Well readers, I'm running out of DIY time-- fast. In fact, it feels like my DIY time has come to a very abrupt end. Why, do you ask? Because I am a teacher. Not just a teacher, mind you, but a teacher who is moving school next year. With less than 5 weeks left to go I have report cards to write, classrooms to pack and $70 of my very meager classroom budget (as a hint, that's about 10% of what I have to spend on paper, paint, supplies, etc for a year) to spend.
What does that mean exactly?
Well, that is hours sitting in front of the computer sorting through comments and pouring through notes. As this is a play based classroom and there are no worksheets or tests, this is hours of watching videos, interpreting data and seeing what information I have little on. This is the end of the year wrap up by having them complete small tasks for their teacher next year. This is realizing that the report card writing system has crashed and all my data has been lost *grr*.
Oh the joys!
In the moving aspect, this involves cleaning out all the crap I have acquired over the last few years, putting it into boxes, loading the boxes in my car, and moving it all to a new location. I hate to tell you, but that is totally the worst part! At the end of June, that will be opening every sensory bin as a "water table" and encouraging my students to clean all the toys that remain in hopes that the ringworm, flu, cold, chicken pox, wart and rash germies have been sufficiently worn off.
And you know what? As much as I complain, I love my class! I love my students! I love being able to share in new discoveries and moments with them. I might get frustrated when I discover that on my day off three of my students used plastic hammers to smash all my poker chips to bits (all I saw was dollar signs waving as they ran down the street), but I get so excited when those same students play with a Frisbee relentlessly until they discover how throw it properly. I might get frustrated when some students get angry and hit a friend, but I cherish the memory of the first moment that they get angry and restrain themselves.
While on this, I have to share one of my absolute favourite, FAVOURITE memories! Last year my teaching partner and I started Kindergarten "think sheets" that a few students used. Basically, if they were told to go to "have a rest" enough times or if they did something that was a very bad choice (hit someone, swear, etc), they had to draw a picture of what they did or what they could do next time and then we would fill in the a sentence about it that had a "The choice I made was to _________________. Next time I will________________."
This boy in particular had kissed a girl in our class on the lips. It visibly upset the girl and we explained to him how it made the girl's heart hurt. This boy was very empathetic and you could see he was sorry, but as it had really upset the girl we wanted to make a point to him and had him draw a picture. Afterwards I asked him why he had drawn three people and who they were. He explained it was him, the girl he kissed and another girl. Confused, I asked him what I should write. He says. "The choice I made was to kiss one girl. Next time I will kiss two girls instead!" When I asked him why he said that he thought the girl was mad because he had only kissed her and no one else in the class. Haha! I loved it : ) For the record, we worked that one out and he never kissed anyone again (except his family), but it was a classic moment. This is the same boy who used to play "prince and princess" and go dancing to classical music around our gathering area.
Any memories you have that you treasure? Do you enjoy your job?
~Miss. Sunshine
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