Teaching: Week One!

Wow! Week one is gone! I'll admit, it was a little bit terrifying as I prepared for starting out a classroom, especially for Kindergarten, with little ones who don't know HOW to go to school, and line up, or walk in line, or write their names, or any of the basics that my kiddo's are starting to get already.

I started the week with 15 kids, and even though one didn't get there until almost lunch time, they all came. One little boy was absent the whole rest of the week... probably because of a swollen eye & a note home from the nurse saying that he shouldn't come back as long as his eye was red & swollen. I'm hoping he'll be back on Monday. I got a new little boy on Wednesday or Thursday, so that put me up to 16 kids. (an AMAZINGLY SMALL class!)

I have a little girl who is pretty much terrified to be at school. On her first day she didn't eat (except for one bite of pizza at lunch, because I begged her.) All day she cried off & on... a pattern that followed for most of the week, although each day got a little better- except for the day after I accidentally sent her on a bus that gets her home, but not the bus she was supposed to take. The next day she told me "you put me on the wrong bus." & I said " I Know, and I'm SO sorry Honey!" She forgave me & we moved on, & got her on the right bus the rest of the days. I felt awful though. (Especially because it didn't feel right to me, but I still put her on the bus I had on my list, instead of the one it should have been changed to.) Hopefully Monday will be even better, & she'll be great.

Oh, I think I forgot to mention that my class, although acting like a normal Kindergarten class, is labled Kindergarten ELD (English Language Development). I love the fact that this means I get to use my spanish... For communicating with the parents, (because it's illegal to teach in any language other than English). I Love My Class, but I don't necessarily like the segregation idea that creates at T.E.S. 2 ELD & 3 "Regular" Kindergarten classes. I like that idea even less when it means that one of my sweet little girls will be switching to a different K class on Monday, because she doesn't speak spanish. Why do they think they need to move her & change things for her when she's doing fine in my class? Poor kid. She just got used to Kindergarten, & now on Monday she'll have to start getting used to a different class, kids, & a different great teacher.

Monday I'll also get a new little boy in my class, because he does speak spanish, & only Spanish & that makes it hard for the teacher he's had all week to help him. I hope he'll do good in my class.

Oh, one more note about the first week of teaching... NEXT Friday is payday, and I'm really excited for that, because I'm tired of being the most broke I've been in my life. During the past couple of weeks I have maxed out my credit card, paid a little bit on it from my overdraft loan on my checking account, & repeated that process. It's kind of depressing. I hate debt.