Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Seriously, funny

We are playing a popcorn name game.  Students pop up one at a time and say “Hi, my name is, _____.” We are going around the circle.  On her turn, one little girl pops up “Hi, my name's Grace!” immediately she turns red and hides her face.  Her name is Katie, not Grace.

Playing a game where you act out what you like to do.  One little boy enters the circle and stretches his arms out, letting his hands droop. 
No one knows what to guess.
I am rather perplexed as well.
“Umm sweetie, why don’t you tell us what you are acting out.”
“I’m a skeleton!” He happily exclaims.
“Ohh, ok.  That was a really tricky one!”
Apparently, he likes to pretend to be skeletons.

While playing the same game.  A little girl enters the circle and stands still. She plays with her shirt a little, but mostly just stands there.
“Sweetie? Are you goiong to act out what you like to do?” I ask.
She runs over to me and whispers
“I was a zebra.”

Also, during the game, another girl comes into the middle and does the splits. Then she goes back to her spot.
“Doing the splits hurts.  It feels like I am being shot, and my legs are just going to fall off.”
Well, ok then.  That is quite the description.

During math they are deciding if things should be on, under, or over.
I walk by one little boy who has placed the goat under the bridge in the water.
“The goat is out for a swim?” I ask
“Huh?” He looks at his paper again, looks up at me and grins.
“I was supposed to put the frog there, wasn’t I?” he asks.
“Quite possibly, unless you have a swimming goat.”

I am doing work at the table, then I get that feeling that someone is staring at me.
I look up to see a little boy looking at me smiling.
“What are you doing” I ask.
He stares for a moment longer
“I just like looking at you.” He replies still smiling.

The line leader is following me to the cafeteria.  We get inaide and I get them in line to get lunch.
The line leader looks up at me rather suddenly and asks
“Wait, what’s going on? Are we in line to get lunch?!”
“I nod.  Yes kiddo.  It is in fact lunch time.”
“Oh, ok.”  He says a little relieved.  
I wonder what he was expecting…

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Zombies attack!

Sorry about the lack of posting yesterday.  Things got super busy.
I will try to make sure I blog every weekday though.
So, yesterday I was in charge of a morning meeting activity.
It was the Popcorn name game.  The kids loved it. Also? I had some pretty good behavior management going on.  I was so excited!
So, today Ms. P. had me do another activity.
I can do this no problem!
My supervisor was around observing for a while.
“Well, I think I am going to go” she says starting to pack up her stuff.
“Well if you want to stick around for a little longer, I should be doing my morning meeting activity very shortly.” I mention perhaps a little too confidently.
“I would love to see you teach!” She opens up her books again.
I continue writing students names on the tops of monthly calendars until Ms. P. asks me to come over to do the activity.
“You guys did such great singing!” I exclaim.
“Ok, today we are going to play a different game. No, not the popcorn game again. A different game. This is called what you like to do. Alright, everyone close your eyes! Close ‘em, Close ‘em, Close ‘em!  Now, with your eyes closed, think of something you really like to do.” I give them a few seconds to think. “When you have your idea, raise your hand.” 
Hands start to go up.
“Ok, good! What we are going to do, when you are called on, you will go in the middle of the circle and act out what you like to do! I will go first and show you. I am going to act out what I like to do, and when you think you know, raise your hands.  I will choose someone standing quietly.”
I go in the middle of the circle and gallop back and forth a few times. Hands shoot up!
I look for someone standing quietly ”Lilly?”
“Ummm, you were doing hop scotch?”
“No, not quite, but that was a good guess.  Anyone else?”
I call on another student
“Ashley?”
“Yooou were riding a horse.” She says matter of factly.
“Good job! Now you get to go.”
She gets in the middle of the circle and starts hopping.
She calls on students to guess. One student thought it was his turn to go and started doing his activity.
“Not yet sweetie, we are guessing what she is doing.  If you can guess what she was doing you can go.”
He shrugs his shoulders.
Finally someone guessed.
A few more students attempted to go, but really had no clue what they were doing.
I explained it several times.
I think they were just so focused on doing their activity.
Also, we were due to have a fire drill and they knew it. We had practiced.
Then they just got crazy.
Somehow, my students turned into zombies and started climbing on top of each other.
Huh.
I don’t remember that as part of the game.
I tried several times to get them back under control.
Finally, after a couple more minutes of zombie attacks, they decided to listen when I did a clapping attention grabber.
They clapped in response.
Ms. P came and started teaching again.
I walk over to my supervisor.
“Well, that didn’t go quite as planned. Sorry I had you stay for that” I laugh.
“Hey as long as you know there was a problem and you need to fix something, you are good”
Note to self – Avoid zombie attacks.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Crazy and Chaotic

