The Day No One Slept

The principal had shared with all the kindergarten teachers earlier last week that she was concerned about the size of the classes. We didn't have large enough numbers to justify five teachers. Friday morning, she stopped by my classroom to tell me that Mrs. Lucky, across the hall from me, was being transferred to a school on the other side of the county. This is a good move for her - closer to her home and a nicer school. Mrs. Lucky's students were divided between the other four teachers.

I was assuming that I would get the new students on Monday morning. It was decided that we would make the transition on Friday at noon time. I didn't get the memo. We went to lunch and recess and I had my students down for a nap at precisely 12 PM. Then, I get a knock at my door and I am greeted by four little faces - frightened, sad, confused. They have their backpacks and rest mats. I take their belongings and find a spot for them to rest. None of my original 13 had time to go to sleep yet. Now they were too curious about their new classmates to consider the idea of slumber.

Previously, I had made arrangements with another kindergarten teacher to use her laptop.
(The regular teacher was supposed to give me hers and didn't. Then she went on vacation. So much is done on the computer now and it's been hard to work without one.) The county uses Macs. I don't. I was trying to figure out simple things like how do you cut and paste when my new little charges arrived. I didn't get anything done.

We attempted resting for a reasonable time. Resting wasn't happening. So I decided that we would watch a dvd with another class until time for the fund raiser assembly. The dvd player/TV wouldn't work. The students sat patiently in hopes that the teachers could figure out how to connect the proper cables. No success. We went back to our classroom to line up for the assembly. I think fund raiser assemblies should be illegal. "Put your fund raiser packet in the refrigerator by the milk!" If your child comes home from school and tells you that they were told something outlandish, you should probably believe them.

After the assembly, we went back to pack up. Dismissal was rough. My brain was tired. The other teachers' brains were tired. But we finally got them on the right bus/day care van, etc. Three out of the four new students seem to be sweet and well behaved. Then there's "Wonder". No, that's not her real name. I don't use their real names on my blog. But her given name is just as unusual. She is indeed a wonder and is already on file for a full evaluation. Pretty sad for the first week of kindergarten.

My voice is better, not perfect. I'm about 75% now. Thanks for your prayers!

Technology in the Classroom

It was nice to be in a regular classroom today and yesterday. The hard part about taking a 17 year break is that it’s hard to get back on your feet again – literally! Years ago, I was a kindergarten teacher and the only times I sat down were to collect lunch money and read a story. The rest of the day I was on my feet. These last two days I was in first grade and it’s pretty much the same scenario. My feet are killing me.

Technology in the classroom is another challenge after my hiatus. When I taught full time, two decades ago, we had one computer in the school. It was on a cart and we wheeled it into our classroom when we wanted to use it. This first grade classroom has five laptops in the computer center. Both days we’ve had some technical difficulties that I’m sure would have been easily remedied by the regular teacher. My solution was to send the children in a different direction.

Monday, Tuesday and possibly Wednesday, I’ll be in the same class. The teacher is out because of a death in the family. Thursday and Friday I will be at Holly’s school to “shadow” the teacher that I will be subbing for once she has her baby. I’m glad to finally be working! I am also glad to have the weekend to relax. John is at work tonight. The kids and I will have a simple dinner and watch We Are Marshal. What’s going on in your corner of the world?