The After School Program
-First Day-
I am beginning to despise my teacher training program. Today was the first day I’ve actually felt like that. I have no ideas why I just wrote that last line. Of course I’ve despised student teaching more times than I can count, but I mean it in a different sort of way. Today it was my goal to “tame the beasts.” I wanted to show the young 19-year-old aspiring teacher and the kind and committed after school program director that I am an experienced teacher of kids. I had a plan (which I now realize was completely my own agenda) and I followed through with it, even though it wasn’t working. I have forgotten how to read my audience and roll with it. I was so focused on proving myself as a teacher that I couldn’t even hear the kids. They are so spent by then. Coming home to my own non-napping 3-year-old is only the greatest reminder of what over-stimulation can do to a kid, let alone 30 of them ages ranging from kindergarten through third grade; majority boys; the class is at four o'clock in the p.m. after a full day of school; the day of the week is Thursday; and I went in with my own agenda.
I am truly beginning to hate school. Just because I'm in some sort of a MA program that I pay thousands and thousands of dollars for, doesn't mean I'm going to be any good at this. I want to be though.
Let's see. There's Duane who actually wants to do stuff. There's Tucker who is completely adorable with big huge dimples, scraggly hair and a messy shirt. There's Isabella who is sensitive (aka Tired). There is Mason who joins easily into the fun for such a young little guy. There is Austin who is in 3rd grade and will be as big of a hand full as I'll let him. For the first day, that's about it, since I was working so hard getting them to stop talking while I'm talking. At least it's strangely comforting to know that I can count on the universality of kids and their all around annoyingness.
I started with an Boring name introduction (in March!!), which was completely inappropriate since I was the only one they didn't know, and for all they know or care about at this point, I'm nobody of significance. Kids remind you in their own subtly blunt ways that you are nothing until you are something. I gave them my name as Miss Zimmerman, which is how I was trained to do it, but never actually felt totally natural with. I have this ingrained fear that if you let the kids "walk all over you" on the first day, "you are setting the stage for chaos and disaster." No wonder teachers run screaming!!!
My plan was simple.
-Introduce my Earth Day theme by asking what kids know about Earth Day (accessing prior knowledge).
-Write it down, giving written credit to kids who shared their ideas.
-Read said Book about the Earth and her great big family of plants and animals.
-Open the floor for some reflective sharing
-Introduce the fun literacy and science-based project
-Walk around to make personal connections while students are working together and independently. Use this time to conduct informal assessment to check for student understanding.
Ha!
I came home realizing that this was only my agenda, and not even close to their agenda. I am so irritated right now with doing work for someone elses agenda, and like a hypocrite, I am asking just that of a group of youthful strangers at the end of their school day.
Loma Jane is starting to soak in language in a new way. She's asking my why words work the way they do in certain instances, and she means grammatically. She's taking notice of different languages she hears, and want's to know what language they are speaking. When she hears Spanish, she says, "hey, they're speaking Espanol like you can mama."
Tonight she asked me to read her a picture word book with the words in English and Spanish. I asked her if she wanted me to read it in English or Spanish. She opted for Spanish this time. At first I was annoyed that she even chose that book. It's boring to me, now that she's almost three and so seemingly advanced with her language and thought process. She seems advanced with her story-telling abilities and with her story comprehension. But I forget that she is not even quite yet three. She is young yet in her language development, and sometimes feels comfortable going back to basics.
I digress for more than one reason right now with this anecdote of my own child and her language. Living with a kid reminds me of all of the human emotions there are to little things and big. When she is tired, she tests me and acts irrationally. When she is well-rested, well-fed and particularly during mid-morning when she transitions from wanting to be indoors to wanting to be outdoors, her imagination is the most active. She also wants to play independently during this time, getting herself elaborately involved in a make-believe game that reinacts events from the lives of adults and children she knows.
Come the late afternoon, she is getting hungry, her brain has been going all day long, and sometimes she has just plain been around too many people for too long. Or the same people/ person for too long. It's time for a transition into winding down.
We've recently started bath, pjs and then dinner. After that it's brush teeth, pick out stories, maybe play a little bit with Ben and then stories in bed before lights out. There are many steps of winding down once we are in for the night.
These kids need steps of winding down too, before they face their parents after a long day at school and a long day at work. I know the feeling of just home-take care of business- and then the night is gone. That kind of business is what makes life go by so fast.
I put Loma to bed tonight pointing to the pictures and then saying the words in Spanish. She acted just like a little baby in the beginning stages of language development. She listened and looked. She said nothing. When prompted, she would make a little grunting noise, so as to say "keep reading, I don't have the energy to respond right now." She was listening and processing and eventually meditating herself into exhausted slumber. But before she fell asleep, she responded to questions I asked of her in pure Spanish. "Quieres que sigo leyendo en Ingles o Espanol" "Espanol" she replied. That's but one example, but I'm too tired to keep writing about it. I just had to get some thoughts down.
For next week, I'm thinking about teaching entirely in Spanish.
Why not teach Spanish Science?
I had to do it learning Spanish, why not them?
At the very least, I'll learn some other great lesson to write about.