Masses of children run around yelling and screaming.
Back and forth, all around.
Just barely getting by one another without smashing smack into each other.
This is known as recess.
Children are crazy.
I walk by the kids on the swings.
I give the occasional push to get them started, and then continue walking around.
All of a sudden children start approaching me.
One tells me a story.
Another tells on someone for taking off their name tag.
Someone tells because so and so is throwing mulch.
Then one little girl approaches me
“He hit me! He hit me and hurt me!” she cries hysterically.
The ‘he’ mentioned comes running over.
“That’s because she hit me and grabbed my shirt!” He shouts angrily.
Then, right there in front of me, this little girl reaches out and grabs the little boys hand. Then she starts pinching his hand! Squeezing as tight as she can!
“Hey! Knock it off!” I firmly say. She doesn’t stop.
I grab her hand and pry each finger off of the little boys. Her knuckles are white she is squeezing so hard. His hand is red.
“You, do not ever do that again.  That is not nice, not at all. Go play over there.”
“And you?” I say to the boy” Do not go near her, you play on this side of the playground, got it?”
They both nod and run off.
Really? Right in front of me she does this.
That was an interesting recess.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Cupcake Attack

“Look, they are not heavy! They are so easy to carry by the handles. You can do it!”
I pick up the two cupcake containers and hand them to Ryan. Before he is able to grab them,
Whoosh! Plop!
The bottom falls off one of the containers, it just so happens to be the container that still has four cupcakes in it.  I look at the cupcake attack that has occurred.
There are four cupcakes frosting side down on the floor.  Two landed on the hard floor, two landed on the carpet. The frosting has splattered.
I laugh.  “Well, the cover was on tight.”
The students make sound varying from “Ooooh’s! to “Oh no!” and the occasional, “Can I eat that one?”
Ms. P looks over at the mess “Oh no! I’m so sorry this happened. I checked the cover too.”
“Oh well, what can you do?” I say as I start picking up the overturned cupcakes.
The students are directed to walk around the cupcake mess. It was time for dismissal. Several of the children have a great desire to walk through the frosting. I block them off with frosting-covered hands.
I throw away the four cupcakes and then reevaluate the mess before me. I decide that a Lysol wipe would be best to clean with.
Not so much.
I have gone from clumped up frosting, to wet smudged frosting and an even stickier floor.
Hmm.
Water?
I get a paper towel and wet it, just a little, then attempt to clean up the mess again. It works a little better.
Finally, three wet paper towels, two dry ones, and two Lysol wipes later, plus a good hand washing for myself, the cupcake mess is clean. 
Then I decide to clean the board. As I am wiping off the board, one of my professors walks in.
“What are you up to, Kimmy?”
“Oh, just on a little cleaning spree.  I cleaned up a surprise cupcake attack, and now I am cleaning the board.”
She laughs “Oh, ok, well at least it is all clean now…”
Sigh. A perfectly good opportunity for a humorous conversation, rejected.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Awkward Day

Today is what I call an awkward day. There were several awkward moments…
I went to the teachers’ lounge to make copies.  I entered the pin number, inserted the paper I wanted to copy, and entered the amount of copies I wanted. Then I hit copy… nothing.  Hmm
So I try it again… nothing.  Then it gives me a message I don’t understand. 
Oh no, did I break it?!
There were two other teachers in the room.  I knew I had to ask for help.
“Ummm, I think I need help.” I said sheepishly.
I felt so dumb.
Luckily the teachers helped.  But still? I felt dumb. It was awkward.

Later that day I used the paper cutter.
We had a war.
I could not get the paper the right size.  Nor could I cut it without tearing up the paper.
I must be the most incompetent person ever.  What on earth! Why can’t I do this!
Ugh, that teacher over there must think I am stupid.  Ms. P. is going to wonder who she got stuck with.  How she got stuck with someone such as myself!
You can do this Kim, just keep trying!
Why is this other teacher still here?
Ahhh! Why are more teachers coming in!
Just finish quick, don’t let them see the messed up papers.  Hurry! Hurry!
Almost done!
Ok, last one. Oh man, I ripped this one too!
Oh well, just go! Escape!
Luckily, Ms. P did not care too much.

Later, this one little boy came up to me with his picture.
“Look! This is me holding a skeleton head! I wasn’t scared though. Skeletons are friendly.  They are just bones.” He was very proud of his picture.
“Oh, oook.  That’s a cool picture.”
Really, how does one reply to that.

Ok, so my first day at the school, one little boy in the class blew me a kiss.
The next day, he walks up to me in the hall and just looks at me.  “You’re beautiful.” He happily says
Today, I caught him gazing, yes, gazing at me, several times.  No joke. So I would smile and point which way he SHOULD be looking.
It is cute, but awkward.  This constant gazing.
So yes, that was my awkward day.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Story Time!

“Ok boys and girls, I am going to read you a story! But, first I need to tell you something important about me.” I begin. “Some of you have noticed that my eyes look a little different, right?”
Heads nod.
I continue.

“Well, that is because I have trouble seeing.. I can see pretty well.  I can see all of you, and I can see the back wall…” I continue to explain to them a little how much I can see. “This means that when I read you a story, you may not be able to see the pictures right away, but I promise, you WILL see the pictures.”
The kids continue to look at me with curious faces…
“Does anyone have any questions?”

