So one of the K+/1st grade teachers (we have two classrooms at the Y and thus two teachers) is out until March. She left in January for a vacation but got really sick and is now out for another month. In her absence, my director has had me take over her classroom, which has been very challenging. Since I was hired, I spent my first month in the 4th/5th grade classroom, spent a couple days in the 2nd/3rd grade room (where I will eventually be taking over), and a month now in the K+ classroom. I'll be honest and say K+ is the most challenging age group for me and I've honestly never considered myself cutesy enough for a Kindergarten teacher. Colorful arts and crafts aren't really my thing and I don't know a lot of good circle songs. However, despite what I consider a lack of predisposition to teaching this grade level, I think I've been doing a pretty good job.
When I want their attention, I almost never say 'YM' anymore. Instead, we have a clapping pattern that we do. I start clapping (and chanting) out 'Pur-ple Butterfly' Clap-clap clapclapclap, Yell-ow Dragonfly clap-clap clapclapclap, Green Cast-le Clap clapclap. The first three always stay the same, but the things after those three sometimes change. The students liked the rhythm so much that they wanted to add in their own. So, during times they're being really attentive, I take suggestions from my best listeners as to what else we could add to the pattern.
Some things my students have added:
Rain-bow Pan-da
Blue pu-py-dog
Gol-den Ham-ster
This doesn't always work, but it works a lot. I always have a few awesome listeners who get the pattern going. The cool thing with clapping is that I don't have to shout but it's something making a loud enough noise to get their attention. Even when I have kids running around, they'll stop when they hear other kids clapping and join in themselves.
I don't think I realized how difficult teaching really was until I started working at after school programs. In any licensed day care facility, you're required to have a 1-14 ratio, meaning no one teacher can have more than 14 kids a time. If you're a Teacher II or higher (it goes Assistant, Teacher I, Teacher II/Lead Teacher, Asst Director/Director), you can have up to 28 in a classroom with an assistant. Even with an assistant, however, having a classroom of 25 kids can be really difficult, especially since I'm the one technically in charge (since I'm a teacher II). Even just having 14 can be difficult.For those of you who have not had to be solely in charge of a group of children, let me tell you: it is really hard! Every age group presents its own challenge, but some challenges remain the same across the board. Here's just a quick breakdown of the things I struggle with as a teacher and the things I'm sure I'll be talking about in depth in later posts. I'm using this blog to share the ideas I come up with to solve the problems.
Teaching kids to respect me and each other
This is really my number one problem because I really want to make the classroom a fun and interactive environment. However, it is so important that the kids listen when I ask them to do something and follow directions they're given. It's very frustrating when I'm trying to lead an activity and I have kids running around in every which direction, ignoring all requests for them to come join/participate in the activity. What I really struggle with here is creating consequences. There are only so many times I can threaten to take things away/talk to parents before it stops having any effect. I try really hard to make a big deal of the kids who ARE listening and doing a great job, but I'm often at a loss as to what to do with the kids who aren't. It's especially stressful when their actions are affecting other students, either by physically touching them or by doing things to purposely irritate them. Even after my Child Guidance and Behavior Management training, I still sometimes find myself unsure of how to find good results with these kids.
Attention Grabbers
There are only so many times you can shout 'YM' (and they have to shout back 'CA') before it has no effect anymore. I try to mix it up as much as I can (which I'll talk about more later) but sometimes I just run out of ideas and feel frustrated that no one is listening/can hear me.
Keeping my cool
I'm normally pretty good at keeping my cool but some days are just extra stressful and I feel more on edge when I'm with the kids. This can be very frustrating because my added stress just fuels their disinterest in listening and then I get more stressed because my classroom is in chaos. This goes back to behavior management and needing to come up with new tools for managing difficulties.
Even though some days can be very frustrating, I know that this is amazing experience for when I have my credential and have a classroom of my own at a school.
