Wow! Is time ever flying by or what?!? I’m already to the middle of October. Things are starting to get better (at least for now). The past two weeks were rather rough, but I finished off Friday on a HUGE positive note. Let’s venture back two weeks…. (it feels like a long, long time ago).
The day after I penned my last entry, I started off the day by fielding a complaint about a parent of a child who had a jump rope tied around his neck the previous day at recess…
You talk about scary!?! Holy crap.
I almost passed out when she confronted me about it. Luckily, the parents were very calm and civilized. I hadn’t a clue about what happened. I was the only one out on the playground when the incident occurred and I distinctly remember it being a day where there were skinned knees a-plenty. As the parents stood there waiting, my assistant (who is pregnant), was running incredibly late. This did not help things at all. Luckily, we had a special at 8:15 that day.
As the parents stood there, waiting, I carried on with my usual group time, prior to music class. We talked about the day and we role played what to do when someone’s hurting you. I walked the students down to music, then ran back to talk further with the parents. My principal arrived shortly thereafter. Luckily, she was very understanding. I was petrified. The parents explained that they were very upset about the situation and that they did not want it to happen to anyone else again. While this was happening, the crier and the wanderer were down in music class driving the music teacher up the WALL.
After talking with the parents and agreeing to have both myself and my assistant outside on recess (Prior to the incident, one would go out and one would stay in and prepare snack or the next activity). As the parents left, I ran down to music class to explain why one of us was not with the music teacher. He understood completely. I swear I felt like a firefighter that morning. I then talked to the wanderer and the crier about why they got kicked out of class.
NOTE: I only got 6 hours of sleep due to watching the Tiger playoff game the previous night.
The rest of the morning, I was off and the students could sense it. Every few minutes, something else was happening. X kid hit Y kid, Z kid didn’t want to do their center, L kid was crying because the D kid accidentally bumped into them.
IT WAS CRAAAAAAAAAAAZY!
That morning, the crier tore up one of the books that I checked out from the library as well. That afternoon, I called his mother and demanded that either herself or the criers’ sister come in and help us out until we can brainstorm some strategies. The crier’s sister came in and helped out the next day and his mom came in after school for a conference. I really wasn’t that nervous considering that it was my first parent-teacher conference. I printed the log that I created regarding his behavior and we brainstormed.
No sweat.
We brainstormed strategies and agreed that I need to be tougher on him and that mom would attach consequences at home to his behavior in school. The next day, the behavior continued. He continued to blatantly ignore me. He tried pulling me down by grabbing my ankles, and was very difficult. The following week (last week), his behavior continued. By the end of Tuesday, I came very close to telling my principal that he could not stay in my classroom.
To cut a long story short, my principal pretty much told another Kindergarten teacher that she either has to take the crier or the wanderer. After the crier spent Thursday and Friday in her room, she decided to take him. So, today was the first day that he was in there. I could not be any happier.
In other news, I’m continuing to settle into this whole teaching thing. Each week, I get a little bit further ahead and continue to do things a little more efficiently. This is a good feeling.
My lessons may not always go perfectly, however I’m definitely getting the hang of this thing. There’s certainly days where I think ‘why in the hell did you choose Kindergarten of all grades, to teach your first year’ and I’ve had thoughts of getting my masters’ in either physical education or Kinesiology.
I like teaching, but I don’t like the other things like bulletin boards, keeping track of all sorts of stuff, and having such a large space to keep organized. I suppose that it is natural not to like every aspect of your job. I’ll gladly admit that I do not do a ton of lesson planning because I don’t really like to sit around for 2 hours when football’s on, planning, nor do I like to sit around for 2 hours after a long day of teaching, writing plans. I always have a basic idea in my mind about what I want to teach, but I’ll typically grab a book or utilize whatever is surrounding me to help me teach. I love being in front of the kids, but I dislike the other stuff…
I’m loving the fact that the Tigers are doing so well in the playoffs… I’m not getting enough sleep, but my Tigers are winning, so no matter what happens at school, I’m happy.
Speaking of which, I was fortunate enough to get game 3 tickets to see the Tigers and the A’s, second row this past Friday. You talk about a nice reward for a tough couple of weeks, holy crap! Add to that the fact that they won game 4 and are in the World Series and I’m very happy.
In fact, today, as my children were at their learning centers, I was able to procure 2 game 2 tickets to the World Series. I’m pumped. I just have to figure out who I’m going with or if I’m going to take to the game or if I’m going to sell the second ticket and make a good chunk of change.
I don’t care how challenging this week is, I’M GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Kid Teacher