That's All Folks! You can go home now!

Again, I've been slacking on writing!

Maybe I'll be able to do a better job next year, when I'm back to teaching Kindergarten! I guess I didn't do too badly in my first year, as I've been offered a full time continuing contract (permanent job!). I'm feeling pretty fortunate, as the past few months weren't the smoothest, and I know I've learned some diplomacy this year and that honesty is truly valued, even when you don't have much negotiating power.

I found out last week that I will be teaching Kindergarten half-time in my current school, and half-time at another school, about 10 km from here. I have found a lovely house to rent, instead of living in the teacherage where windows fall out, smoke detectors go off randomly at night, and it sounds like people are walking around in your apartment. I'm really looking forward to having some space, gardens and a beautiful kitchen to work in. This year I haven't really felt like I had a home, so I'm hoping next year I will feel more settled and enjoy coming home at night.

On to the past few months:

Mother's Day tea was fun- we baked muffins and biscuits with the kids, which they served to their Moms, then had some time to read stories together.

Our Elementary assembly went really well- the kids recited three poems with actions that we had used throughout the year, so it was minimal preparation on our part!

I was able to get IPP meetings, report cards and awards done and approved in good time, and all I have left is a 'Professional Growth Plan' meeting with the Vice Principal to talk about whether I reached my goals this year or not.

Kindergrad was awesome! I had no idea how many people to expect, so set up food and powerpoint in the classroom (it was supposed to be an outdoor picnic, but of course, poured all afternoon!). Within 20 minutes our get together had stretched out into the hallway, filled the elementary end, and had to move everyone to the gym for awards. There were about 100 people that came, and we were missing about four kids! We were able to get a small gift for each child, and had a chance to tell a story about each one. Some of the Moms bought flowers for each kid to present to me as they received their own gift- it was very sweet. Felt like my own version of the Bachelor! The bouquet was massive and absolutely beautiful. It means so much to feel appreciated and a part of a community in that way.

My little guy who doesn't talk much promised me a hug that night- unfortunately he didn't come, and by the last day of school the moment had passed, but I did hear him yelling at the other kids while playing a game in the hallway on the last day! It's been so neat to see how comfortable he has gotten throughout the year.

The 15th was the last day for my Kindergarten kids, and as we wouldn't have a chance to celebrate Father's Day together, we took our last day to bake Maple Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, make cards and invite Dads in for free play and a soccer game (wouldn't you know it- pouring again!) It was a really nice way to end the year. Plus, we did get some pretty amazing hugs, and huge laughs on our last day. The kids just weren't responding to getting settled in the last days and I didn't know what else to try one day, so began to read 'Jillian Jiggs' in a really terrible Russian-Italian accent. The kids were pretty rattled and kept calling out, "speak english!" until they figured out that I was in fact, still speaking english. This ended up turning into a full day of talking like Mario and Luigi with one little guy in my class, mostly about the length of our moustaches...very productive I know...the accent did get their attention for a little bit though!

I was missing the kids by the following Monday. Yeesh.

The rest of the school has class until the 28th, so it has been a week and a bit of cleaning, setting up plans for next year, finalizing paperwork and spending some time with staff in the staffroom during breaks finally! Last week I was thankfully busy with baking for some good friends' wedding, and was able to spend a day in the school kitchen (my oven in the teacherage was awful) happily crafting cupcakes and meringues! I may have snuck in a load or two of laundry too...I think this year I've lived more like a first year University student than I ever have, down to eating itchiban at least once a week. Just gross.

While cleaning yesterday, the ladies in my room decided to tackle the science/water table, where we had created our 'Clean Mud.' I had taken out as much as possible, but there was a lot still stuck and dried to the sides, which apparently turns a little toxic. Pretty soon there were three of us scraping down the sides of this thing, sneezing out clouds of white dust and laughing so hard we were on the floor. I've been threatened with a beating if I ever decide to use that particular lesson plan again.

One of the ladies was driving to school the other day, and stopped to let one of the kids cross the road. It was our little german boy who has an incredible talent for asking questions, and not stopping until he's satisfied. He recognized who it was, and came to the window to talk to her. He greeted her with,

"What happens to the Miss Clark show if there's no kids?"

(The Miss Clark show is a Monday-morning tradition started with the purpose of getting the kids to know all of the adults in the room, and has evolved into a full talk-show with special guests and events. We had family members show up at our doors on Monday morning just to see the show- it was fantastic!)

Well this little guy didn't give a chance for Shannon to answer and said, "I know! She'll drive in on the Kindergarten car, say 'th-th-that's ALL folks! You can go home now!' "

He's got it all figured out, and we got a good laugh out of it too.

Two last (favorite) memories before I sign off!

