Survival!

Here's to you my fellow teachers for surviving the first week of school!  Congrats!  You made it!

And if you experienced staggered entry this week, get ready for the real fun that's about to happen as of tomorrow morning (this is definitely me)! Everyone's all together now...!

I have to admit, staggered this year was very different than previous.  However, I also changed my tune in regards to some rules and expressed the necessity of them all in great detail at our parent orientation we had over a week ago.  So, that might have contributed.. Who am I kidding?  Of course it did!  Here's why:

Reason One:
Typically, I have allowed parents the opportunity to draw on the "goodbye" ritual if the student was having a difficult time.  Although I would stress the importance of a quick goodbye and go scenario, I very rarely had any takers as "they know their child best" and I apparently had no idea what I was talking about.  Well, due to that, in one of our classes we had a total of eight-three year olds crying for their parents and all of those parents lingering in the classroom till they stopped.  Needless to say, it was extremely crowded, extremely loud, and just overall a chaotic scene that no human being wants to be a part of however refusing to fix it at the same time.

Well, this year I promised myself that I may lose my hearing over such a large volume of crying but I was not going to be disrespected nor my classroom again. This year I stressed immensely the importance of "short, sweet, and simple" goodbye. 
Short: "It's time for you to go to preschool and time for me to say goodbye to you"
Sweet: "I love you very much"
Simple: "I will come back to get you when it's time to go home again.  Now, go inside and I will see you when you're done!"

The importance of this goodbye-time is simply showing the child that the parent is going to hold their ground in making sure they stay, even if everything is scary at first.  Providing reassurance to them in stating how much you love them, tells them that even though that child and parent are going to be separated, it doesn't mean the love is gone too.  By ending the goodbye through a simple matter-of-fact of the new experience eventually ending with a reunification does tell the child that they won't be there for long. 

I also stressed of making sure that parents stayed out of the classroom and keeping the goodbye at the doorway as we want to keep the classroom a positive environment where no traumatic goodbyes are taking place.  Students are calm, engaged in activities and conversation, and simply enjoying the moment. 

Don't get me wrong, I know it's easier said than done sometimes.  I may not be a parent but after working with children for 10 years now, I've observed enough to know what works, and what doesn't.  My job isn't to parent the child, it's to teach.  And if a child is entering my classroom, then my ultimate goal is teaching them how to be independent as we all need to eventually. In order for that life lesson to begin, you have to follow the instructions and gain the ability to succeed.

So, did it work?  You bet.  In fact, I had parents saying the exact same thing I just reference up above.  Did any kids cry?  Of course, but very few and it only lasted less than five minutes. 

Reason Two:
Aside from the transitioning portion, I also told parents not to feel guilty on the first day.  It's surprising how many parents start doubting themselves if they made the right decision.  That usually happen if the child gets upset about coming to preschool or doesn't interact with anyone.  I reassured our new parents this year that they placed them into preschool for a reason and that reason was for them to watch their preschooler grow in an academic (but playful!) environment. 

After I mentioned that, you saw a lot of mothers' nodding their head in agreement and the fathers' holding their hand. 

So, did any parents show doubt?  A couple.  But I told them if the transition is still a struggle after a month, let's talk because it's too early to make conclusions now.

Reason Three:
I lowered unrealistic expectations.  I already admitted that I can't get a three year old to read by June.  I already admitted that I can't get a four year old doing simple addition and subtraction.  And I admitted that I don't believe in stressing the early years out on the academics.  I did promise however that their child will grow over the next 10months and it'll be more than just physically.  And while that growth occurs, their preschooler will be having fun.

As long as we're having fun while learning, I think that's all that really matters.  Not how it was taught!


I felt these were valid, fair points to share with parents and remind them the point of preschool and I feel it was received the way it should have been.  It truly showed as I can't remember when was the last time I had a great staggered entry week and could honestly say "Parents weren't an issue."
Good on them!  It's a tough job and I commend them for keeping it together.


Now, let's see how this week goes.  Staggered entry is now over and all students (18 per class) meet and greet as a whole.

..Deep breath..deep breath..deep breath..

