[i like to make grand, sweeping generalizations about good teaching practices]
I haven’t blogged in over a month. I blame this on my ever-looming grey cloud called Graduate School Applications. It’s a poor excuse but my writing juices have been so caught up in writing my dang personal statements that I haven’t had anything left for this blog.
But that is no excuse.
And since I have about 30 more minutes in this coffee shop before I move on to my next activity, I will take the time to write.
yup.
I’ve been thinking about the differences and similarities of kindergarten ahd high school. A lot of people assume that they must be completely different worlds. They are… But they aren’t at the same time.
I was at a coworker’s holiday party yesterday (where I had the most delicious eggnog – my first ever homemade eggnog) and a new friend at the party and I got into a discussion about grading and how the school I work at now has no grades, we have narrative report cards instead. And I was thinking about all of the energy and though that goes into writing them. I remember when I was teaching high school last year that I had a great resistance to give grades in the first place. Instead, I wanted to write comments to each student about their progress in class, what they were achieving at, and what they could work on.
And then it hit me. For me, as a teacher, kindergarten and 9th grade is not too different because of the way I interact with the students. I am attentive to the same things in a kindergarten classroom as I am in a high school classroom. How is the class feeling as a group today? Are they fidgety? Energetic? A bit off? Or right on board with me? Why is Johnny sitting next to April rather than David? Wow! Holly is really attentive today! She must really like today’s lesson. Must keep a mental note to expand on this topic again. How can I best support Felix, who has so much potential, but needs to be redirected every 5 minutes?
What goes through my head as a kindergarten teacher and as a high school teacher is exactly the same. So of course I don’t see the big differences between the two (besides the obvious).
I don’t think all teachers think the same way as I do.
But I think all teachers should.
HAHA.
But no… really. I think they should.
Lately, I’m struggling to find patience. With no real holiday, I’ve been going straight since September and I’m just starting to lose it. My body shut down last week for a few days because of the stress and emotional fatigue from the Kindergarteners and grad school apps.
I dislike having less patience. I think I still mask it pretty well. But I wish I had more patience, especially in the last few days before the winter holiday when all the students want is to love and be loved in return.
So I have to remind myself to accept their love in all forms because their loves is the most pure and genuine of all love.
But how do I remain patient and remind myself of love when little Joseph decides to pull his pants down in front of the class?
I am also realizing… well, I’m not realizing this because I already knew this… so I suppose I am being reminded yet again, that I see some of my students for more hours in a day than their own parents see them. I know how the child plays, reads, writes, interacts, cries, smiles, and eats. Some parents do. Some parents don’t.
So it becomes even MORE important for teachers to be able to attend to the whole student, and not just the academic part.
Clearly my thoughts are all over the place today. I think they’ve been all over the place for quite a while now and that’s why I can’t seem to make progress on my personal statement. There’s only so much I can say in 1500 words. I just want the grad school to have a conversation with me. Then SURELY they’ll understand that my mediocre GRE scores do not define me. But the world is not as kind.
I wish I could fast-forward 10 years and see my kindergartners as teenagers. What will they look like? Who will be dating whom? What would their interests be?
I’m going to take a walk now. I’m long overdue for one. Haven’t had one since school started. I think that’s my ultimate downfall.