- One day my little Luigi friend (who hates cutting and coloring) was having a hard time settling in to his activity and was waving his scissors around. I asked him if he would like to come help me with a job in the photocopy room. As we walked down the hallway he looked up at me and said,

"Miss Kotlarz, can I ask you a question?"

Of course I said yes, and he replied with, "Can I hold your hand?"

"Sure!" So down the hall we went, holding hands.

Then he looked up one more time and said, "WHAT? It's not like we're DATING!"


- On the last day of school he held onto Kathy giving her a hug and said, "I'm never going to let you go, not EVER!"

We're sure going to miss these kiddos! We had a chance to meet the new little guys for next year, and boy do they look tiny in comparison! At this point there's only one girl, who has already proven that she will keep the boys in line...it's going to be a great year.

Thanks for reading!

Time Flies!

Time just passes faster and faster doesn’t it?

            I can’t believe it’s the end of April, and my kiddos only have about 20 days left. In that time we still have to pack in an assembly (each Elementary grade gets to lead an assembly, and May is all ours!), a final round of report cards and transition meetings for PUF students (this is where parents, Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Behavior Consultants and teachers get together to plan how to best prepare the little guys for the next year). I’m also trying to plan a field trip to the dinosaur park, and a ‘Kindergrad’ evening for the kids and their parents/grandparents. I don’t think that Kindergarten kids need a big celebration, but a potluck and picnic and a special award for each child will be manageable and fun! I also have the regular day-to-day planning (especially with Mother’s and Father’s Day(s) coming up!), assessments and maintaining our sanity!

Some highlights from this week:

One of the kids’ aunts brought in a bucketful of these little peepers:

And this little guy made an appearance last month!

 So cute! This time, there were accidents on hands and floors…

            On Tuesday I got to substitute for the Grade 1 teacher at our school and boy was that a different class dynamic. There are only 13 kids, but they really make up for it in their boy:girl ratio! I think there are only about four girls.

            On Wednesday we had a good discussion about tattling and how telling someone a piece of information can be distorted very quickly (especially on the playground!) We read a ‘Rainbow Fish’ story, then played a game of ‘Telephone,’ where you sit in a circle and the first person whispers a message to the second, they pass on what they heard, etc. until it gets back to the beginning. The message has always changed, and it’s usually humorous. During our first game, my message of, “I like red cats,” changed to, “Happy Birthday.” Our little guy who is very quiet and rarely speaks to other students unless he’s playing ball with them willingly joined in and played, without any encouraging on my part at all! This was the first time he approached another child in the classroom in such a direct way- it’s really exciting to see how comfortable he is starting to get.

            Our second game of ‘Telephone’ ended up being even funnier when I began by whispering, “I love you, Stinky Face,” (the title of a book we had read, about a little boy who asks his mother if she would love him if he was a monster, a skunk, etc.) This message changed to something so obscure that the little girl who was last was embarrassed to say what it was, as if she thought it was inappropriate. After about five minutes of looking at me nervously, she whispered, “It was, ‘I like to woman it.’”

            Probably funnier at the time, but it was a strange turn of events! I also had a phone call from the Deputy Superintendent who offered me a full time position for next year, teaching Kindergarten in two places, or Grade 1. I have a week to decide, and a lot of things to consider! It’s nice to know that they would like me back next year.

            Today I got to join in the Grade 6 girls’ Health class as they were painting flowerpots for Mother’s Day. It’s nice to be in other teacher’s classrooms and to get to know other students a little better.

            One more thing: our newspaper article was printed! The local newspaper website is currently out of service, but if I can get it, I will post it!

            Tomorrow is ‘Nerd Day,’ not sure I’ll participate in that one, but we’ll see! It is also an assembly day, and ‘Stone Soup’ day! I’m excited to see how that turns out- each student in the school is invited to bring something to put in the soup, and the cooking class and teacher put together soups for the whole school. The Grade 1’s are coming to our class to read, “Stone Soup” with us in the morning too!

            Thanks for reading!  

Charlie Brown Days

            This week has been a mix of rain and snow so far, but at least it’s been warm enough that kids are outside for recesses and the snow isn’t sticking on the ground. I’ve been really appreciating that my classroom has an entire side full of windows (that open without falling out! My parents and friends have heard about my windows being blown out by prairie winds in the teacherage where I’m currently living). It has been so nice to have fresh air and some sunshine in the room, and to shut off the lights in the classroom, especially as our days get progressively louder when the little guys join us for the afternoons. Classrooms without fluorescent lighting seem so much calmer to me. It’s been nice to finally try out what I think will work set-up wise in a classroom this year. Many of the rooms I had been in before just had too much stuff for me! Some rooms during my practicum had artwork still stuck on the walls from years past, and posters put up just for the heck of it. I hate that. Less is more in a Kindergarten room in my mind, as the kids are so full of energy and easily distracted. Plus, who looks up near the ceiling (where most of my bulletin boards are placed)? So this year I’ve kept things as minimal as possible while designating space for the students’ work and some seasonal decorations. Luckily, we also have a boot-room attached to the classroom with three large bulletin boards on it, so I’ve kept one for extra student work, Curious George’s travel stories, pictures and adventures, and a parent board for information coming in, volunteer hours and important notes. We also have a bulletin board in the elementary end hallway that is updated with our latest projects.