Smooth Transitions, Winter Clothing is the Devil

Smooth Transitions:
Last year, after a two week holiday break, I found it almost took me a month to get my classes back into shape in terms of following classroom rules and the environment itself.  It was as if they have never been involved in any kind of social group setting of children their own age and the idea of sharing was equivalent to finding out that Mondays really do suck.  Eventually, I was able to get that resolved and by February, things were back to normal again.  This year, it's been completely different and I am really trying to figure out why and how this happened.

Not only has every single child, including those really young ones, matured - but they've gone to a new level of following directions, they listen, get along with one another, and they actually want to hear what I have to say during their "learning lesson" at circle time.  For instance, my three day groups were learning about winter weather this week and yesterday I was teaching them about dangerous conditions.  This included sleet, ice storms, cold temperatures/windchills, blizzards, and avalanches.  I used one of my favourite teaching tools to do this which is printing off 'real' images of each aspect worth discussing and show them to the kids.  As we go through each picture, we talk about them.  That's it.  I say my thing, they ask questions, and we talk about those answers.  FYI: The concept and discussion on avalanches, was intense.  No one interrupted during those conversations - no one.  Only times were when they asked those open-end questions.  Awesome! (As a teacher, these are the best learning moments you can accomplish.)

"Whoa..." was the usual response.  This was one of the photos I used to explain what an avalanche was.  Not only was it determined that it looks unsafe, but that picture was decided and deemed as a Rocky Mountain picture.  More specifically, "it's somewhere on the way to Vancouver". 
..Sure!

Don't get me wrong - I love how this week went.  In fact, I don't want to dwell or brag about it too much in case it jinx's it.  But at the same time, I find it so odd as I'm not typically use to it.  Even all those years working in childcare, it was always anticipated that the first couple weeks were going to be and were tough.  This was the week I was suppose to be hating every second of and instead, I loved it!
Fingers crossed, this smooth transition continues onward.

Winter Clothing is the Devil
If you work with children, whether it's in a school, preschool, daycare, out-of-school care, drop in, Hell - even if you have kids of your own, you know the agony of putting on winter clothing before going outside can be a nightmare.  Especially in group settings, you have to at least expect a 15-20 minute process of putting on outdoor winter clothing because of the number children you have to help get on their bulky snowpants, find missing hats at the bottom of their backpacks, or locate the mate of the $40.00 mittens they decided to bring or else you're going to hear it from the parent at pick-up time.  By the time it's all said and done, you have children piling on top of one another because their learning what it's like to be a sumo wrestler, the ultimate whine of "I'm too hotttttttttt!", and the ones who sit on the floor up against either a piece of furniture or wall, zoned out because the comfyness of the snowsuit has mellowed them out.  Oh, and you haven't even put your stuff on yet.  Awesome again.

Here's some tricks I've learned:
1) Getting in patient can lead to independence: Independence is key with the smallest assembly of getting ready for outside.  Making them wait their turn in line for help actually ends up them tired of waiting and attempting to do it themselves.  Eventually, they get how to put on their own things and the next thing you know, they're only coming to you to do the zipping of the zipper.  I tend to let this happen with the ones especially who I know I can do it.  It's frustrating at the beginning for them - putting things on backwards, getting twisted up, or stuck - but they get it. And your 'getting ready' time has literally been cut down.

2) Upside Down Jacket Trick:  Again, this reflect independence, but it works perfect after a couple of attempts.  It's about laying the jacket down on the floor (has to be upside down but upright and you stand behind it - make sense?), put the arms in, and flip over the head.  BAM!  You're coat's on!

Do this wrong, and this is what you get.  Expect to see this at least four times.  Guarnteed.

3) Backpacks hide EVERYTHING..according to the kids anyway:  They easily say "I don't have snowpants" and start putting everything else on to realize by the time everything is on, there was snowpants at the bottom of their backpack after all.  Sigh.  Key and repeated statement to make BEFORE they all start getting ready:  "CHECK YOUR BACKPACKS. IT'S ALL IN THERE!" 

4) Dots in boots:  I just learned this one really helps and is brilliant.  In each child's boot, you place a dot side to side, so they learn which foot goes in which boot.  They have make sure before they put them on that their dots in their boots are side by side.  When they are, then they know their feet will be going in the right boot.  Don't tell me you enjoy hearing 20 voices asking the same question: "Is this the right foot?".

5)  Lost and Found box is your saviour:  Need I say more? 


Stay warm this week, everyone.  It's suppose to be a cold one!