Tales from Kindergarten

For those of you who don't know already, I am currently doing my student teaching. I was given the pleasure of being placed in a kindergarten class for the first half of the semester.

I've always been a fan of, and planned on teaching, the older kids, but these little kiddos are slowly starting to change my mind...

Spending every day with them is certainly eye opening.

I've found that during the first few months of kindergarten, every other lesson is about behavior. We're teaching them how to be students, and throwing in some colors and letters now and then. No joke, I in some way correct, scold, or redirect students at least 100 times in a day. They shout out, poke each other, wander around the room, etc... and you have to correct them every time, but you can't get mad at them because they just plain forget how to behave. (Most of the time)

Sometimes, they are deliberately defiant. That's when the real fun starts. I've seen more tantrums in three weeks than I can count on both hands. I've learned how to deal with them for the most part. Occasionally, though, I'm reminded that I'm still new at this.

One boy in particular is very good at that.

Josh

He was the very first student that I met.

On our first day, he came running into the room yelling how excited he was to be there. He was so excited that he threw all of his things down on the floor and proceeded to run around the room checking everything out. After a few minutes, I called out "Josh, come on over. We'll get your stuff put away." I pointed out our coat rack where we had names written above each hook, and told him that he could hang up his coat and book bag under his name. He informed me that he didn't have a book bag. I pointed at the Curious George bag with wheels and a retractable handle that I would later learn all about, and assured him that yes he did have one. He looked to where I was pointing and said "No! That's not a book bag. That's a backpack!"

Later that day, he came back from lunch and threw his lunchbox on a table. Knowing he hadn't even given it a thought, I went over and asked him "Josh, could you please put your lunch box away?" His reply was simply "No, thank you."

At least he uses his manners?

Just today, he came to school without his Curious George bag. He'd gotten a new one; a Spiderman bag! I was so impressed that I made the same mistake again. I called the darn thing a book bag, and was again reminded that it is not. It is a backpack.

Josh is a very bright child.

But sometimes he doesn't like to do what is asked of him.

The other day, Josh was not doing what he was supposed to.

I walked over and instead of just telling him to work, tried to give him an opportunity to self-correct. I asked him what the teacher (not me) had asked him to do.

He didn't answer me, so I asked him again. At that moment, the teacher was walking by. He looked up at her and asked if she could tell me what the directions were because I didn't know.

As trying as he can be, he also provides me with a ton of laughs.

He decided to tell me about his Curious George that rides in his old backpack.

"This fellow's name is Curious George. He's a new sleep toy. He's not new anymore. He's just old. We got him at Giant Eagle. You can buy cookies there. When they make cakes, you can watch. Or not watch. Meemaw goes there. She lives at Papi's house."

While the class was discussing a story, I heard him say

"when I grow up, I want my name to be Steve."

He drew a lovely dog the other day. He named it Racoona

He also told us this story

"You know what? One time, I left my three sleep toys on the bus. You know what? I was really sad. But you know what? The bus driver put them in my mailbox! I was soo so very happy!"

"But Josh. You don't ride a bus."

End of story

He once had his shorts on backwards for an entire day.

He also came out of the bathroom one day and announced "I have two underwear on!"

Josh has also given me more positive reinforcement than any other student thus far.

On a day when he seemed to be a little down, he wanted some extra attention. On the way to recess, he wanted to hold my hand, so I said ok and we walked down the hall together. On the way back in from recess, he wanted to hold my hand again, but I was at the other end of the line and couldn't. I said no. He wasn't very happy. From the other end of the line he yelled "Miss Kebert! I want to hold your hand! Miss Kebert! Miss Kebert please!!" Frowning on the inside, I said with a smile "Josh, you're ok. You're such a big boy you can walk by yourself."

On his peppier days, he's not so needy, but he did surprise me once. I was doing lessons with small groups of students, and when his group came over he went on and on about how awesome our project was. When we were finished he walked over to my chair, put his hand on my back, and said "You are such a great teacher for me to have!"

5 minutes later a little girl was crying and calling me mean.

It's always up and down with these kids, but the things they come up with make it all worth it.

The kids have rest time every day, so they get to bring in a blanket or towel to cover up with. One boy showed me his blankey and told me how special it is and how much he loves it. He asked me to hold it for a minute, but instructed me not to get it warm. He likes it cool.

The same boy saw me fighting with a stapler one day. He came over and told me

"You should staple them one at a time. That would be easier. I thought of that in my mind."

One day we were talking about a racoon that goes to school at night, and the students were asked why they couldn't go to school at night. Someone said because all of the stores would be closed. Another person corrected "but not Wal-Mart!"

We had a discussion one day about boys and girls.

The teacher referred to herself as a woman.

Someone said no. She was a man.

Another suggested she's a man with long hair and no mustache.

Josh chimed in "No! She's a teacher!"

A boy asked me not to sing a song today because "it ignores him."

During testing, we pointed to the dot at the end of a sentence, and asked a girl what it was. She thought about it for a minute and said "a button?"

I believe the best moment thus far was watching a few kids try to resolve their own conflict. One girl wanted to sit next to a boy, but he didn't want her there. He started to yell at her to go away, but a second girl interrupted him. She said to him "No. You have to say 'please.. please may you go away?" He repeated her. Verbatim.

Those kids are just too darn cute.

This experience has already been the most challenging and exhausting of my life, but it's things like receiving a dandelion picked especially for me, or hearing from a father at open house that his son is excited about school and comes home and tells him everything he learned that day that make this worth it.