I knew on Sunday night that I was going to need lots of sleep to get through Monday, but I had no idea just what I would be facing!
My day started with taking in my class as well as two others. One teacher had a sub that was running late and the other was dealing with a hurt child.
While I had all of these kids in my room two of them decided it would be a good idea to start hitting each other and a new student was delivered to my class.
I should also tell you that our clocks were broken. They were all stuck at 7:40 and I had my principal and assistant principal in and out of my room a couple of times. At one point my principal stuck his
head in and asked why I hadn't started my day yet. I pointed out that we were still watching morning announcements. The next thing I saw was my principal on the TV. How that dude got from my room to the TV studio that fast is beyond me. Do male witches ride on brooms?
Eventually, the two extra classes I had in my room left and I was able to talk to my new student and get him settled in. Actually, I talked to him only to learn that he was fresh from Peru and spoke no English. Well, in all fairness, I should let you know that he knows three words in English. Those words are...."Oh my God".
He said those three words quite often today!
When he realized he had to wait in line for the water fountain...Oh my God
When I showed him flash cards and asked him to repeat the words....Oh my God
When he realized there was math work on thr front and back of his paper...Oh my God
After he very excitedly tried to tell, ask and/or explain something to me then stared at me hopefully while waiting for my response only to be disappointed when I answered with one of the few Spanish words I know..."taco?"...Oh my God
When I tried to take back the word taco and said, "si?"...Oh my God
I didn't think my ability to order a beer in Spanish would help him any, but I have a feeling it's going to help me bunches before the year is over!
At the end of the day as the kids were packing up I watched them and thought....
"I have to teach one English. I have to keep one calm so he doesn't freak out and ruin everyone's day. I have to help one who gets no help from home. I have to comfort one who cries everytime she sees her big sister and everytime she doesn't see her sister. I have to convince one that not everything is the letter "a". I have to teach one to write her name because no matter how hard she tries, she just doesn't get it. I have to remediate these students and challenge those students. And I have to do all of this and more while getting all of them ready for a standardized test that I don't believe in and still maintain their sense of wonder and make believe."
And then I thought.....
"Oh my God!"
Thank goodness they have you as a teacher. Both my daughter and daughter in law are taking a break from teaching kindergarten to have their families. They worked 12-14 hour days...NEVER ...sitting down or eating lunch. When are we going to value teachers????
ReplyDeleteOh God love ya - you're one of the great teachers kids will remember forever. Blessings sweetie.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. I enjoy reading your perspective on being a teacher. The humor mixed with messages are one-of-a-kind. :) Buena suerte w/your non-English speaking student from Peru.
ReplyDeleteYou are certainly a saint! I would lose it--crying or screaming... All I can think of is, get Scott out of office, that surely will help you out somehow... lol
ReplyDeleteI literally laughed out loud. Your story was so funny. I appreciate teachers so very much. I have been a PreK/Kinder teacher for 10 years. You certainly have to have a sense of humor to be a teacher for those littles.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to let you know that I appreciate your sentiments. I used the one from this post on one of my cards:
http://yolieville.blogspot.com/2013/11/fall-colors-challenge-over-at-wags-n.html
Thank you!