            As I’ve mentioned before, my Dad found a beautiful book for me at Christmas called, “Old Billy’s Enchanted Valley.” The story and illustrations are done by a mouth painter, and while the story is a little complex for my kids so far, they really appreciate the artwork within, especially as five year olds usually aren’t all that practiced in controlling their own hand movements while drawing or painting. We did some mouth painting using shaving cream and dowels first to draw lines, shapes and our names (the kids really noticed how strong our mouths need to be to do this, and how tricky it is to manipulate something without having the help of our hands!) One of our centers this time around is set aside for kids to do mouth painting with actual paint- there haven’t been any wrong-end-of-paintbrush-in-mouth incidents yet! It’s neat to see what the kids can do, and there have been some really interesting connections made because of this project. This is what has been taking up our hallway bulletin board space for the past month or so, along with a quote I found by another mouth painter saying,

“Art is in the heart, art is in the mind, not in the hands.”

            In addition to thinking about and appreciating the challenges that others’ go through, we have been practicing some sign language (one of the Moms came in to teach us a few songs and greetings!) It was really interesting to see what the kids thought of this different ‘language.’ Many didn’t grasp what it meant to be deaf, and kept reverting to speaking, or trying to use a different verbal language to communicate.

            Today was a busy day for us, and I think I’m all played out! It’s the feeling the assistants and I have started to call a “Charlie Brown” day. You know how Charlie Brown sometimes ends up face down on the floor saying, “good grief!” THAT’s the kind of tired I am.  It was a good day though, full of laughs and a little loud for my liking, but we got a little done! We had a parent volunteer in for the whole day (I love parent volunteers!) It’s always nice to see the dynamic between parents and their kids, and for them to see what their kids are talking about when they come home at night! I do need to get better at designating tasks to people, but I’ll get there eventually. So far I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by people that put the kids first, and make their decisions based on them. It does feel like the adults in the room are a team now, as we’ve worked hard to get to know and trust each other, and there’s always someone to step in if you need a time-out! (I’ve had to take a few time-outs this year, though it’s usually from laughing too hard and needing to leave the room!)

            Today there was a constant flow of people in and out of the room. Kindergarten in Alberta sometimes includes ‘PUF’ students, or pre-kindergarten-aged kids who have been identified with a speech or developmental delay or need. As we are in a rural school that does not have a pre-school program, these little guys are in my class. The PUF program is funded differently than ‘school-aged’ public programs, and often the kids will qualify for a part or full-time aide, depending on their needs. As a result, there are four adults in my room or more at any given time. In addition to this, Speech and Language Pathologists and their assistants (three or four different people, as some of the kids are funded under PUF, and some under the K-12 public system), Occupational Therapists, Behavior Consultants and PUF Coordinators are constantly in and out of the room. This is apart from the normal Kindergarten visitors who check hearing, dental and immunizations. Today we not only had a parent in all day, but a SLP and an assistant, dental assistants in and out, and for a very short time, the principal who came in to observe. He only lasted about 4 minutes, and couldn’t understand how we could take so many people in and out all the time. So, it’s a Charlie Brown kind of day.

            Two funny stories to note before I sign off:

-       Today during snack time our parent volunteer started laughing really hard. One little girl turned around to show her ‘hula dancer’ chest made by two butter tarts…I don’t think I’ll look at those the same again! (Another time-out for me, though all of us should have left the room, even the SLP)

-       There’s one little boy who wears glasses, is very sweet, and very disorganized. He often needs some quiet space to finish his printing or crafts as he gets distracted so easily. Today I asked him to come finish his puppet that we did on Monday, and he chose to do it in the hallway. He cut out his puppet, glued on the stick, and started to skip back to the room. I asked him to put away the scissors, glue and recycling that he took out. He did this (or so I thought) and went out to recess. During the break I went to take something out of my bag and what did I see in the extra pair of shoes underneath my desk? A pair of scissors, a glue stick and wouldn’t you know it, the paper he had cut his puppet from…with his name printed on it. I had a good laugh, then when the kids came in from recess I began to tell the story of how I went to get my snack, but then saw that something had been left in my shoes! This little guy was completely enthralled in my story, and wasn’t connecting that my story was all his doing, until I said, “if you’re going to try to trick me, never leave a paper with your name written on it, J----!” Once he understood that I was talking about him he though he was pretty funny. Little nerd!

