Saturday, September 6, 2008

The Newbies



I spent the last week getting my classroom ready for 16 new kindergarteners. I cleaned and scrubbed, scraped old glue off the tables, filled cups with crayons, sharpened pencils and made everything look shiny, pretty and inviting. I was motivated but it didn't help that it was 90 degrees and our comfortable old building has no air conditioning, but I kept at it.
Last week was also kindergarten screening week. That is an adventure, and I mean that in a good way.
I love meeting the new kids. They seem so small and well, babyish compared to the ones I sent on their way back in June. They seem like a nice little bunch. No separation issues at least so far, and they are so darn cute and say the funniest things.
One little girl put out her hand for me to shake and said, "Wow, you're beautiful." (Think she's getting an "A"??). Another little boy told one of my co-workers, "you remind me of my fish." (I'm beautiful, she's a fish...she's never living that down.) One told me he has 4 girlfriends at preschool and he plans on collecting a few more, another, when asked "what do you do when you walk into a dark room" replied, "I don't know, you tell me." (T-R-O-U-B-L-E).
I also had the chance to go up to first grade to observe a Responsive Classroom lesson. Responsive Classroom is a philosophy we subscribe to at our school. It's based on the theory that the social curriculum is as important as the academic one. One of the first grade teachers is a guru on the subject so it was fun to watch her give the lesson, but mostly it was fun to visit with some of last year's little guys. They are all so familiar to me, and it made me miss them. I wondered as I watched them, if I am possibly going to be able to love this new bunch as much as I love these guys. 
I also realized that we kindergarten teachers do all the hard work so the first grade teachers can reap the benefits of a well-behaved, able to sit-still-in-a-circle, line-up and walk-quietly through-the-hallway-kid!
So Monday is officially THE day, and I'm about to get really busy and really tired, so my blogging time is going to go way down hill. Not a lot of time to write and not a lot of time to read all those blogs I've gotten so attached to over the summer.  I am determined to post about my kindergarten adventures this year, after all I wouldn't want to disappoint all 4 of my loyal readers.
On another note...
Today is my birthday. My family is taking me out to dinner. I told my kids all I wanted for my birthday was for them to get along all day and not fight. We'll see how that goes. 
I got a birthday card from my best friend the other day. She sent a lovely card and put a little note in in about how we need to get together. It's really sad that we don't, but I guess life gets in the way. At the bottom of the card she wrote, "can you believe we are middle-aged?" 
Ouch.




8 comments:

Nash's Mom said...

Happy Birthday!!! A fellow Virgo....I should have known! I hope the boys treated you like a queen today and all weekend.

You absolutely paved the way for future teachers with that last bunch. I hope the first grade teachers appreciate it. I could start thanking you again, but I could also spend the rest of my life doing it so I better stop at some point. But really, thank you for helping make my little guy the gem is he.

Happy Birthday!!

Crazy Married Folks said...

Lisa,
I love reading your blog. I hope you are able to keep up with it

Jen W said...

Happy Birthday! I love hearing the hilarious things the kids say. That is such a fun age. You should have a quote of the week and feature the most hilarious thing you hear from your class.

eyes_only4him said...

well happy birthday!!!!!!!!!

those Kindergarden kids are the cutest..my Boo coulda went this year, but I kept her in pre school one more year..

she just seems so small...I know my other two went to KIND at this age, but maybe its because she is my baby..

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, Virgo!

... Wouldn't it be great if we could find out what Obama and McCain said on their first days' of Kindergarten?

IamDerby said...

Happy Birthday once again Lisa! I mailed you a card today, a day late and a dollar short as always! Have fun with your new crew of kids.

jennai said...

I like you blog. I hope you will best your best to keep it up.

jennai said...

This blog is simply so nice. It will be more better when you update it more