Hands fly up. One boys hand flew up faster than all the rest so I call on him.
“Umm. What are we supposed to ask questions about?”
I try to stifle a laugh. “What I just talked to you about. How much I can see… stuff like that.”
“Oh.”
I call on someone else.
“Where do you live?”
Guess I will just go with it.
I laugh a little. “I grew up in Massachusetts then moved to Tennessee when I started college. Does anyone know where Massachusetts is?”
One little girl raises her hand.
”Do you know where Massachusetts is?”
“No, but one time I moved from Florida to here and now I live here.” She quickly blurts out.
“Oh, ok, well that is cool. Alright, now I am going to read the story, so no more question for now, but you can ask me later.  Put your hands down. Guys, no more questions for now… put your hands down, yes all the way down.”

“Wait!” one girl says urgently.
“What.”
“Do you have a husband?”
I laugh. “Nope, no husband, no boyfriend, no kids. Now? Story time!”
I read them the story The Berenstain Bears Go to School.
When I have finished, the teacher suggests I ask them questions.
“So what was your favorite part” (knowing immediately I would regret asking this.)
I call on one little boy.
“Well, there was a bear in the book named Gus, and I used to have a dog named Gus.”
“I have a toy! His name is Gus! Except now he is broken. But his name was Gus!” A little girl interjects.
“Let’s try to be nice to our friends and not interrupt them.” I remind the students.
I call on one generally quiet little boy.
“There was this room at my mimi’s house, it was blue, they painted it blue.  There were blocks, and other things I liked to play with.  It was beautiful! I played there with my blanky. It was fun…
His story continues for another minute or two.  Meanwhile I have three girls that will just not stop talking.
“I’m sorry sweetie, we have some friends that are not being good listeners”
The girls continue talking.
“Excuse me girls. Can we be good listeners for our friend?”
They turn and face me.
I go to call on someone else.
Apparently this little boy was not done his story, and he just kept going.
As soon as he starts talking, the girls start talking again as well.
“Ok guys, we need to be good listeners and be polite to our friends. I think we are just having too hard of a time with this and need to stop stories.”
“Aww.” says one little girl.
“Did you have a favorite part of the book you wanted to share?”
“Yes, Ilikethepartwherethebrotherandsisterbringeachothertothebus!” She says as one sentence.
“Yes, I like that part too.”
Sigh, at least it went mostly well. I need to work on behavior management, and preventing five minute stories.

Monday, August 22, 2011

So It Begins

Oh my gosh, I think I am going to puke!
Please don't puke, please don't puke! Deep breath, Kim. 
Just take a deep breath.  Breathing is usually important.


I grab my bag and get out of the car.
I take another deep breath and start walking down the sidewalk towards the door.

What if I say something stupid?
What if I do the wrong things?
What if I get lost?!
Shut up, Kim.  Now you are just being dumb.  It is a school, not an undiscovered island.


I walk up to the door and pull it open. 
I enter with a confidence so fake; it would fall apart at the seams if you touched it.
I go into the office to find out what comes next.

OK, Kim.  Now you have to talk.  Use your words, find them, quick!


"Hi, I am here as a student teacher for Ms. P..."

"Oh! You are my student teacher!"

Thank goodness! I don't have to find her!


I turn to my right to meet the super-teacher I had been talking to through email.

“Oh, Hi!”

"You're Kim?"

"Yes, I am"

"I am Mrs. P, it is good to finally meet you!"

"You too!"

You're doing great, just keep breathing!

"I have to go into the cafeteria, but follow me."

Being the obedient sheep that I am, I follow.

"So how are you doing this morning?" she asks as we walk across the hall to the cafeteria.

"Well to be honest, I am nervous and feel like throwing up" I laugh

Idiot! Why? Why would you say that?! You aren't supposed to admit that! Ugh!


"Oh I'm sorry!" she laughs, "It will be okay."

We enter the cafeteria and she tells me a little about what is happening and introduces me to another teacher.

"Well, I have to be in here for a little longer, and then I pick up the kids from the gym and bring them to the class.  So, you are more than welcome to stay here, or walk around the school, or go to the classroom. Whatever you want to do."

I nod, trying to make a quick decision.

"I think I will go check out the classroom if that is ok. Familiarize myself with it."


Good thinking, Kim.

She gives me directions on how to get there.

Sounds easy enough... but you are terrible at directions.  Pay close attention to where you are going. She said there would be a tree mural.  Oh look there it is!
Ok, so now I go down this hall? It looks like it might be the yellow hall.  Hmm.  I wish it was more like the yellow brick road. Well, let's see. 


I read the names outside the doors to myself.

Here it is! Yes! I did it and I didn’t get lost! Go me, Go me, Go me -


I realize I have started to do a little bit of a dance, luckily no one is around.
I quickly compose myself into a professional form again and enter the classroom.
It is so adorable.
Four little tables, each with little chairs.
A long table in the back.
A place to play house.
An art table
A large calendar with shapes and numbers is on the white board.
A cute rug with circles for the meeting area.
I love it.
I hear a little pitter-patter of footsteps coming down the hall. 
Then a few more pairs.
I hear little giggles.
I look out the door and around the corner.
There, little ones stand. Ready to being a new day of kindergarten.