change of grade level

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2001 : September : 4

change of grade level
By KT

I have never taught kinder, but I did sub in preschool for quite a while and have taught 2nd. I think you will find that many of the expectations for behavior which is a big part of the first weeks of school will be the same.
The difference is that the 2nd graders may already know some procedures and just need reminders. The kinders find much of this brand new and will need you to model, model, model and set up role play situations on how to line up etc. I would sort of start over and establish YOUR procedures and talk to the kids about the fact that they may be somewhat the same and alittle different. Also,

some kinders may come in with very few skills and you may need to have some coloring type pages for them to do while you assess others on letter recognition, can they use scissors, hold pencil correctly etc. There are so many cute finger plays and songs to do with the little ones..try to talk to other kindergarten teachers and look at the library...the children's librarian probably has many ideas. And you can always read them many, many stories which is so good for their language development and will let you know how well they pay attention. You will do fine. They will be very eager.
Also, are you sure you HAVE to move? This happened to me many years ago and a vocal group of parents met and I was allowed to stay with my class. Does your contract allow this? Check with your union rep and make sure the situation is being handled correctly. If may be and you have no choice and you will do fine. If not, you can evaluate your options. It may be worth checking out. Good luck!