So I am going to do my best to quickly expand and update all the little teasers from my previous post. It's amazing how so much can change even in a few days.
Kindergarten Academy was a success. I had 11 kids in my class and they were there from 9-11:30. If I haven't already explained it, it was a "boot camp" for incoming K students who needed a little boost for the start of the school year. They were identified and asked to be in the program through the screening we did last spring. There were two other teachers besides myself. We split them up into small groups and I would have to say it was probably the easiest teaching I have ever had to do. Something about having a 3-1 adult to student ratio makes teaching go exponentially smoother. I hope it doesn't burn me out quicker this year but I doubt it will. It was so unlike my usual teaching day that it can't really compare. I have 2 of the kids from that class in my current class for the year.
The little bit about having only 14 kids in my class was only a ruse. The district is switching data tracking systems and somehow a whole bunch of Kindergarteners got "lost" within the system. So even though they were registered they weren't being seen as active students and not placed in classes. In addition to that, there has also been a lot of confusion with the 2 different K-2 buildings and getting kids in the right building. Kids have come and gone off my list so fast it's been nearly impossible to keep up. We even had a short K open house on Friday night with parents coming who had students not even placed in a class. It's been a hairy mess. For example, on Friday at noon I had 14 students. By 2, I had 16 but 2 were gone and 4 had been added. By 3, I had 17. By 5, I had 18. And at 5:30, a parent walked into my room with my name on a post-it note telling me that I was her child's teacher. She was very nice and calm about the whole thing. I was starting to get more than a little frazzled. It's not anyone's fault but it has been pretty crazy trying to figure out when I will write their names on everything. For me, that includes no less than 8 labels, name plates, decorations, and other various items. The dust has supposedly settled and my list has 21 students on it. I anticipate there will be a couple more by the end of the week. Yikes. I will dream often of the 11 from K Academy.
The softball team was 5-0 but now we are 6-2. We played in a double elimination tourney this weekend and won the first game but lost the next 2. We are an average team more than anything else. We have some really strong pieces but nothing that is going to blow anybody away. We can soundly beat bad teams. Hang in there with good teams. And, get soundly beat by really good teams. Our schedule started out really easy so the next 3 weeks might not go as well as the first 3 but we are having a lot of fun with the girls. The only thing I that drives me crazy is when they sing on the bus. Someday, I will be a really mean head coach who demands silence on all bus rides. I can already tell.
The additional job was more of a whim than an actual need for money. I knew that I would be in town for K Academy in the morning and for practice in the evening. I would have 5 hours in between with not much to do so I casually asked the volunteer softball coach if the city recreational department had anything I could do. (He's the superintendent of the rec dept.). He didn't at the time but the last week of the academy he asked if I was serious about that because 2 of his flower girls were going back to college and he needed someone to help out his 3rd person. At that point, academy was almost over and I really kind of wanted to spend the last week before school started doing a whole lot of nothing all day but I couldn't really tell him no. He does a lot for our team and only gets paid in free shirts so I figured I could help them out. I weeded and watered flowers for the city which really wasn't that bad for a week. It even rained enough on Thursday that I didn't have to go in Friday so I did get my day to do a whole lot of nothing. I'll get paid have a summer job to keep me busy next summer if I want it. Win-win.
This has gone on a little longer than I thought so I'm going to cut out for now. I might get back to it before softball is over but that seems highly unlikely. Maybe the next time it will be about being REGIONAL CHAMPS!!
Kindergarten Academy was a success. I had 11 kids in my class and they were there from 9-11:30. If I haven't already explained it, it was a "boot camp" for incoming K students who needed a little boost for the start of the school year. They were identified and asked to be in the program through the screening we did last spring. There were two other teachers besides myself. We split them up into small groups and I would have to say it was probably the easiest teaching I have ever had to do. Something about having a 3-1 adult to student ratio makes teaching go exponentially smoother. I hope it doesn't burn me out quicker this year but I doubt it will. It was so unlike my usual teaching day that it can't really compare. I have 2 of the kids from that class in my current class for the year.
The little bit about having only 14 kids in my class was only a ruse. The district is switching data tracking systems and somehow a whole bunch of Kindergarteners got "lost" within the system. So even though they were registered they weren't being seen as active students and not placed in classes. In addition to that, there has also been a lot of confusion with the 2 different K-2 buildings and getting kids in the right building. Kids have come and gone off my list so fast it's been nearly impossible to keep up. We even had a short K open house on Friday night with parents coming who had students not even placed in a class. It's been a hairy mess. For example, on Friday at noon I had 14 students. By 2, I had 16 but 2 were gone and 4 had been added. By 3, I had 17. By 5, I had 18. And at 5:30, a parent walked into my room with my name on a post-it note telling me that I was her child's teacher. She was very nice and calm about the whole thing. I was starting to get more than a little frazzled. It's not anyone's fault but it has been pretty crazy trying to figure out when I will write their names on everything. For me, that includes no less than 8 labels, name plates, decorations, and other various items. The dust has supposedly settled and my list has 21 students on it. I anticipate there will be a couple more by the end of the week. Yikes. I will dream often of the 11 from K Academy.
The softball team was 5-0 but now we are 6-2. We played in a double elimination tourney this weekend and won the first game but lost the next 2. We are an average team more than anything else. We have some really strong pieces but nothing that is going to blow anybody away. We can soundly beat bad teams. Hang in there with good teams. And, get soundly beat by really good teams. Our schedule started out really easy so the next 3 weeks might not go as well as the first 3 but we are having a lot of fun with the girls. The only thing I that drives me crazy is when they sing on the bus. Someday, I will be a really mean head coach who demands silence on all bus rides. I can already tell.
The additional job was more of a whim than an actual need for money. I knew that I would be in town for K Academy in the morning and for practice in the evening. I would have 5 hours in between with not much to do so I casually asked the volunteer softball coach if the city recreational department had anything I could do. (He's the superintendent of the rec dept.). He didn't at the time but the last week of the academy he asked if I was serious about that because 2 of his flower girls were going back to college and he needed someone to help out his 3rd person. At that point, academy was almost over and I really kind of wanted to spend the last week before school started doing a whole lot of nothing all day but I couldn't really tell him no. He does a lot for our team and only gets paid in free shirts so I figured I could help them out. I weeded and watered flowers for the city which really wasn't that bad for a week. It even rained enough on Thursday that I didn't have to go in Friday so I did get my day to do a whole lot of nothing. I'll get paid have a summer job to keep me busy next summer if I want it. Win-win.
This has gone on a little longer than I thought so I'm going to cut out for now. I might get back to it before softball is over but that seems highly unlikely. Maybe the next time it will be about being REGIONAL CHAMPS!!
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