Lions and Hugs

First, I apologize for not posting for a while. My new goal is to try and post once a week. Everyday is just NOT possible.

Second, I've learned that no two days in Kindergarten are ever the same. One day can be pure bliss and harmony in the classroom, and the next can be like a wildfire-unpredictable and scary. BUT the good thing is that for the most part life in my room has been going better than I expected. I'm so blessed to have the kids I have. There are hardly and "major" discipline problems. Yes, they have their bad moments, but I've learned those moments are those teachable moments to help them be successful not just in the classroom but in life.

And third, I left my kids for the first time today with a substitute while I went to a Growing Writers workshop that was held in our multipurpose room. Funny story about the sub though.....

So I asked my friend to sub for me since she'd put herself on the sub list while she was in town for a month, she agreed to do it. I should let you know that this was probably 2 weeks before the actual day I was going to be absent. So over the weekend, I texted her to make sure she'd still be able to sub when she tells me...."I thought it was Wednesday, not Tuesday, because I can't do it on Tuesday, I'll be out of town."

"Ok, don't panic, you'll find someone" I tell myself. Wrong. Since it was a district wide workshop, all Kindergarten teachers were absent, so pretty much all subs were taken. One of the wonderful ladies on my team, assured me that I would definitely be going to the workshop even if it meant that someone on our team had to give up their sub since I was the new teacher and needed the information the most. So I show up to school this morning, still with no sub lined up, go straight to the office to tell the secretary my delihmma (sp?). She said that the Kindergarten aide was free for the day to cover my class. Usually she has to help out in 3rd grade for a while with a student, but that student was going to be out for the day. Is God watching out for me or what?? SO, she covered my class, she said the kids were AMAZING for her.....and the best part was when I walked in the room to help with dismissal at the end of the day (we got out of the workshop early), I got bombarded with the sweetest hugs and was told to read the story they wrote together as a class. Ok, so in the story I was eaten by a lion, BUT apparently the lion took me to Africa. But hey, I got hugs! Maybe I am doing something right after all....

Uphill

Forgive me for my lack of posting. As you can see from my lack of time and exhaustion, last week did NOT go as smooth as anticipated. The further into the week I got, the most discouraged I seemed to get, I was even wondering why the heck I wanted to be a teacher in the first place....and then the weekend came.

Unintentionally, I ended up rearranging my entire classroom on Saturday. (I will post pictures once I take some.) Who would have thought that by giving the kids some more boundaries for centers and a bit more space at the group rug and tables, all my problems would be solved. Today could not have gone any better. For the very first time, I've had FUN teaching, and the kids had FUN learning. Wow, what an incredible feeling. I knew my day was going so much better when I could almost laugh at the fact that one of my kids whacked another kid in the head with his lunchbox. (He at lunch at a table by himself). That was the biggest problem I had all day- so AWESOME! I wasn't tired after school, in fact, I couldn't stop smiling! I'm finally going uphill on the teaching rollercoaster. :) I even learned how to start my report card files on my computer and set up my class lists on my palm for TPRI testing!

I hope the rest of the week goes this well!