Kinder Teachers Are Super Heroes!

Hi all, I have neglected to post anything on this blog for a very long time. You may have even moved on and forged ahead. My long absence has been due to craziness of life and so many other things, including my feelings of inadequacy in doing this thing called "blogging". I really want to try it again and I hope you will give me another look. 

Ok, so the reason I am writing today, is to tell you that the teachers that inhabit a Kindergarten classroom are my heroes! They spend so much time teaching these "littles" the things that are important for kiddos to simply function in school! How to hold a pencil. How to walk in lines. How to raise their hand and hold their thought until another student is finished talking. It's these small things we teachers in the upper grades take for granted - so thank a Kinder teacher!

So the other day, I was given charge of this sweet class of Kinder's for just an hour and a half. In that time, the teacher had given me explicit instructions on what to do. She said to first read a book about penguins that hatch from an egg. Then have students create a sentence with these chosen words. Students should then copy the sentence in their ELA journals and I was to draw a picture of a penguin coming out of a cracked egg. I objected saying, "I can't draw." She replied, "Its ok, they can't either." Quickly she moved to the next item on the list. Students go to centers for 30 minutes. She gave directions about how students move through centers knowing where to go because their pictures are posted next to the stations in a pocket chart. So far, I am thinking, "OK, this is OK. I can do this." Finally, the teacher says "When center time is over, have them come to the carpet and read them another book." The book she handed me was The Egg Book. 

Then she hands me a mini-poster with pictures of animals along one side. She states that after I read the book, to go through the pictures and ask the students questions about the animal and if it is born from an egg. I thought - I got this! Science I love! 

Needless to say...I was in for a run for my money! 

First book went OK. Students seemed to enjoy it. They were able to come up with the designated sentence the teacher had prepared. I actually did draw a pretty good picture of the penguin coming out of the egg. 

I was feeling pretty proud of myself at this point. 

The students upon finishing their journal entry - went on to centers. This is where the fun began. Some students quietly worked, while others demanded their peers complete attention. Still other students decided they knew who was not doing as expected and began to instruct them on what they should be doing - since the teacher (me) was incompetent to know who was whom and what was really going on. Once a few squabbles began, I said, "Time to clean your station and come to the carpet. We have another book your teacher wants us to read!" Obedient little babes they were. Within a few minutes all were settled onto the carpet like sweet chicks at grandmas house sitting at my feet. We read The Egg Book. Right from the start I began to panic as the words off the page stated how the rooster had to mate with the hen to have a chick. "Oh no!" I thought, "please don't ask what 'mate' means!" I quickly moved on and throughout the book, the introduction of different egg laying animals were discovered and a little information about them. Whew! made it through the book! 

On to the mini-poster, we went down the line of pictures and I asked students questions about what the book had explained for each one. I had the students talk with a partner and create a sentence about what they had learned. They eagerly shared their sentence creations and we chose a few to write next to the picture. Then it happened. We came to a picture of an octopus. That animal was not mentioned in the book....I thought, "Oh geeze, how can we find information?" I grabbed my phone and talked into it saying, "Lets ask google!" The children were excited to hear what the omniscient voice from my phone might say. Here is how the conversation went:

Me: "OK google, does an octopus lay eggs?"

Google: "yes, an octopus lays eggs."

Students: "Wow! What is an octopus baby called?"

Me: "OK google, what is a baby octopus called?"

Google: "A baby octopus is called a larve."

All the students, like wide eyed minions, said in unison, "Ooooh, larvae!"

Me: "Oh you know about larvae?" They proceeded to tell me their connections to caterpillar larvae. I thought, "Alright! We have connections!" They are all talking at once sharing eagerly the information they knew about larvae. Until one student asks, "Where do octopus lay eggs if they are in the ocean?" I was stumped...I didn't know. Again I turn to my trusted google friend.

Me: "OK google, where do octopus lay eggs?"

Google: "The female octopus lay eggs in the sand. For many a female octopus, laying eggs marks the beginning of the end." (I think, what the world?) Google continues, "She needs to cover them and defend them against would-be predators. She gently wafts currents over them so they get a constant supply of fresh, oxygenated water. When the eggs hatch, she dies, starving and exhausted." 

Students again like wide eyed minions in unison say with hesitated horror, "Exhausted!"

I quickly focus on that word instead of the octopuses imminent death! I ask, "Do you know what that word exhausted means?" A student answers, "yes, my mom says it all the time. It is reeeaaally tired."  - Yes, yes, really tired is correct!

I thank my lucky stars that the REAL Kinder teacher opens the door to return in time to save me! 

This is why I don't teach Kinder, and why Kinder teachers are my heroes!!

To every Kinder teacher out there....YOU ARE INCREDIBLE and THANK YOU!