be awesome for knowing what to expect & overcome the next year. Experienced teachers sometimes forget all that goes on in the first year... I get asked all the time, "Why are you going up to the school today? It's Saturday!" But I don't have materials already prepared & laminated from previous years. Also, I don't do well under pressure. My pencils had better be sharpened before my kids walk in the door or the chaos will make me crazy.
It was so good for me to be back with my ministry -- youth. God has shaped me into a Kindergarten teacher, obviously, but I do a much better job within the church working with teenagers. This year, I've been teaching preschool choir on Wednesday nights, which makes for very long Wednesdays. I teach all day, stay late getting cleaned up & ready for Thursday, drive to choir, teach choir for an hour, go to prayer meeting, & then my own choir practice until 8:30. When I say LONG day, I mean LONG day. My patience is so thin by the time preschool choir starts, & it's so hard on me not being able to structure my choir the way I do my classroom. I can't really get on to the kids because it's church, so in turn, it's me against 17 three-six-year-olds, and they run all over me. This doesn't happen at school because I am so structured, but I don't know how to maintain a structured church classroom without stepping on anyone's mama's toes. Next year, I've got to get away from this and start doing what I was designed to do- minister to teenagers.
One of the BIGGEST challenges I've faced this year is figuring out when on earth to assess my students. Supposedly, first-year-teachers typically struggle with classroom management, paper work, lesson planning, feeling secluded, etc... I don't have any of those problems. I had trouble with classroom management until the fourth day of school, when my principal asked me if I needed help getting my class under control. That was enough for me to evaluate what was going on & to get it under control, and I did.
Paper work takes time, but I'm good about not waiting until the last minute to do things. I've got my kids sample work divided by subject (language & math), we keep a writing portfolio, their assessments are updated & organized.
Lesson planning is time-consuming but it comes pretty naturally for me. Learning to not plan way too much was something I needed to work on at the beginning of the year, but I've got it down now.
Feeling secluded was never, ever an issue. I have a wonderful mentor teacher, Kym, who experiments with my ideas with me, is honest when things are good or terrible, gives me lots of materials & ideas, and ends up mentoring me with other aspects of my life, outside of teaching. She knows more about my personal life than my own family does.
My biggest hurdle is when do you test these babies? It's not like I can put up dividers & give them tests whole-group like you can with older students. We do have to test this way sometimes (Terra Nova, Kindergarten grade-level tests, etc), but for me to know which letters of the alphabet my students know & don't know, I have to test them away from their classmates. Did you know 5 year olds cheat without knowing they're cheating? They do. They can pretend to know the answer just by waiting a half-second after someone else has answered the question & then they'll write it or say it aloud. In college, I was always told, assess while you teach. Give the students a project or activity, and assess the skills as they work, but it is NOT that easy with five-year-olds who are new to the world of cutting, gluing, coloring, and writing. I am proud of my students' progress, don't get me wrong, but the only time I've found I can test my kids individually is during centers *when I should be teaching a guided reading group!!
I was working on my lesson plans for this week... getting so excited about teaching a writing lesson during my small group time & I realized, I've got to be finishing up this checklist... which means instead of teaching my fun lesson, I have to pass it on to my assistant teacher to teach & I get to assess. I wish first year teachers could get student teachers. I got to do all of these kinds of lessons while my supervising teacher assessed, so the kids were able to get it all in. AND oh my goodness, to observe a first year teacher's struggles in the classroom might be awesome for knowing what to expect & overcome the next year. Experienced teachers sometimes forget all that goes on in the first year... I get asked all the time, "Why are you going up to the school today? It's Saturday!" But I don't have materials already prepared & laminated from previous years. Also, I don't do well under pressure. My pencils had better be sharpened before my kids walk in the door or the chaos will make me crazy.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Spring Break
My Plans for Spring Break:
(check) Calvary!!!
___ Finish Beth Moore's new book, "So Long, Insecurity!" I had no idea I was insecure until I began reading this book.
___ Babysit my niece & her little sister for two days while her mom picks up her daddy from the airport -- he's coming home from Iraq!!!