I am beginning to despise my teacher training program. Today was the first day I’ve actually felt like that. I have no ideas why I just wrote that last line. Of course I’ve despised student teaching more times than I can count, but I mean it in a different sort of way. Today it was my goal to “tame the beasts.” I wanted to show the young 19-year-old aspiring teacher and the kind and committed after school program director that I am an experienced teacher of kids. I had a plan (which I now realize was completely my own agenda) and I followed through with it, even though it wasn’t working. I have forgotten how to read my audience and roll with it. I was so focused on proving myself as a teacher that I couldn’t even hear the kids. They are so spent by then. Coming home to my own non-napping 3-year-old is only the greatest reminder of what over-stimulation can do to a kid, let alone 30 of them ages ranging from kindergarten through third grade; majority boys; the class is at four o'clock in the p.m. after a full day of school; the day of the week is Thursday; and I went in with my own agenda.
I am truly beginning to hate school. Just because I'm in some sort of a MA program that I pay thousands and thousands of dollars for, doesn't mean I'm going to be any good at this. I want to be though.
Let's see. There's Duane who actually wants to do stuff. There's Tucker who is completely adorable with big huge dimples, scraggly hair and a messy shirt. There's Isabella who is sensitive (aka Tired). There is Mason who joins easily into the fun for such a young little guy. There is Austin who is in 3rd grade and will be as big of a hand full as I'll let him. For the first day, that's about it, since I was working so hard getting them to stop talking while I'm talking. At least it's strangely comforting to know that I can count on the universality of kids and their all around annoyingness.
I started with an Boring name introduction (in March!!), which was completely inappropriate since I was the only one they didn't know, and for all they know or care about at this point, I'm nobody of significance. Kids remind you in their own subtly blunt ways that you are nothing until you are something. I gave them my name as Miss Zimmerman, which is how I was trained to do it, but never actually felt totally natural with. I have this ingrained fear that if you let the kids "walk all over you" on the first day, "you are setting the stage for chaos and disaster." No wonder teachers run screaming!!!
My plan was simple.
-Introduce my Earth Day theme by asking what kids know about Earth Day (accessing prior knowledge).
-Write it down, giving written credit to kids who shared their ideas.
-Read said Book about the Earth and her great big family of plants and animals.
-Open the floor for some reflective sharing
-Introduce the fun literacy and science-based project
-Walk around to make personal connections while students are working together and independently. Use this time to conduct informal assessment to check for student understanding.
Ha!
I came home realizing that this was only my agenda, and not even close to their agenda. I am so irritated right now with doing work for someone elses agenda, and like a hypocrite, I am asking just that of a group of youthful strangers at the end of their school day.
Loma Jane is starting to soak in language in a new way. She's asking my why words work the way they do in certain instances, and she means grammatically. She's taking notice of different languages she hears, and want's to know what language they are speaking. When she hears Spanish, she says, "hey, they're speaking Espanol like you can mama."
Tonight she asked me to read her a picture word book with the words in English and Spanish. I asked her if she wanted me to read it in English or Spanish. She opted for Spanish this time. At first I was annoyed that she even chose that book. It's boring to me, now that she's almost three and so seemingly advanced with her language and thought process. She seems advanced with her story-telling abilities and with her story comprehension. But I forget that she is not even quite yet three. She is young yet in her language development, and sometimes feels comfortable going back to basics.
I digress for more than one reason right now with this anecdote of my own child and her language. Living with a kid reminds me of all of the human emotions there are to little things and big. When she is tired, she tests me and acts irrationally. When she is well-rested, well-fed and particularly during mid-morning when she transitions from wanting to be indoors to wanting to be outdoors, her imagination is the most active. She also wants to play independently during this time, getting herself elaborately involved in a make-believe game that reinacts events from the lives of adults and children she knows.
Come the late afternoon, she is getting hungry, her brain has been going all day long, and sometimes she has just plain been around too many people for too long. Or the same people/ person for too long. It's time for a transition into winding down.
We've recently started bath, pjs and then dinner. After that it's brush teeth, pick out stories, maybe play a little bit with Ben and then stories in bed before lights out. There are many steps of winding down once we are in for the night.
These kids need steps of winding down too, before they face their parents after a long day at school and a long day at work. I know the feeling of just home-take care of business- and then the night is gone. That kind of business is what makes life go by so fast.
I put Loma to bed tonight pointing to the pictures and then saying the words in Spanish. She acted just like a little baby in the beginning stages of language development. She listened and looked. She said nothing. When prompted, she would make a little grunting noise, so as to say "keep reading, I don't have the energy to respond right now." She was listening and processing and eventually meditating herself into exhausted slumber. But before she fell asleep, she responded to questions I asked of her in pure Spanish. "Quieres que sigo leyendo en Ingles o Espanol" "Espanol" she replied. That's but one example, but I'm too tired to keep writing about it. I just had to get some thoughts down.
For next week, I'm thinking about teaching entirely in Spanish.
Why not teach Spanish Science?
I had to do it learning Spanish, why not them?
At the very least, I'll learn some other great lesson to write about.
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