1. Having to go to the potty can be a SERIOUS epidemic. The mere mention of the word potty or bathroom causes the infectious disease to spread rapidly. I've never seen anything quite like it.
2. I never want to do classroom bathroom breaks with kindergarten. AGAIN!
3. Something similar to a lasso attaches the children to me. Meaning that anytime I move around the room so do they! It could be compared to a mother duck and her little ducklings, they follow right behind!
4. The "I" on the keyboard is a lowercase "L".
5. They have a story for EVERYTHING!
6. They love you no matter what, they like to sit VERY close and they love hugs.
On the second day of class with kindergarten, one asked to go to the bathroom immediately followed by 3/4 of the class. I know enough to know that sometimes kindergarten can't hold it and can be accident prone. Not wanting my carpet tainted so soon, I let one go! MISTAKE 1. When she came back in, she informed me that her teacher was out there and said no more bathroom breaks. So at this point they've all asked but now what do I do?!? I did my best to preoccupy 20 little minds with singing, dancing, and a game but it wasn't cutting it. I opened my door and stuck my head out looking for their teacher. The teacher workroom is right across the hallway and she had been in the room. MISTAKE 2. Two other seasoned teachers were in there but not the one I was looking for. Those teachers suggested a group bathroom break! MISTAKE 3. As I turned around to tell the children, I realized how short the lasso was. The kids were in the doorway with me. As the three of us tried to corral 20 kids, the chaos continued. MISTAKE 4. Finally, we corralled the kids back inside the class. We finished the "measly" 55 minutes without any accidents, with my sanity intact, and a funny story.
The second week of my rotation started and the kids were anxious to get on the computer. After using an incomplete and old list, I was only able to make log in cards for half the class. My first kindergarten class came and I tried to show them how to long on using the card. Come to find out, not all kindergarteners know their alphabet and if they do, they might not know both lower and uppercase letters. (Take a look at the keyboard, it's only uppercase.) Oh and the "I" looks like an "L". After two days of trying I decided to switch things up!
Revised lesson plans for kindergarten this week:
1. Start by introducing what a keyboard is, why it is called that, and what it's purpose is. 2. Then have students locate other keyboards around the room. 3. Use a jumbo shower curtain keyboard to find specific letters. (We focused on the letters they were learning in their class.) 4. Using old or paper keyboards have races to find letters on those.
It was a much better lesson and very productive.
I really love being with kindergarten and for that matter all ages. I've learned so much and am way less stressed than I was last year. Be looking for more lesson plan ideas.
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