More Kindergarten Highlights

Yesterday morning I walked into my classroom and wondered how in the world I would make through the morning. I could barely croak out a whisper. If we were further into the school year, I would have called for a substitute. (A sub for the sub. Pretty sorry!) During the first week of kindergarten, it is critical to establish routines. They have to learn the simple things like how to unpack their backpacks and how to walk in line. I did not want to have someone else come in and confuse the poor kids. So it was with a very hoarse voice that I greeted the students yesterday morning. It seems I've suffered from laryngitis every single year that I've taught. (Maybe I'm allergic to school!) Along the way, I've learned how to manage the classroom with a weak voice. I stretched out things like the morning coloring time, song time (on a CD) and nap time. That helped some. The students are fairly well behaved and listen attentively when I do have to speak. My voice improved somewhat during the day but again, by 2 PM, it was almost gone. I wrote my plans out clearly and had all the materials laid out just in case. I knew if my voice worsened, I would have no choice but to request a substitute. Last night, I rested my voice again and wrote notes to my family instead of speaking. I was also desperate enough to gargle with peroxide.

I still had my croaking voice this morning. It was enough. And after being awake for a few hours, it sounded even better. Not good but better. Here are a few more notes about my class:

• Ray is a well dressed little boy but a slob.
  
• I got a new student today. Jimmy is quiet and loves to cut. I didn't know that you could get so many tiny pieces out of one sheet of paper.
• Dee-Dee wants to bring her school supplies home each day.
  
• We had our first fire drill today. I discussed it beforehand with the children and told them that it was just practice. Most seemed OK with that. Some knew about drills from daycare. Some were concerned about their backpacks and other belongings. What if there was a real fire? Could they bring their backpacks then? Niki was the first one in line when the fire drill bell rang. She did a good job leading the line outside but when I got to her, she was sobbing. All the discussion time and she was still frightened. Perhaps she didn't expect the bell to be so loud or to discover so many students in the hallway at one time. She told me that she didn't want to do any more fire drills. I told her that we had to. She was fine with that as long as I promised to hold her hand.
• When we went back in, I realized that I left my key on my desk and we were locked out of the room. Thankfully, we are just across the hall from the janitors' office.
• I love where my classroom is located. It is close to everything - except the special ed class that I subbed for last year!

The improvement in my voice is gradual. I did spend some time talking to my family this afternoon. I will resort to writing notes again so that I can rest my voice. I'm looking forward to tomorrow - blue jeans and a tee-shirt day! Not to mention the beginning of the weekend. How was your day?