Short and sweet!

I had a good first day! I won't say great, because it had all the elements of a first day, but it was good. I measure this by the fact that no one died, I didn't have a headache at the end of the day and I still want to go back:)

The biggest challenge for the students and myself is that they are now into a routine and all of that is changing with me! That was our biggest challenge today. Children are really thrown off when routine is thrown off, but I know they will get used to it.

I am exhausted, so I will make this short and sweet. Thank you everyone for your kind words and support. I will have several stories I am sure, but tonight I have zero ounces of energy! Go kindergarten!

Kate the great!

So, I don't want to over do my welcome today, but I have one thing to clear up. In my first post I made a flippant comment about principals and teachers that I was with during my time as an Educational Assistant. I tried to clear it up by talking about a couple of the great teachers I have worked with. I thought it was all settled, then I realized I had left one important person out of my kiss-up blog!

I worked with Kate Barker when she was the principal at Mill Park, two years ago. I always loved how Kate greeted everyone, every morning. She always had a smile on her face and she always made me feel comfortable.

This last summer was a tough one for me. Up until this summer I had never really had to interview for a job. Being rejected over and over is a little hard on the self-esteem. My first two interviews were certainly difficult and I was not feeling ready to go at it again! Of course I continued to look for jobs, but I was not called for any interviews, because there were just too many qualified, unemployed teachers.

Kate posted a kindergarten position. I jumped at the opportunity to apply for a job where I would not only be in kindergarten, but I would get to work with Kate again. The closing day came and went and I didn't hear anything, so I just chalked it up to another swing and a miss.

A day after closing I go an email from Kate telling me to come in for an interview with her and Matt, another great person that works with Kate.

I went in and gave a good interview and they invited me back for a second interview. The second interview was in front of several of the teachers from Kate's school. I was SO nervous! She came and got me for the interview. She told me that the reason I did so well in the last interview was that I was myself. I didn't try to be something else. This meant a lot to me, but I FROZE in the second interview. I answered most of the questions well, but it took me a little longer than it should have to come up with an answer. As much as you want to be yourself in an interview, you can't help but think about what they want to hear.

3 painstakingly difficult days after the interview, Kate called me and told me that I had not gotten the job. I thanked her for giving me the opportunity to interview. She told me that the only opportunity she had given me was the first interview, and that I had completely earned the second interview.

Several days after this phone call she met with me and gave me some pointers for my next interview.

Kate has always gone the extra mile for me, and the experience that I got by going through that ordeal is priceless. Since then she has continued to look out for me and my development into a great teacher. Thank you Kate!

Ready or not here I come!

Today had many twists and turns. I have to say that as of yet there has not been one boring day! Today just abused the privilege. I subbed in a kindergarten class that was rumored to be the class from...well not a good place!

I was actually pleasantly surprised as the day began. The children were very well behaved and we had a very good morning. The afternoon was very simple due to music class, art, an assembly and fun Friday, which is a play time for the children (we watched a "Kidsongs" video.)

At the assembly the song Pump Up the Jam was playing and I started dancing, which amused the kindergartners, and everyone else I guess. I started clapping to the beat and the entire gymnasium of children started clapping with me...I loved it! I don't know if anyone knows this about me, but I am kind of a ham...what what WHAT!

So far you're like...wow this is kind of a boring story Wayne! You promised twist and turns...well in an attempt to keep your attention and admiration, I will get right to the point.

The teacher that I am supposed to take over for on October 15th confirmed with me today that today was her last day of work. She wants me to start on Monday...the 5th!

YES, I am excited.

YES, I am overwhelmed with the thought of starting now with my college classes having just started.

YES, I think I will do a great job.

YES, I still question my preparedness.

YES, I will do it.

YES, I will work tirelessly to be successful.

Is all of that self-indulgent...maybe a little. I sometimes have to be self-indulgent, or else I start making excuses for why I might not be able to handle everything that is coming my direction. There is no reason why I can't do it all...well...me, energy drinks, family, and of course a lot of prayer.

