4th Week: I like to move it, move it

Well the improvement continues. My class is really coming together, not too much insanity (no crazy fits, my two students are rocking the socks off my behavior chart too!). And this week we had some characters and funny things happen.

                                                 Amusing Anecdote of the Week: Mandy

Mandy is a student in my class who is always bringing little things from home in her backpack, they are always hidden and unexpected. One day she brought a pen with a giant stuffed tigger on the end of it, yesterday she brought Hello Kitty crayons that she wanted to use (the answer to these questions is almost always "No"-but somehow they appear out of nowhere in her hands at her desk. The girls a magician I swear). Today it was the sunglasses, she asked if she could wear them at recess. I told her yes, that would be just fine as long as she didn't wear them in the classroom. (Her response to my answer was "Hurray I'm going to wear them to a 3-D movie!" as she skipped to her cubby). She goes to put them in her cubby until recess, and comes back without a shirt. (What?! Yes that's what I said, no shirt.) Underneath her white school uniform approved shirt, she had been wearing a stylish white undershirt that (while at her cubby) she decided she wanted to show instead. When asked where her shirt was her answer was "I da know". I'm not gonna lie (while completely inappropriate) me and Ms.Griffin couldn't help but smile at her and chuckle a little bit. She's too cute for her own good. When asked to put her shirt back on, she came back with this red shirt (which by the way was on backwards when she first walked out- the girls freakin adorable). Where did this red shirt come from? I have no idea. Did I let her keep it on for the rest of the day? Yes. Yes I did. Haha

As apart of my trying to whip my students into shape, at one point during the day this last Friday I had all my students put their heads down. We weren't moving on until it was silent, when it was almost perfectly quiet- one of my kids started singing "I like to move it, move it. I like to move it, move it. I like to move it, move it. We like to MOVE IT!" I literally had to turn around and face the  white board and cover my mouth because I was laughing and was trying not to let them see it. I freakin love these kids. They rock.

3rd Week: The Claws have come out

Hey all! So the honeymoon period in the classroom is over and the real people are coming out. Am I still in love with my job? YES! In the picture on the right, that's me and my paraprofessional Ms. Griffin- she helps me out in the classroom and is wonderful. Are there crazy things that happen? Yes. I mentioned in a previous post that I have a couple students who tend to throw fits or tantrums, one of them has really improved. He had a couple really amazing days and his mom rewarded him, and I praised the guts out of him! He loves that positive praise and energy and craves it now, the other one...has had some rough days.

Last week we went to do literacy centers and he didn't want to start in rhyming, he wanted to play with blocks. When I told him he couldn't play with blocks- complete melt down. Screaming, crying, rolling on the floor. During this time he moved his name down to red, and started losing recess time. He ended up losing his whole recess. He calmed down eventually and we talked about appropriate behavior in the classroom but the real insanity happened at recess when he realized he'd really lost it. I asked him to sit on the bench at recess and the insanity started up again but this time like 10 times worse. He was outside so if he were to throw himself on the floor he could really hurt himself, consequently I had to restrain him on the bench. He kicked and punched me, Indian burned my arm and screamed "Let me go! I want my MAMA!!! MAMA!!!". There was more but you get the idea. It was bad.

Now for the good news. Nothing he did changed his consequence. He sat out the whole recess on the bench, with me. Consequently, he now behaves much better! The next few meltdowns he's had have been resolved quickly (as a result of some Heavenly inspiration, I started having students ask him to join them at the right center or at the table- the rest of the kids in the class are super helpful and willing!), he's starting to really behave like a normal student. He's started acting out a little after recess, but that is just for attention. So if I ignore him and make sure that he knows nothing is going to change unless he acts like he should- he behaves! MIRACLE OF MIRACLES! He lost fun friday and didn't even complain, he knew why and knew he didn't deserve it. He sat and put his head down the whole time. I'm so proud of him and the progress he's made, he's becoming such an amazing student. 

Rainbows and Unicorns: the 2nd Week

Well there's never a dull moment in my classroom that's for sure. I'm still loving it and so excited to go back on Monday. Have you ever had one of those moments where you just stare in shock thinking, "Did that really just happen?". That definitely happened to me this past week.

So it was a normal day at recess, the kids were racing around and having a blast. I had required one student  to sit out with me part of his recess on the bench because of his behavior in the classroom. This, of course, sent him into a fit on the floor where he proceeded to crawl away from me underneath the play structure (this isn't the crazy part). As I'm kneeling down explaining to him that he had two choices, he could choose to cry and have a fit on the floor of the playground for the entire recess or he could choose to sit with me for five minutes on the bench and than enjoy the rest of his time with his friends, I hear a hissing sound behind me. I turned around and one of my male students had decided that this was the time he needed to go to the bathroom. Oh yes, he was peeing on the play structure right near my foot. The situation was dealt with but needless to say, at first I was very shocked. 

