Student Teaching

So I just finished my 3-hour lesson prepping for tomorrow and I'm beat. I'm supposed to make a full lesson plan for all the lessons I teach, but it's just hard because they're so time consuming. This leaves me feeling so overwhelmed because I know I'm only going to start teaching more and more and that just means more and more days of several hours of lesson prepping. I'm going to keep working hard though, because lately, I've been slacking in the lesson prepping area. I'm going to keep reminding myself that this is my career I'm getting prepared for and it's not going to be easy....and trust me, it isn't.

You may be thinking, "What's she complaining about? She student teaches in kindergarten." Many people think that kindergarten is just fun and games. They think all the students do is play, nap and snack. It's true, the little darlings play and eat snack, but they also learn important academic content that's preparing them for their entire educational career. Napping NOT included. They learn reading, writing, math, small amounts of social studies and science and social skills.

By the way, something I just learned last semester that I find very interesting is that children are not required to attend kindergarten. http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/em/kinderinfo.asp I don't know why a parent would choose not to send their child to kindergarten. So much of what is learned in kindergarten prepares children for their next 12 years (maybe more) of education.

On a lighter note, I'm going to end this blog with two of the things in my teaching that make me smile everyday. First, I love reading stories to the little darlings. This is one part of the day they too, seem to enjoy greatly. They're so attentive and they ask interesting questions. They get so involved with the story and I love watching their faces light up as I show them the pictures. The second thing that keeps me smiling is listening to the kids talk. Kids really do say the darndest things. Some of my favorites are the following. One boy told me he had a Cocker Spanish dog. :) While doing the calendar one day last week, I told the students my mom's birthday was on Easter and one boy said, "You have a mom?!" Finally, on my first day of class, one girl told me (so sincerely, too), "Sometimes when I look at your eyes, they scare me." How can you not smile hearing that? These kids keep me interested in what I'm getting prepared for. Yes, they're challenging as well, but I'm up for it.