Keep on truckin'

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Home : 2003 : September : 19

Keep on truckin'
By Kindergarten Teacher

I feel your pain! This is my second year in Kindergarten and the first week back I felt like I was herding cats and swimming against the stream to the extreme. I know the kiddos are exhausting and they have so many behvaiors
that are completely unacceptable but I assure you there is a light at the end of the tunnel. My saving grace is the hugs from my graduated Kindergarteners (aka 1st graders) who have blossomed into such amazing reading, writing, conversing little beings. I think that I forgot how low they begin but they go so far. Here are some thoughts to cheer you along:
1. You get to mold them,

train them, and invent for them what school and acceptable behaviour means because you are the "precedent setting teacher."

2. Kindergarten is the grade where students probably make the largest social and academic jump in one short year.

3. Although it is a battle at first, whatever you set for the standard and the expected behavior will eventually become second nature to them.

4. You get the incredible honor of giving students the key to understanding their world through pre-reading skills.

5. Whenever I just feel like the nagger of the world who has to keep redirecting kids left and right, I try to shift gears. I am not a super perky person but I find that if I repeat a phrase in a musical fashion repeatedly (like "I'm lookin for a quiet student, Yes I am, Yes I am") it is a unique enough sound that it will get 95% of the students' attention right away. You may feel goofy at first but you can sing-song any phrase when needed.

I hope some of these thoughts helped cheer you on. It is a very challenging grade but it can be so rewarding if you can direct their energy into learning.