My day in kindergarten

I've been working in the elementary school for two weeks now but strictly with third and second graders. Until today. Today I got to go to kindergarten. Both of my usual classes were on a field trip so I was farmed out to three very grateful teachers on the lower level of the school (Angela was talking this morning about how kindergarten would probably not be on the second floor like my usual classes are. I believe her exact words were, "Could you imagine trying to get a whole class of Olivia's up and down the stairs several times a day?" and no, I couldn't. Mostly because I could carry my cousin's little one Olivia and it's not possible to carry all 20 kinders all around all day!)

So I found my way to room 8 (and yes, it was on the bottom floor) and was welcomed with open arms. I had a seat waiting for me in the front of the room and I was quickly welcomed with sign language! And just my luck today was an awesome day to be in kindergarten -- all 3 classes I would visit were making stone soup! So my first job was to help 8 five year olds cut veggies and potatoes with real, sharp knives! Very exciting. But can I tell you -- I never saw a drop of blood and the veggies were perfectly cut! They were awesome.

Then I moved on to my second classroom of the day where I was welcomed with hugs and Spanish. When I asked the teacher to translate she said they were asking if I knew any other languages besides English. I replied in French that I spoke "un peu francais" and they cheered. Apparently if I had said I didn't know any other languages they'd have hung their heads and said, that's so sad in Spanish! In this class I helped with a handwriting station while a grandma helped cut veggies. I prompted little ones to use the magic "c" to make their "a"s and their "d"s. And this is where I was very quickly reminded of one of the best things of working with the wee ones: their love of cuddling. I immediately had little Leah on my lap (I have no idea how she got there, one minute she was in her chair writing, the next - bam! on the lap) and she was snuggling close.

When I moved on to my third classroom they were just starting their stone soup and by now I was an expert. I helped wash veggies and pass them out and watched as they tried and tried to cut them up with plastic knives. Remember how I said there was no blood with the real knives? Well, there was blood with the plastic knives, 2 boo boos that I had to band-aid! But I totally understood why -- tonight, try cutting your raw veggies and potatoes with plastic cutlery!

As I said goodbye to the last of my kindergartners and headed out from the school I thought about these teachers who do this -- make stone soup, teach handwriting, bandage wounds, instruct on hand washing, cuddle, hug, teach sign language and Spanish and reading and math -- and so much more each day. And I think about my teachers. And then I say a prayer of huge Thanksgiving.

The new gig

I've been at my new job a full week now. I'm working as an educational consultant at a public school in a neighboring school district (not LAUSD). And it's going really well. The first few days were very laid back as the teachers I work with (two teachers, one who teaches third grade and one who teaches a second/third grade split) figured out how I best fit into their classroom and their schedule. But as the week wore on I got my chance to start working one-on-one with kids and small groups and I loved it.

I'm doing reading and math intervention and this week it was mostly reading. I am constantly amazed at how many of the writing and reading principles we teach in elementary school are what I find myself reteaching in seventh grade and even college. This week we worked on transitions with my college classes and guess what, we talked about transitions (i.e., headings) in third grade!

I only work in the mornings which is actually really good right now. It leaves me time to come home, do my University of Phoenix job, and get some writing in (on a good day). My body is even adjusting to the earlier wake up call, this morning I woke up bright and early without an alarm!

So all in all, (transition!) it's been a good first week. I'm making friends, I'm learning what's cool with the seven and eight year old set, and I'm getting to be out in the world, making a teeny tiny difference each and every day, which is exactly what I was looking for. Sitting alone in my office, even if I was teaching online, was starting to feel a little too solitary for comfort. And when the new paycheck arrives, I'm sure I'll be even more excited about this new gig.

Tiny moments

I just uploaded some new photos into iPhoto and Facebook and I got a little caught up in looking through some old photos I found along the way. Mostly snapshots of every day life taken from my phone or of some craft projects I'd completed and it got me thinking about how much I love taking pictures to remind me of the normal stuff. I once read somewhere (and I have no idea where or who said it) that this person took a photo of their house every day just to have some documentation of the regular everyday things. I loved that. Birthdays and holidays and special occasions are great and I love having way too many photos of those events but I also love having all the other pictures too.

The picture of Angela with newsprint on her nose because she fell asleep outside in the sun, wearing sunscreen, and her magazine fell on her face. The picture of my dad eating a huge sandwich at Canter's. The picture of my mom's first pedicure where she has the best little grin. The picture of my certificate from UoP saying I had completed more training so I could teach more classes. The picture of Gertie, the tiny Beanie Baby giraffe that sits on Angela's dashboard. The picture of the homemade strawberry pie we took to the nursing home to share with my grandma this summer. Sometimes it's so great just to remember the really tiny moments in life...