School is in Session!

I had thought about doing a post right after the first week of school, but that obviously did not happen. Then I thought I'd do a post right after the first month. That did not happen either. So here we are, about halfway through and I am finally posting about school!

Last I wrote about anything related to school was during my second week here when we were doing home visits to the students. A lot has happened since then! We've been in school for 37 days now; I know because we count them every morning. I would say I've taken over more than half the class most of the time? A Kindergarten setting is a little different than most because so much of the first few weeks is just establishing routines and getting the students used to being in school. Here's a rundown of how a typical school day goes:

8:15 - students arrive in the classroom
8:15-8:35 - check-in and Brain Gym
8:40-9:10ish - greeting song, morning message, calendar, share time, GoNoodle
9:10ish-10:05 - literacy block
10:05-10:20 - snack
10:25-11:15 - specials (art, Spanish, music, Host Nation, or P.E)
11:15-11:30 - recess
11:30-12:20 - math
12:30 - 1:20 - lunch and recess
1:20 - 2:00 - reading
2:00 - 2:20 - free choice centers
2:20 - 2:40 - cleanup, check-out, and dismissal

The school runs on a 5-day rotating schedule with A and B weeks. Day 1 is always Art, 2 is Spanish, 3 is Music, 4 is Host Nation (German), and 5 is P.E. Day 5 we also have Library from 2:00-2:30. Week B has an Extra Spanish on Day 3 from 8:30-9:20, and later in the year Week A will have computers during that same time. We also have guidance on Day 4 from 8:30-9:10. So, as you can tell, it's a complicated schedule, but it makes sense. We have missed school on Monday three times and we don't have school on the next two Fridays. If Art was always on Monday, that'd be three times the students missed Art, or twice missing P.E., if P.E. was always on Fridays. The rotating schedule helps avoid that. If we have a scheduled day off it doesn't count in the rotation. Which makes it confusing for me to keep track of the day, but like I said, it works better for the specials this way. Last week Monday was Day 3B with Extra Spanish and Music, Tuesday was Day 4B with Host Nation (and no Guidance because if Guidance falls on Tuesday it is moved to Day 5), so Wednesday was Day 5B with Guidance and P.E. and Library, Thursday was Day 1A with Art, and Friday was Day 2A with Spanish.

So far, I have taken over leading check-in, Brain Gym, greeting song, calendar, share time, GoNoodle, snack, math, reading, centers, cleanup, check-out- and dismissal. Mrs. Greer still initiates transitions for some of the things, but I do most of it.

My advisor from NAU was here this last week for my midterm observations and evaluations. I passed! I need to keep working on giving more positive specific feedback and asking higher-order thinking questions, but my pacing is great, classroom culture is respectful and caring, and commitment to professional development is outstanding. Yay me! My final will be completed at the end of the semester by my teacher.

Let's see, what else. I love my students! Such cute little nuggets! Of course, we have a few challenging behaviors and sometimes I might get a bit annoyed, but that's a given everywhere. We have 15 students (although one just got back from a two-week absence, and another has been gone for three weeks and still won't be back next week; we only had 13 for two weeks!). I'm slightly worried that I'll get accustomed to having only 15 students and three adults in the classroom and get back stateside with 25 students all to myself!



Things I didn't realize I'd have to teach in Kindergarten:

• How to take off a jacket without making it inside-out
• Steps to using the bathroom (lock door, don't pee on seat/floor, wash hands)
• How to look forward while walking
• How to put your shoes on the correct feet
• How to walk from the library to the classroom without dropping your book
• 22 isn't that old
• If you go into the bathroom and yell or sing...everyone outside can still hear you
• That it is Ms. Jiron...not Ms. Roan. How I wish I could always just be Ms. Shae
• That most spiders are friendly and helpful creatures...when I really wanted to tell them the appropriate response around spiders is running away and finding someone to come kill it for you

Kindergarten Funnies:

• A student went into the bathroom and yelled to himself: "Go pee now!"
• The following conversation was had after that same student farted while we were working on a math assessment: 

• Student: *whispering* I farted
• Me: That's ok, but what do you say?
• Student: I farted.
• Me: I know, but what do you say after you fart?
• Student: I don't know. I said, 'I farted.'
• Me: You say, 'Excuse me' after you fart.
• Student: *blank stare*
• After reading the date to the students, one said: "I wish I had 2017 money." Me too kid me too. 
• Mrs. Greer was doing the baseline literacy assessment with one student and seeing if they could blend letter sounds into words. She told one student "W-I-SH" and the student replied "Hamster!" 
• To Mrs. Greer during dismissal: "Cash me ousside. Howbow dah." 
• While doing math: "Mrs. Jiron, I'm always hungry." Me too kid me too.
• And a continual variation of: "Is it lunchtime yet?" or "Is it time for snack now?" with no perception of time. We could have literally just walked in the door in the morning or just gotten back from lunch recess. 
• When asking students their favorite animal during share time: "Well, dragons, which really used to exist, but now they are extinct. So I'd probably have to say lions" 
• Kindergarten vocabulary: 
• Jack-o'-lanterned (verb - past tense): the act of hollowing out and carving an image into a pumpkin. "Tim jack-o'-lanterned Pumpkin Jack."
• Depropose (verb): to rot. "The pumpkin was deproposing." 

I'll try to keep better track of the cute/funny things that kids say and include a bit in each post (you know, because I post so frequently). Feel free to comment any questions about things I've mentioned in this post! Thanks for reading!