Yesterday, I spent half a day in a 1st grade classroom and by the end of the day, my voice was practically gone from asking them to be quiet, close their mouths and sit down on their bottoms. They weren't a bad group of kids, but it felt like they should have known better for their age.
Today, I spent a full day in a kindergarten classroom. I once again nearly lost my voice from asking them to please, please be quieter, sit down, and no hitting! For some reason, the kindergarten behavior, though much rowdier and louder, didn't bother me as much as the 1st graders. I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed kindergarten. Here I thought I was on a straight road to 2nd grade, but instead might be taking a detour in kindergarten or even pre-k. I think I was expecting very young children who would be unable to care for themselves in any way. Some of the pre-k kids could read and the rest were destined to be reading well before the end of the school year. The kindergartners I worked with today were a very smart bunch. Each of them knew the routine and behaved like responsible little adults.
They behaved until we went outside for a guest speaker - Mr. Paul, the karate teacher. He taught them that karate was about respect and discipline, then moved right on to punching and kicking. The rest of the day was spent telling kids to keep their hands to themselves and no punching. What can you expect though? The guy was dressed in his gi and was doing some neat things. Of course the kids would want to be like him.
I had great help from the more experienced teachers and found great comfort in meeting a teacher younger than me who is in her first year. They both looked like pros and helped keep my class in line. You could hardly tell that one had less experience than the other.
Substitute teaching has been fantastic. I know the kids are not on their best behavior because their normal teacher is out, so I also know that eventually I'll have my own classroom full of kids who know me. Thursday I'm going to be in a 4th grade classroom. This grade scares me, especially after being told that I'm getting a notoriously rambunctious class. I've seen the 4th and 5th graders in the cafeteria and some of those kids are as tall as I am. I realize it isn't a very difficult thing to beat 5'2", but when it's a 9 year old looking at the top of my head, I get a bit antsy. Time to find my most comfortable pair of heels (if there is such a thing).
No comments:
Post a Comment