Blisters, cuts, and bruises...oh my! Where can I trade in for new feet? Ouch! Boy these little munchkins are wearing me out but I love it!
Day 3 came and went! First thing in the morning we had a surprise visit from our Superintendent...yikes!! My classroom was probably the first on the drive by list...heehee! First only because I'm in the same hallway as the office and he came from that direction. Thank goodness my munchkins are still in shock mode and were very quiet first thing in the morning. Dr. Z was very nice and greeted them. Kuddos to my munchkins they remembered how to respond back when someone says Good Morning!
Sometime during the day I knew I would be having a Walk Through from my principal, which is a mini evaluation. We also call those drive by's...heehee! They have been instructed to do 125 so they'll be poppin in from time to time.
The routines are beginning to flow and the munchkins are starting to learn the rules. They were excited to learn their first word~Me! It's fun to ask them who knows how to read and one or two raises their hand and the others start saying I don't know how. When I tell them they all know how to read they fight me on it and keep say No I don't know how to read. I have this cute little boy who was getting upset when I would tell him Yes you can and he would tell me No really I can't! To their surprise I tell them they all can read and I can prove it to them. I draw three things...an eye, a heart, and letter U. We go through each symbol and talk about what each means or represents and then when they read and tell me I Love You that's when it hits them that they were reading. I try to encourage that they can read so they won't shut down and keep telling me I can't (which by the way is a bad word in my class!) I tell them that there are so many different ways to read and they've been reading for a long time and that's why they're the Best Kinder Class! It takes them awhile to believe me but they come around. They can read by just looking at the pictures, they read when they make up their own stories to the pictures, they can read in their mind, and they read when they start recognizing words and putting everything together. Then I ask them again...Can you read? this time they all answer Yes!!
My brain is still in 2nd Grade mode and a bit frazzled! Slowly I have Kinder flashbacks. It's a big drop from teaching munchkins who left on a early 3rd grade level to Kinder. I want to say what do you mean you can't draw a circle or write your name??!! There's that bad word again CAN'T but out of my mouth. Oooo mamamama!! I can't keep doing that or I'll make my life miserable. I have to remind myself it's KINDER... they CAN do these things, eventually. Right now they can smile, they can feel safe, they can love unconditionally, they can are are doing the best they can.
We built on what we learned and did the day before and added a pictograph and patterns. The graph was on the color of their uniform shirts and that kept their attention as we discussed it. Then we moved into talking about patterns...if your itty bitty's have ever come home saying ABABABAB or ABBABBABB...they're not trying to spell the music group ABBA they were probably learning patterns...then they'll move into colored patterns; blue, green, blue, green or any other color combination. The big one is when they can think more abstract. When they can make different patterns (AB, ABB, ABC) using anything (bike, table, bike, table...etc) is when we know they've mastered it. My class is no where near that yet, we're still trying to clap, slap, clap, slap and say ABABAB at the same time. It's hilarious to see those poor babies that have not developed their coordination yet...they're slapping, clapping, and flapping all over the place. Haha!
PE time didn't come soon enough! After PE the day ended...finally! It seems like the days get longer and longer. When is vacation??? Labor day weekend...yay!! Perfect timing for a mini break.
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Day 4 was today, Thursday, and we did a little bit more work and I stretched their potty break time a little later. The first two days I would take them around 8:15, we start school at 7:45 but many are dropped off about 7:15 or earlier and they were dying to go. Now we've made it to 8:45...it's like training little puppies not to pee on the floor. heehee! I may stretch it to 9:00, then lunch is at 11:00-11:30 and we'll go again after lunch then again before PE and time to go home. Yay, potty trained! haha As time goes by they'll be able to go by themselves or small groups, but right now we go line up as a class and a few at a time are sent in. They so need to be supervised! They try to crawl under the stalls, try to be little monkeys hanging or over the stalls, can't undo their buttons and belts, play with the soap and water, roll and roll and roll the paper towel dispenser, spit water back into the water fountain...ahhhhh Calgon Take Me Away!!! (Ok, those are worse case scenarios because they BETTER not do this on my watch! haha) So far so good with my little munchkins!
I had my drive by (walk through) today in the morning from my principal and we were doing Calendar. It always gets me nervous but thank goodness they were behaving and on task...whew!
My prayers have not be loud enough I think because I got a new student yesterday and one today. Whah! Boo! Oh well, my class size is still small from what I'm used to. State mandated size for K-3rd or 4th is 22 max. I've always had 22 munchkins...now I have...shhhh...16 (14 was heaven though)...we all have low numbers but now I probably jinxed myself talking about it again...eek!
I wish I had my camera with me later in the day...we had a fire drill!!! I had talked to them the first few days about what it would be and what one may sound like because we were warned that we would have one this week. Talking about one and participating in one are two different things. Well, it was PE time and they were in the gym with the coach. We were told about the drill and felt we needed to go help the coaches with the kids when it went off, but they told us to just leave that they could handle it. So we waited by one of the exit doors and waited and waited...then the alarm went off! This was when the camera would have come in handy to video tape...the coach came around the corner and it looked like a swarm of little ants getting closer and closer....some saw the opened doors and the light and bolted down the hallway screaming and holding their ears! We had to laugh! The coaches were quick to corral them together and giddy them up out the doors! I was very proud of my kiddos that I saw pass us as we held the doors, they were quiet and walking quickly! Yay! The others from my class that I didn't see were mixed in the group or they may have bolted out, lucky for them I didn't see them if they did...haha. Some from another class were really going wild!! Once outside, they all actually did very well and followed the coach and we quietly waited for the signal to return back into the building.
Tomorrow is day 5 and FINALLY Friday!!!! Woohoo! A week in Kinder and I'm still breathing!! Let's hope after the weekend they'll want to come back and no crying! ~crossing my fingers! Yes, that's meant for me too... :) Stay tuned to any new adventures coming up.
XOXO's
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