I went back into the classroom for my latest assignment – this time covering for Margaret as a kindergarten/first grade teacher. I’m not sure why, but the night before I was particularly nervous about being a kindergarten teacher. I have always enjoyed visiting kindergarten classrooms and interacting with the children, but I could not imagine myself ever being a kindergarten teacher. The ability to explain concepts to 5-year olds, the organization, the patience…it sounds so overwhelming! My experience as a classroom teacher is in 3rd and 4th grade – not too much older, but then again, light years older!
After greeting the children as they came into the classroom, we met on the floor in the front of the room. We started with some calendar activities and a discussion of the fact that it was the 80th day of school. Margaret asked me to have them come up with some equations that equal 80. The students were excited to come up with some very thoughtful and creative equations!
After I almost got a 100% on a name quiz, we split up into grade levels for math. Kathleen, the instructional assistant took the 1st graders and I worked with kindergarten students. After about 20 minutes we switched grade levels. Students were eager to play a math game in partners. Our new math program, Bridges, involves a lot of manipulatives and math games to teach and reinforce concepts. As of now, the program is getting good reviews from our teachers.
As the clock neared 9:30 (and Margaret’s return), the energy and noise level of the students was increasing and increasing and I was honestly felt like I was starting to lose them. I was wondering if having a new teacher for an hour and a break in their morning routine would throw them off for the rest of the day. Not a problem for Margaret, however. In her calm, quiet way, she asked the children to clean up and meet her back on the rug. She started to skip count with a few of the students and soon enough, she had the attention of the entire class as they skip counted with her and she proceeded with further directions and lessons.
100 Hours in Mendocino Unified 