___ Spring clean my ignored house.
___ Back Yard Bible Club with Calvary Youth
___ Mission trip to Memphis with Calvary Youth
___ Winter Jam Concert with Calvary Youth
___ Lesson plans for next week.
___ Go up to the school for only one day to clean & get ready for next week. I repeat to myself... one day.
___ Start planning end-of-Kindergarten scrapbook pages.
I love Spring Break. I have missed my sweet youth so much this year! It's hard going from having a ministry at your church that you are totally invested in for five years to a brand new church struggling to find your ministry. I love FBC Amory, but I have learned this year that teaching preschool choir isn't my ministry. God didn't design me to teach choir. It takes a special, patient, possibly non-teacher to teach 3-6 year olds. And I'm alone with 17 of these preschoolers & Kindergarteners. Next year, I may work with youth. That's my forte at church, I think. :) I love little sweet kids at school, but they know their boundaries with me at school & I can be firm with them & they know I still love them. At church, it's kind of hard to be firm with the kids because it's... church. Today, I went to eat lunch with Kathryn Wynn, Katie Cagle, Shelby Davis, & Lindsay Newell & I realized how much I miss working/hanging out with youth girls. It's my God-thing, & for me to be useful in this little bitty town of Amory, I think I need to do my God-thing.
(check) Calvary!!!
___ Finish Beth Moore's new book, "So Long, Insecurity!" I had no idea I was insecure until I began reading this book.
___ Babysit my niece & her little sister for two days while her mom picks up her daddy from the airport -- he's coming home from Iraq!!!
___ Spring clean my ignored house.
___ Back Yard Bible Club with Calvary Youth
___ Mission trip to Memphis with Calvary Youth
___ Winter Jam Concert with Calvary Youth
___ Lesson plans for next week.
___ Go up to the school for only one day to clean & get ready for next week. I repeat to myself... one day.
___ Start planning end-of-Kindergarten scrapbook pages.
I love Spring Break. I have missed my sweet youth so much this year! It's hard going from having a ministry at your church that you are totally invested in for five years to a brand new church struggling to find your ministry. I love FBC Amory, but I have learned this year that teaching preschool choir isn't my ministry. God didn't design me to teach choir. It takes a special, patient, possibly non-teacher to teach 3-6 year olds. And I'm alone with 17 of these preschoolers & Kindergarteners. Next year, I may work with youth. That's my forte at church, I think. :) I love little sweet kids at school, but they know their boundaries with me at school & I can be firm with them & they know I still love them. At church, it's kind of hard to be firm with the kids because it's... church. Today, I went to eat lunch with Kathryn Wynn, Katie Cagle, Shelby Davis, & Lindsay Newell & I realized how much I miss working/hanging out with youth girls. It's my God-thing, & for me to be useful in this little bitty town of Amory, I think I need to do my God-thing.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Ooblek Recipe
Recipe for Ooblek (I used more of everything since I made enough for 21 Kindergarteners).
2 cups of corn starch
3 drops of green food coloring
enough water to make a thick mixture (about the texture of pancake batter) I usually measure equal amounts of water and corn starch, but mix water in slowly.
2 cups of corn starch
3 drops of green food coloring
enough water to make a thick mixture (about the texture of pancake batter) I usually measure equal amounts of water and corn starch, but mix water in slowly.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
I love the fact that I'm thinking about end-of-the-year scrapbooks... the year is coming to a close! My class is absolutely amazing. I have so many little readers now, & they blew their MAP test out of the water! I had so many students who scored 30-40 points higher on this test in March than they did in December (out of 100 points)!! I hope they know how grateful I am for that... my students' scores are nearly identical to the veteran teachers' students!! I'm not sure if that's a big deal, but it reassures me that I've taught them something this year. :)
Dr. Seuss week was by-far the best week of Kindergarten... If my students voted right now, the boys would all pick Ooblek on Friday.. no questions asked. The girls might, too, but I saw sweet smiles out of 2 boys who would rather be in a tree or in a mud puddle than in my class some days. "Bartholomew & the Ooblek" is a very insanely long book for Kindergarten, but my kids listened so intently & every single one of them made a 100 on their AR test (that NEVER happens). They knew listening would result in playing in ooblek that afternoon.
Next year, I am going to do so many things differently, but overall, I have to say year one has been so much fun. :)
Dr. Seuss week was by-far the best week of Kindergarten... If my students voted right now, the boys would all pick Ooblek on Friday.. no questions asked. The girls might, too, but I saw sweet smiles out of 2 boys who would rather be in a tree or in a mud puddle than in my class some days. "Bartholomew & the Ooblek" is a very insanely long book for Kindergarten, but my kids listened so intently & every single one of them made a 100 on their AR test (that NEVER happens). They knew listening would result in playing in ooblek that afternoon.
Next year, I am going to do so many things differently, but overall, I have to say year one has been so much fun. :)
Friday, January 22, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)