Okay, I am done.

I will continue my blog, because the only thing better than meeting different children everyday is spending everyday with the same children. I will not be short on stories and insights!

You da MAN!

I taught a second grade class today. I have worked with this group before and I love them! I had some of them in my student teaching last year. I did have some fears about one student in the class. I wish I could tell you his name, because it matches perfectly with his personality. He is very sarcastic and he can really push teachers buttons. I have had a few run-ins with him.

Anyway, we are sitting at the carpet doing calendar time. I tell the children "Today is Thursday!" One of the students says "No Mr. Mason, today is Wednesday.", To which I responded, "No, today is Thursday, yesterday was Wednesday!" (At this point I am actually doing the math in my head to make sure I am correct!)

He continued to insist it was Wednesday to the other students. I stopped him and I said (student) who is the teacher today? The whole class said "You are!" The student who's name I wish I could tell you pipes up and says "That's right Mr. Mason, you da MAN! I said in a very straight teacherly voice, "That is right (student), I am da man, and I am paid to know what day it is today!" Some of the students laughed, while others stared at me blankly.

I love having inside jokes with my self during the day! I will take a phrase that is said a lot throughout the day and change my voice slightly every time I say it, until it sounds ridiculous, but normally the children never notice, or say anything.

One of the attention getters we use in kindergarten is "3,2,1 hands on head!" This works like a charm to get their attention, but one day I changed it up every time I did it, until I sounded a little like Barney at the end of the day. I was laughing out loud every time I said it...the kids never really got it, which makes it that much more fun:)

I am in a kindergarten class tomorrow. I should have some real gems at the end of the day...stay tuned!

Lost in Translation

Yesterday I subbed in an ESL classroom. I always love working with ESL students. Last year I worked with a small kindergarten group. They were awesome. Most of them had better language than most of their native speaking peers! I just love how excited they are about language, and I honestly like the dependency a little bit. They look to their teacher a lot, to understand what is being said.

Anyway, I led three groups of ESL students yesterday. The first group was 5 fourth graders. This was probably the toughest of the groups, because it was only their second day of ESL. We did a paragraph about what they did this summer. They had pretty high language skills, so the instruction was pretty easy.

The second group was 6 First graders. I actually met them in their classroom. They were a very sweet group. I read them a story about colors, and how yellow and blue makes green. The children seemed to love it. Then we did an "All About Me" worksheet, where they answered questions like: What is your favorite food? I had to help them quite a bit with this. We had a good time though!

My biggest challenge instruction wise came in the final group. I met with seven Fifth graders. They were all newcomers, meaning most of them have only been in the US for a very little time. Some of them have little to know language skills.

After speaking to several blank faces for the first few minutes, I started using gestures. I asked them all to take a pencil from the jar and all but one just stared at me. I modeled by taking a pencil out of the jar and putting it in front of myself, then I pointed at the jar and at each of them...nothing...so finally I asked the one girl that understood me to please pass out the pencils, it was the easiest way.

I read a book about clouds to them and they really liked the drawn pictures of clouds in different shapes. We used sound effects to make the noise that the shape would make, it was very funny. We all made sheep noises, rocket noises and plane noises, it got a little silly.

Finally, I had them do the same "All About Me" sheet that the First graders had done. This became a challenge. After attempting to get people to work individually, I decided this was a group project. I would read the question and then draw five options for them to answer with. For those of you that don't know me, my drawing is very interesting. The Fifth graders even giggled a little as I drew pictures. My favorite question was: What is your favorite musical instrument? I drew a guitar, drums, a microphone, a violin and a piano...The guitar looked awesome. That got the most laughs!

I am proud to say that all but one person finished the assignment. I had a very nice day and I am about to head off to a second grade class for the afternoon! I will try and blog tonight about my exploits.