Now, I am not a credentialed teacher. Although I do teach academics, I am not required to teach them any standards or get them to read. That being said, I am with 22 kindergarteners for 4 hours a day after school. Here are some of my reflections on what I have learned as an afterschool teacher.
1. There is no such thing as the perfect teacher. I recently read this blog post from a friend about not being a perfect mom. It actually really encouraged me as a teacher. Often in my mind I can have this idealistic view of the perfect teacher that I have to be. This teacher is always patient, and never yells. This teacher always has a fun, engaging, educational and creative class every day. He/she teaches in a way that will meet each child's unique learning style. Everything is so engaging that there would be no need for punishment or a reward system, learning is the reward itself. This teacher has a class that always stays in line, sits in their seats and always raises their hands to be called on. He/she has time to hear each student's needs and meets them appropriately. This teacher handles every conflict with ease in a way that everyone leaves feeling resolved. Unfortuently, that teacher does not exist. I know that I have a lot to learn as a teacher, but I will never be that teacher. There will always be days when I loose my patience and snap at them. There will be days that what I planned seems boring, too difficult, or too chaotic. There will always be conflict that is not resolved well. All I can do is by best, and have hope that God will fill in the gaps where I lack in patience, knowledge, wisdom, and compassion.
2. Novalty is key- Especially with the chaos, I find that I constantly need to change up how I get their attention. What works for a while, quickly becomes white noise to them. Throughout the year I have used, "1,2,3, eyes on me," the 2 finger quite signal, "1,2,3 freeze," "if you can hear me put your hands on your head," "if you can year me say O-ooooo." All of these have worked at some point but then stop working. I also have a magical song that I sing that goes, "I like the way Sarah is waitng, and I like the way, Johnny is waiting, I like the way Henry is waiting, and I like the way, Emily is waiting too." They all want me to say their name so it usually quiets them down. I don't know why its magical, but it is. I try not to use it too much so that its still seems special when I do use it.
3. Kindergarteners are excietd about everything! Its a blessing and a curse. You have to be pretty boring to come up with something that kindergartners refuse to do. Writing sentences, wahoo! Doing math, yes! Seeing who can pick up the most trash, I love this! Seriously, the only way I can really punish them is by having them put there hands down. Its cool that they are excited to do things, but they also go crazy, making it hard to control. Its hard for me to get through a game because as soon as a team gets a point, they launch into endless cheering and it takes a few minutes to calm down to get to the next contestant of the game.
4. Kindergarteners have no sense of personal space or their bodies. They are constantly swinging and flailing their body parts about, hitting other children. They are not intentionally trying to hurt anyone (sometimes) they just have not concept of the fact that when they swing their arms around they will hit the person behind them. If anyone knows how to try to teach spacial or body awareness, please let me know. I dont know if this a social skill you can really teach or you just get it as you get older.
5. They love to tattle on each other. They love to tell you what someone else is doing wrong. I am really trying to work with them on this. If it doesn't involve you, I dont want to hear about it. Last year I would have one student come up to me and tell me, "Miss Megan, Joshua is tattling." Totally missing the point.
6. As much as they may drive you crazy, they are so freaking cute. I have a series of facebook that I post called "Cute quotes from the kiddos." Most are from my kinders. They say funny and sometimes alarming things that make you understand why adults are the way they are. There are definitely moments that I really enjoy being with them. I love seeing the art that they create and hearing them explain their creations. Last week I had a b-boxing competition with them which was really fun.
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