Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 10th Entry (Short Story) - 2/23/2018 7:55:53 AM
Shows me that pre-k and kindergarten are extremely intensive work when you have children with learning and discipline disabilities. One seems to have to produce a lot of data and documentation in order to move forward with some students, costing a lot of time that could be used for teaching.
Ron
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 10th Entry (Short Story) - 2/23/2018 3:00:47 AM
So many students with IEPs--if there are any fully-functioning in the classroom, they too suffer from all the time the teacher must spend putting out fires all around them.
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 9th Entry (Short Story) - 2/8/2018 7:50:51 AM
I was expecting negatives from your intro. But in a way, I'm glad you didn't mention them… Just strategies. I'm fond of acronyms to make it easier to share complicated technical terms with like-minded people in my field. But for the general reader, it's better to define an acronym by putting the definition behind IEP (what it means) the first time you use it. Without looking it up, I'm still in the dark, although probably every schoolteacher who reads this will know. But, I believe your purpose is not to preach to the choir, but to enlighten ignorant blokes like me how difficult it is to teach in today's inner-city schools.
For example, I never would have dreamed that you (she?) would have to cope with "stress and anger" among kindergarten children. Probably why, from middle school onward, has become more disciplinary and less educative. Although I do recall my eighth-grade algebra teacher who always got sidetracked into preaching some kind of disciplinary lesson to us and forget the algebra lesson for the day.
Ron
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 9th Entry (Short Story) - 2/8/2018 2:29:32 AM
On some of my most harrowing days, I'd think how much worse it was for those individual students who went home to a chaotic situation.
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher:8th Entry (Short Story) - 2/5/2018 7:31:31 AM
I see some red flags here. Ramona is being singled out for her disability. That is unfortunate, because, regardless of her disability, she should socialize with other children who are not disabled in a positive way. A teacher can help students understand and not belittle or bully disabled students in class.
On the other hand, Devon may be gifted. He also would have trouble fitting in with other students. Rather than seeing that as a problem, a good teacher would encourage him and make him the star he is by giving him extra work and not making a big fuss about it in class. Answer his eager questions correctly and tell him to give the other students a chance as well. I think that maintaining quiet may not be the best thing when it comes to elementary students.
It is a real shame that while administrators spend a lot of time on salaries in the budget they ignore or cut legitimate computer services for the classroom. It is been my own experience that administrators were computer phobic. But in today's setting, not providing teachers with adequate computer equipment becomes a setback for that school.
I know what it means to use your own personal equipment to do your work. It is certainly a shame when the proper tools are not provided for teaching or work performance.
Ron
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher:8th Entry (Short Story) - 2/4/2018 12:55:16 PM
I can't imagine trying to teach children in any grade in this day and age. It appears the powers-that-be tie the hands of educators, leaving them to flounder in a sea of chaos, hoping they will swim while their hands are tied behind their backs!
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 6th Entry (Short Story) - 1/6/2018 10:14:13 AM
I agree with Eva. Work in the garden, there seems to be a lot of paperwork and rigmarole associated with the students instead of a fun time to learn some basics and social skills with other children their own age.
Ron
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 6th Entry (Short Story) - 1/6/2018 1:56:27 AM
Seems to me, the school focus is off and out of touch. Homework, too, at that level when it's more important to cultivate love of life, learning, and interacting with others socially.
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 5th Entry (Short Story) - 12/31/2017 4:37:01 AM
That was horrible. We rely so much on technical things like email to provide us with information and other services that human communication is often lacking, creating situations like this. I certainly hope it isn't a concerted effort by the other teachers to make your time at Adams miserable.
Ron
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 5th Entry (Short Story) - 12/31/2017 2:51:26 AM
Your day sounds like the recurring dreams I still have post-retirement from teaching--a nightmare! I can only imagine how much of a drain that incident was! You not only didn't receive an email, but I find it odd no one talked about this meeting in passing. I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 4th Entry (Short Story) - 12/20/2017 5:51:59 AM
Reads very "real life." From my years of teaching, I found that some other teachers were very willing to work with me and collaborate, while others seem to have some affront to my teaching and found ways to avoid working with me, even though I was open to working with anyone.
Ron
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 4th Entry (Short Story) - 12/20/2017 2:28:34 AM
Your entries bring me back to my own teaching days where I'd pack a lunch on several summer vacation days and dig in my heels getting my room ready.
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 2nd Entry (Short Story) - 12/6/2017 12:51:33 AM
A former elementary school teacher, my first reaction was that 30 students is just too many for a kindergarten class--any classroom, for that matter!
Even though I taught in an affluent community in the poor section of town, and materials were adequate, I found myself always purchasing additional supplies to enhance the learning experience. Children certainly do need to move around and participate in hands-on activities to better assimilate what we're trying to teach.
I look forward to your next installment.
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: 2nd Entry (Short Story) - 12/1/2017 8:15:16 AM
I've never been in a kindergarten teacher's shoes, but everything you write here seems to be falling to place as something that a teacher in a deprived (financially) school might do.
From my experience, my kindergarten and first grade classroom was very austere with student carved and gum loaded wood and wrought iron desks anchored to the floor. I don't remember having any material but there was paper paste for construction paper activities and an inkwell that wasn't used anymore. Play was done outside in the playground, but I don't remember.
In second grade, we often went to the city library. What I remember most was a beautiful pond with goldfish in it on the grounds and the only books I remember checking out… Dr. Seuss!
Ron
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: First Entry (Short Story) - 11/25/2017 10:14:30 AM
It's hard not to get personal with your story because it's fictional. When I try to recall my two week kindergarten in a small town brick building similar to the one you describe, I don't recall anything of the experience. But it certainly wasn't unpleasant.
I always thought that a good teacher could work in any environment without any supplies and still convey the subject. But I understand that young children are attracted to bright and cheery surroundings with lots of materials and activities to play/learn with.
I always thought that most of my fellow college students who were going into teaching were going in naïvely and probably either hardened to the reality or, opted out, like my cousin.
Ron
Diary of a First Year Kindergarten Teacher: First Entry (Short Story) - 11/25/2017 2:27:18 AM
A former elementary school teacher, I can understand your situation. Although I bought a lion's share of my own supplies that weren't covered on those requisition lists, my school was beautiful. Environment also plays an important role in motivating a child to learn, especially when so many other variables are stacked against them.
Best wishes in making a profound difference!
One Way Ticket (Short Story) - 8/9/2017 6:13:39 AM
Well written and easy to follow. My kind of story. I am assuming that this is fiction, so I thought that, at the beginning, something far more diabolical would happen rather than the mother not showing up. But it did show her character as a no-show mom in life.
Ron
One Way Ticket (Short Story) - 8/9/2017 12:47:53 AM
I enjoyed the round trip of your story. At least two youngsters ended up in a better situation than the one they were left in. Perhaps their real mom did the best she could in providing them a ticket out of a bad situation.
