I love football! I love watching it, rooting for my alma mater as well as the pro team I was raised to support, and the excitement of the week to week action. I would not consider myself an expert but I know enough to hold my own even with a group of men.
Yesterday, time expired on my first quarter with this kindergarten class. The end of the new quarter approaching and finishing brings reflection about our time together. I am always over thinking everything but after an emotionally exhausting week I feel similar to a coach who lost a game they should have won. However, I also know that through the course of our time together that I have modified my play book more times than I can count, revisited my schedule, I have taught lessons and scored big while teaching lessons that did not quite pan out like I had drew them up, and I have punted. I have also made countless spur of the moment decisions that only another teacher (or coach) could understand and looked back on some of them and thought about what I would do differently next time. The only striking contrast between teachers and coaches everywhere is that I do not recruit my players and my paycheck looks slightly smaller. I am sure though that coaches also feel immense pressure week to week because even if there isn't a game clock time is always ticking.
There is never and I mean never enough time to get everything done that I aspire to each week. Often times, I feel like I juggle or walk the tight rope to make sure I plan experiences to captivate them while engaging them. Over the years, I have learned to use lessons and activities to meet as many standards as possible. The children and I do not have time to "just have fun". This week was out of our routine because I was out for various meetings and my class took a field trip on Wednesday. Red Ribbon Week is next week so this week, we talked about it. I thought of how to decorate our door and a catchy title without the use of the word drugs. I covered the door and made the eyes but they wrote their words with interactive writing. They also glued the crepe paper on the door. The glue drips are a testament to their work. We also made pledges to stay healthy which is what the red chain represents.
We finished the door on Thursday. We made individual shape mummies and so on Thursday we picked our shape and reviewed all the shapes and how to describe the number of sides they have. On Friday we wrote about the shapes and number of sides they have.
A couple of work samples.
Some encouraging things happened this week. Teachers feel so much pressure to get things done and I know for myself I am always thinking about the end goals. This week, however, I noticed things like children really playing cooperatively at recess without teacher help and lots of turn taking in and out of the classroom. It's funny little things that are unique to a class. This class when dismissed to work at their tables wants to get the supplies for their whole table. For 8 weeks, there was arguments about who would be the lucky person. This week, I heard more than one table have conversations about this. "I will get them this time and you can do it next time" or "thank you for getting my pencil". None of these things will show up on a test but to me I want them to leave me knowing how to treat others and be better after our time together. We have a long way to go but those moments are so encouraging.
I wish I could get to everything I dreamed of getting in during a day. This spider has been waiting for a week for some facts after we read a non-fiction book about spiders. We have had some great conversation about what is a fact and what is an opinion. We will continue to work on this and all those other things I want to get in during he coming week.
In my early years, next week would have been beyond stressful. With all the excitement and things planned, it is likely there will be some stress is included. One important thing I have learned over time is clock management. It helps me manage the amount of things going on in their world at one time as well as my own. Next week is one of the most exciting weeks in the life of a five and six year old. Who can blame them? My goal for my learners is to use all the excitement to spark their engagement and learning because the clock is ticking. Does your school celebrate next week? What is your favorite way to celebrate?
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