Licking Christmas Lights and Launching Four-year-olds

Just a random thought...why is it that people tend to reflect on life at the END of the year? Why do we not reflect at the end of every month or week or even mid-year so that we my somehow make ourselves more effecient or "better." More frequent self-examination could lead to successful new year's resolutions, or new-month's resolutions. Couldn't it?

Anyway, enough of that tangent. I was just trying to figure that out. The past several months have actually been one massive reflection of one sort or another. What about the way I do my job could be different? Are my students learning anything? Those are often the two questions that launch me into my professional self-evaluation. Recently, I was reading through my journal as I often do. I came across my entry from the first day of school. (See The Horrors...) It was a nightmare! I felt like I was in over my head. The kids were more clueless than I had expected. They couldn't figure out how to walk in a line. They had no attention spans. They couldn't eat anything without spilling it all over the place. And so much more. I seriously thought that I wasn't going to make it through the day. And when the day did end, all I could do was cry! (No surprise there!) As I read through that I found myself laughing. And then I started to feel proud of myself. I remember after that first day of school, I went home, and I said "Why didn't that work? What do I need to change?" Over the past several months, I have found those questions to be key to my success as a teacher. Figuring out was doesn't work, being honest with myself about the failure and succcesses as well. I felt this pride because I had been able to figure out how to continue to improve myself as a teacher and the education of my students. I was also very proud of my students. They have come a LONG way in just a few short months. They now can walk in a line. They can sit on their carpet squares and listen to me for several minutes without having to do something interactive. They now put their toys on the shelves, eat without spilling too much food on the floor. They are learning to say 'please' and 'thank you.'

It's so great to watch them learn. They are so curious about the world around them. They think everything is cool. They love everyone, even the kid who is mean sometimes. And most of all, they are at the peak of their playing years. Many a day, I will just sit and watch them in their centers. My favorite is to watch the imaginative roles that they take on. They will talk about marriage, drive their "cars", bake cookies for me (if only they were real cookies), get a sick person to the hospital, and all sorts of other things. It's so wonderful.

So tonight, I think my reflection is not really a year-end reflection. Too much has happened since January 1, 2004 for me to reflect on it all. This is more of a reflection of my time "on the carpet square." My kids are funny. My kids are learning. I must be doing something right, and that is good.

SOME OF MY FAMOUS KID STORIES FOR YOU

I teach the nativity in three parts. On the day I introduced baby Jesus, one of my students yells out "He looks like a turtle."

During yet another of the nativity lessons, one girl asked, "When do we get to see baby Jesus?" Talk about tough theological questions....and she's only four!

Our school had an all school Christmas program. My kids were to come in at the beginning, be the stars for one song, and then exit and return as angels at the end. How hard could that be? During the song of which we were featured, half of my students were watching the slide show being projected behind them. Five of the others were singing beautifully, while one pulled his arm up in his sweater and started swinging it around, knocking a bunch of kids in the head! Upon our return at the end, one of my precious little ones decided to lick some Christmas lights that were wrapped around a railing that he was standing next too. Yes, I know, he could have gotten electricuted! Then, at the very end, while the principal was talking, two of my other precious children, thought it would be really cool to launch themselves off of the stage, run back up the stairs, and launch themselves off again. I was across the room and could not get to them. They are lucky!

My Christmas Letter

May 16. The day I graduated from college. 1. The number of days I had to find an apartment. 63130. My new zip code. 67. The number of days that I have been a teacher (with students present in the classroom). 13. The number of students I have in my classroom. 356. The number of books my students and their families read in just six weeks for a charity that donates books to kids who need them (I’m very proud, if you can’t tell.) 8. The number of days until Christmas as I write this letter.

I’ve never been much of a math person, but it seemed that numbers were an easy way to describe the past year of my life. I graduated from Central College on May 16^th and moved to Camp Ewalu near Strawberry Point, Iowa. At Ewalu, I coordinated the day camp program and also discovered that I’m horrible at starting fires. (Not such a great thing when your campers are hungry.)

Camp ended mid-August. I loaded up a U-Haul and moved into an apartment in St. Louis where I am currently teaching pre-kindergarten. The school I teach at is a private school that serves students from all walks of life, but intentionally seeks to partner with urban poor, immigrants, and refugees. The school was founded in 1997 which makes us a fairly new school. Currently we have 64 students, 13 of which are in my pre-kindergarten class.

Teaching pre-k is quite the ride. The first month of school was very trying for me. Getting three and four year-olds to do simple things like walking in a line aren’t really as easy as one would think. But as the kids have gotten used to school, and to me, I have found that I am doing something that I love. The kids do the cutest things, SAY the funniest things, and are in great wonder of the world around them. I find myself in some of the strangest predicaments. For example, one day I returned to my room after running a quick errand to the office only to find one child with his pants around his ankles yelling for help, while two children fought over some toys, AND yet another child was crying because he couldn’t get his shoes on. What to do first? No matter what the kids do or say, I’m discovering that I have a love for them that grows deeper with every day I spend with them.

Last night I found myself kneeling in front of a stage full of children trying to lead my class in our part of the Christmas play. My kids were singing a song about God’s love, and how He has loved us since before the beginning of time. As my kids were singing (well, some of them were singing, some of them were waving at their parents, some of them were watching the slideshow behind them..hehehe) it became a reality to me just how much we can learn about God by watching young children. One of things I love about the age that I teach is how much they love and admire the adults in their lives. Even after my kids get in trouble, they will still give me hugs, tell me they love me, or want to hold my hand. My kids exhibit unconditional love to me and each other, and they probably can’t even SAY the phrase. I think I’m learning more than I’m teaching!

My prayer for each of you as this year ends, is that you will discover or rediscover the childlike part of faith. Innocent, unconditional, whole-hearted.

God’s blessings on you,

The Ride of my Life

My work life is so interesting...at least in my mind. One minute I'm tying shoes, the next cleaning up pee-filled children, and sometimes I'm even running around the room making monkey noises. Occasionally, I'm doing all three simultaneously. Seriously though, I am a pre-kindergarten teacher. I teach 13 four and five year olds in a low-income, private, urban school. To make matters more interesting, I am a first year teacher-fresh out of college, and more times than not, I have all 13 kids to myself.

Sometimes I want to cry, but mostly I just laugh as my kids say and do very funny things. I decided to create this blog for all of my "followers" aka the people who have been reading the e-mails I've sent out for the past year or so. If you stay with me long enough, you will get to read of the joys and sorrows and even some of the grossness that comes with the job. It's quite the ride...the ride on my carpet square....the ride of my life.