In a writing lesson the other day, we were talking about how to draw real people and pictures that tell stories. As an example I drew a picture of when I was jumping on my parents bed and fell off and cracked my head open, great story right? Anyways, we were brainstorming what to put in the room because rooms are more than just a bed. We put a closet, a dresser, a lamp and than a student raised her hand and said "Rainbows and unicorns!". Adorable right? So of course I explained that while my parents room didn't have rainbows and unicorns I'd put them in there just for fun.

Lesson of the week: I need to be better about parent communication. If a student wets themselves, even if they already have an extra pair of clothes there, I need to call and let the parent know. If there's an incident of any type that is out of the ordinary, I need to let the parent know. They like to be involved and know what happens with their kids at school.

My first week...

Well ladies and gents, I completed my first week as a Kindergarten teacher. Can you believe it? It was definitely a little bit crazy. The week before school started I set up my classroom, the theme of my classroom is "Reach for the Stars", so everything is space themed. I have a bulletin board with an Alien and UFO. There are rockets, stars, and planets EVERYWHERE! (Sorry there's only two not so great pictures, I'll add more later- my camera died) In the picture on the right you can see my library, math and dramatic play center. Below is the guided reading area. This week was a little bit stressful, there was A LOT to get done. But it all got completed and I'm happy with the finished product. I have an amazing paraprofessional whose a fantastic worker and has helped me so much. I literally don't know what I would do in the classroom without her. She's a 6ft tall African American woman and I'm a little white girl, so we look pretty hilarious next to each other. She's awesome.

Than the kids came, I was so excited. A little nervous but definitely excited. After some adding and losing of students, I now have 19 kids (YAY!! Hurray for small class sizes) and they're wonderful. I have a really shy sweet girl in my class who has a hard time asking for anything, she waited too long to ask to go to the bathroom and while waiting in line she...had an accident. Poor thing, she was so embarrassed. We fixed it pretty quick and none of the other students figured out what was going on so no harm done there. I had another student throw up on the playground (I think it was from the heat?) anyways, a different boy saw what happened and thought it'd be funny to make himself throw up in front of the class. It wasn't. He got in big trouble. In addition to these incidents I have two students who have meltdowns once or twice a day...sometimes three times. They're both having a hard time adjusting to being in Kindergarten and being in school in general I think.

Best moment of the week,  when we talked about our hopes and dreams for the future and one of my kids said "I hoped that I'd get the best Kindergarten teacher in the world, and I got it!". Yup, that's right- best kindergarten teacher EVER right here. Oh and also, when I asked my kids at the end of our math lesson what we had learned and they answered "We learned how to sort using size, shape and color". I almost cried I was so happy. The first day I taught sorting and I asked that question I was met with silence and a lot of stares.

Biggest lesson learned, follow my gut. It's good to listen to advice but if you foresee problems with that suggested plan, they'll probably become a reality.

Another lesson learned Kindergarten is WAYYYYYYYYYY different than 1st grade. The students are young, they're emotions are more raw, their developmental level is totally different. Everything's new for them. For example, you can't just tell them to turn and talk to the person next to them about what they did that summer- you'll be met with complete silence. Trust me. You have to explain what to do, model it with a student, have a couple students model it, draw a picture to remind them and THAN most of them will at least try. I'm also learning that explaining with just words is not nearly as effective as drawing out exactly what you want them to do. Physically seeing it, helps A LOT!





I have an amazing class, I really do. They are a great group of kids, I've got some challenging ones but I wouldn't change any of them out for the world.

Love freakin ROCKS!

Hey everyone, sorry it's been awhile. On April 23 I started dating Aaron and dropped off the face of the planet. Now I'm back and ready to roll, first things first- I HAVE A BOYFRIEND! His name is Aaron Whittle, we've been friends for the last 3 1/2 years and started talking about dating on Valentines Day of all things. He lives in Utah and, after months of talking and than a couple dates when I went to Utah to graduate, we chose to give it a shot. I spent my summer in Utah with him and it was amazing. By the end of the summer we chose to continue the relationship long distance and I couldn't be happier. We do a lot of skyping, texting, talking, and e-mailing (thank heaven for technology), along with sending each other letters and packages. He makes me so unbelievably happy. Love freakin rocks.