Monday

First of all, I would like to thank the 3 or 4 of you who actually read this blog. I honestly didn't know anyone other than my mom and dad were keeping up with my erratic posting, and I've been touched to read comments by other friends. I know it sounds corny, but it really means a lot that people care what I'm doing, and are praying for me. (And, since I told her I would, here's a shout-out to Lezlie.)

Last week was the trip to Cleveland, for my organization's national forum. I'm so glad I went, because it gave me a chance to make friends with some other teachers. I mainly hung out with G. and C. C. is from Jamaica and is a no-nonsense Kindergarten teacher (you don't meet many of those). She's hard to get a smile out of, but when you do you know you earned it. G. is a mother of two who will be teaching first grade. They are the only other new teachers that I've met so far. We had a lot of fun walking around Cleveland - which, by the way, is DEAD. NO ONE was on the streets. We also made the mistake of not knowing which great lake it was on, and when we asked a man he looked at us like we were idiots and said "Do you even know what city you're in?" Yes, thank you, we do. (It's Lake Erie, by the way)

The trip also gave me a chance to learn more about the vision and values of the organization, many of which I am very excited about. It's pretty amazing that it was started just 5 years ago, and now has 74 (?) schools nationwide. No school system is perfect, but I was convinced that this particular one has a lot going for it, including leadership and teachers who seem to really care about providing an excellent service for the parents and children who choose them.

It has been determined that I will be staying with the teacher I'm currently working with. They had it under consideration, given the fact that this class will be very large (26!!!), very difficult, and often left to the assistant teacher to handle alone. They asked me if I was up to the challenge and I said yes. This might have been stupid (I'm guessing it probably was), but I want to be a kindergarten or first-grade teacher eventually and if I hadn't agreed to this position they would have moved me to pre-k 3, which is basically a day-care program. I figured this would be the best way for me to become a better teacher.

As far as the kids go, they were (comparatively) angels on Friday, and little monsters today (I say that with love). M. was out of control....again. J. could not pay attention at all (I told him to grab his snack off the table and he grabbed a stack of 5 pencils. That is just 1 example of how he just doesn't seem to get it. I don't think it's a lack of trying; it's not like he's being "bad". I think that something just isn't connecting in his brain). Z. made me laugh today because - regardless of what she is eating - she finds a way to get it on herself. It is truly an art form. Today I found a potato chip sticking to her neck.

The actual teaching part is hit or miss. It is what I love doing, though, and why I am here. The first lesson I have learned is that if a math or reading session starts off chaotic, it is nearly impossible to bring it back under control. The trick is to get them focused and interested right off the bat. They did great on their reading exercise today (we were working on letter sounds at the end of words) and terrible on math (going over the "greater than" and "less than" concept). We're going to come at the problem from a different angle tomorrow and see if it helps them get their little minds around it.

I wish I had pictures to post of these kids. They really are beautiful. Hopefully I can get some before Summer School is finished (in 2 weeks).