When I was in college I was an Elementary Education and
Early Childhood Development major. I couldn't
wait to graduate and have my own classroom, however, before I could actually do
that I had to practice and be graded by doing my student teaching. This
adventure would happen under the watchful eye of a classroom teacher and my
Fundamentals professor. After filling
out and turning in the required paperwork, I anxiously awaited the letter that
announced where I had been placed. Would
it be a new school? Would it be an old school? Who else would be placed in the
same school and who would my supervising teacher be?
When the placement letter arrived I was happy to find out
that I had been assigned in Mt. Sterling for Kindergarten and Lexington to a 2nd
grade classroom. I couldn't wait to get
started and was thrilled to be going to the Kindergarten classroom first.
The Kindergarten was actually located in a four room, former
school annex located behind the high school.
It had a central hallway, tall ceilings, big rooms with windows and
hardwood floors. There were two teachers
who did “team teaching” and the children would change classrooms for different
academic activities. A small playground
with a huge shade tree could be seen from two of the rooms. There was a morning class and an afternoon
class with about twenty five children in each session.
I remember that the children were adorable and so smart. As
the weeks went by, I was allowed to plan all types of activities for them to
do. There was literacy, math, science,
and my favorite, art. I became close to
my supervising teacher and studied her every move so that I could perform to
her satisfaction which was very important.
The biggest test of all would be an observation visit from my college
professor to see how I could handle the classroom. When she came you were required to handle the
class all by yourself!!
Oh, the planning that went on before that day! And oh, the stress of thinking about her
sitting in the room and watching every little thing that I did and listen to
every single word that I said. During her observation visit she would bring an
evaluation form, and fill it out in front of you, to let you know your
progress. Thank goodness she was only
coming one time to Kindergarten!
The day arrived for the observation and I was a nervous
wreck. My mind raced with all of the
things I planned to do. My professor
arrived and said hello and went in to talk with my supervising teacher. The children started to arrive. Where was she? More children arrived. They were still talking! OK, all the children were there. Should I
wait? Should I start? If I didn't start
soon things might get out of control so I called everyone for “morning circle
time”. Let’s get this show on the road!
Everyone gathered on the rug and we began our morning
ritual. We sang our morning welcome song, did our roll call, talked about the
weather and filled out the weather chart.
When they heard we had started my professor came in and took a seat in
the corner of the room. She was carrying
her trusty clipboard and evaluation form!
We began to talk about which day of the week it was and what activities
we would do that day.
Suddenly, one of the little boys, who arrived late, burst
through the door and headed straight for the circle of children to find his
place. He settled in just as I asked if
anyone had anything that they wanted to share with the group. (We did this every morning and most of the
time children shared stories about pets, a new toy, and birthdays, all of the
things that are important when you are 5 years old). So, the little boy who was late raises his
hand, waving it excitedly to get my attention. I called on him to share.
He stood up in the middle of the circle, put his hands on
his hips, opened his eyes wide and exclaimed,
“My Daddy got drunk and threw up
all over the T.V. My Mommy had to clean
it up and she was really, really mad!” He looked at me for some sort of validation. Oh, dear, what to say?
“Well,” I said, “sometimes those things happen.” He shook his head in agreement; none of the
other children said a word or seemed to think anything about what he had just
said so we continued on with the lesson. I have no idea what anyone else had to
share that day!
In the corner, my professor was quietly cracking up and
writing a lot on that clipboard…… and, by the way, I got a great evaluation and
a story to tell many years later. Whew!
Kids. You gotta love ‘em!
BA @ Kids Matter
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