Hey, all! Remember that time when I started a blog and did a great job of staying up-to-date on it? And then, remember when it got really tough because I was finishing up grad school? Also, remember when I went on a temporary weeklong hiatus that turned into, like, a month and a half long hiatus?
Well, I'd like for you to forget about all of that because I'm back! And I have a lot to say!
First of all, thank you for coming back to read this. I'm really, truly grateful that you chose to come back to this hot mess of a blog to get caught up on my life!
Second, in case you didn't deduce this already, I'm done with grad school! I've been done for about a month, and it feels so great to be finished. To be completely honest with you, I have literally no idea how I was able to juggle school with teaching, especially in the first few weeks of school!
Along the same lines, I have to say... the first few weeks of teaching kindergarten are horrible. Absolutely, positively, completely and totally AWFUL. It's nobody's fault, but it is so exhausting and just really bad. The students have (for the most part) never been in a formal school setting before. This is general knowledge, of course, but something that lots of people don't realize is that kindergarteners have to be taught every. single. thing. at the beginning of the year. They have to be shown how to sit in a chair correctly, how to push in their chair, how to walk past someone without touching them, how to walk to the carpet, how to sit on the carpet, how to raise their hand, how to ask to use the restroom, how to wash their hands, how to line up to get a drink, how to line up to get to the hallway, how to walk in the hallway, how to hang up their backpacks, how to put their folders into their backpacks, how to put on their backpacks... the list goes on and on! In addition, these students do not understand that school is a place where you can't just get up and walk around whenever you feel like it. You can't just shout at the teacher to get her attention. You can't hit someone who makes you angry. You can't walk out of the classroom without asking.
Well, I'd like for you to forget about all of that because I'm back! And I have a lot to say!
First of all, thank you for coming back to read this. I'm really, truly grateful that you chose to come back to this hot mess of a blog to get caught up on my life!
Second, in case you didn't deduce this already, I'm done with grad school! I've been done for about a month, and it feels so great to be finished. To be completely honest with you, I have literally no idea how I was able to juggle school with teaching, especially in the first few weeks of school!
Along the same lines, I have to say... the first few weeks of teaching kindergarten are horrible. Absolutely, positively, completely and totally AWFUL. It's nobody's fault, but it is so exhausting and just really bad. The students have (for the most part) never been in a formal school setting before. This is general knowledge, of course, but something that lots of people don't realize is that kindergarteners have to be taught every. single. thing. at the beginning of the year. They have to be shown how to sit in a chair correctly, how to push in their chair, how to walk past someone without touching them, how to walk to the carpet, how to sit on the carpet, how to raise their hand, how to ask to use the restroom, how to wash their hands, how to line up to get a drink, how to line up to get to the hallway, how to walk in the hallway, how to hang up their backpacks, how to put their folders into their backpacks, how to put on their backpacks... the list goes on and on! In addition, these students do not understand that school is a place where you can't just get up and walk around whenever you feel like it. You can't just shout at the teacher to get her attention. You can't hit someone who makes you angry. You can't walk out of the classroom without asking.
The first few weeks of kindergarten are very similar to this situation.
Just not quite as cute, of course. ;)
So, in short (well, not too short), I've been just a tiny bit busy. And also exhausted!
Don't get me wrong, though! Please believe me when I say that I have a great class this year. They are incredibly bright kids and are already showing growth! And, this past week, we were finally able to do some really fun things in our classroom. Here are some pictures!
They both floated!
YAY!
For this craftivity, the kids and I talked about labeling (which is a brand-new concept for them). We labeled an apple on an anchor chart, and then the students got to assemble and then label their own apples! It was so fun, and only a tiny bit stressful. ;)
This was my favorite activity! A few days before, I had messaged my students' parents and asked them to send in apples, apple juice applesauce, apple pies, and Apple Jacks for an apple taste-test. I prepped everything while the students worked on their alphabet notebooks, and then we had a taste-test as a class! They loved it, and most of them tried every single thing on their plate (although some didn't want anything to do with the apple pie, which I completely understood)! We then voted and counted again. I think it's really funny that Apple Jacks actually have nothing to do with apples, but they won anyway! Welcome to Kindergarten, y'all!
This upcoming week, we will be continuing our apples theme and adding in scarecrows (which, based on my recent obsession with a certain character from Wicked, is incredibly exciting for me!). I'm hoping that this week will be just as fun as the end of last week was.
Hopefully, I'll be able to pop in a few more times this week! Keep a lookout. Have a great week!
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