            On a final note, I was so excited that our quiet little guy actually communicated with the SLP today (who he had just met), and then played and joked with three other kids during free play. This is a huge step for him, and each time I see how comfortable he’s getting in the classroom environment, it makes me so glad that we didn’t push him to make progress faster.

            Charlie Brown out!

(Except this time I’ll pass out on my beauteous new quilt covered in daisies- thanks Mom! Xoxo)

Sports Day, Easter and Spring Break!

            Since my last post, Sports Day has come and gone! The day couldn’t have been better. All of the athletes arrived early, and deemed our falling-apart mats good enough to work with (though they smelled terrible!) Maintenance staff had also checked our ceiling hook-ups and told us they were safe enough for Pat to do his Cirque du Soleil straps routine on them.

            It was truly an incredible day. From Kindergarten to Grade 12, sports fanatics, to those who aren’t intrigued in the least, EVERYONE found something to be excited about, and EVERYONE tried something new. The athletes I asked to come are all ranked near the top in Canada, and some are the first to bring their sport to Western Canada (much less to a tiny town)! What I thought would be most interesting to the kids and staff is that all of the athletes are also University graduates, or close to it. Included in their accomplishments in sport, they brought new perspectives in Engineering, Business, Kinesiology, English, Math, Sciences and Nursing. I thought it would also be really important for students to realize that many people don’t have the opportunity to begin their sport until after high school, and that it’s never too late to try something new!

            All of the athletes are also very used to working with kids through coaching, something that everyone greatly appreciated! Our staff has also written an article that will be submitted to the regional newspaper and the ATA magazine!

            Easter came quickly, and it was fun to make bunny ears with the kids and plant mini eggs that miraculously grew lollipops by the next day! The Easter bunny also visited and left eggs filled with candy and play-dough for each child. It was especially nice that the Easter weekend led right into our spring break, so we had a few extra days to breathe and catch up!

            So here we are on the other side of spring break, one day down, and only 20 or so days left! The year has passed so quickly, and boy have I ever learned a lot!

            Thanks for reading!

On the Bonny, Bonny, Banks of Loch Lomond

On the Bonny Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond...

I have this song stuck in my head as the senior choir sang it today in a practice before their concert tomorrow. The Kindergarten kids willingly gave up some of their free play time to go listen to them sing. It always gets me how music affects people, even children. I’ve mentioned before how my most active, unsettled student is calmed and productive when listening to music. Many of the Mennonite kids are completely blown away by music too, and it’s always fun to watch them take it in. It’s amazing to see how many students in a small school are involved in something like choir (in just the senior group, about 30 students). Either way, it was absolutely beautiful music, and their pieces were all completely different- one more modern piece, the Scottish piece, and even an Italian song which the kids in my class loved.

On other topics, I have made it through the second round of report cards, and am about to get into parent teacher interviews on Wednesday. The kids are doing well (I think!) and it’s interesting to see how much they have matured in a short period of time. I think that’s what I love about working with little guys- they grow and develop so quickly- and they are always curious about the world. I tend to be drawn to physical development and movement based learning more than straight curriculum and concept based learning, so Kindergarten seems to be the place for me right now!  I’ve done a little more subbing lately, and quite honestly, I get bored in classrooms where the kids can focus for more than five minutes on their own.

For the next few weeks, we will be working on our math problem solving, printing (some of the kids in my class have beautiful printing already!) and enjoying the warm temperatures outside. Next week I am planning a Sports Day for the whole school, and am excited to see how that turns out. Our school picks one day per year to combine the kids so they work together for a day, and the teachers decided that my idea was good enough to use as our community-building day. Hopefully the athletes get here on time and we can set up enough equipment to have a busy, active day.

Some highlights of the past few weeks:

Finishing report cards! (And having very few mistakes to fix). Something others might not realize about report cards is that they take about half an hour per student- not including assessments, anecdotal notations done previously, etc. They have to be finished a week or two before they go to parents so that administration can read them, then back to the teacher to make changes again. Half an hour isn’t much, but it does add up with 23 kids.

The little guy in my class who didn’t speak much actually had a conversation with me last week- that was pretty huge. It must be so exciting when this happens with your own kids, though I can only imagine if I get this excited for a student in my class. Today he actually played with another student, and named about half the class.

The Kindergarten kids have manners! We have tried from the beginning of the year to make sure the kids know how to ask for help, and how to use ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ on a regular basis. Today one of the kids was holding the door open for the others, and most of them thanked them by name as they walked through- without prompting! Another little guy asked me the other day if I could “please help” him zip up his jacket. Then he promptly told me that he was using, “wonderful manners, but I don’t have to use them at home.” I told him that his Mom might be very happy to hear his ‘wonderful manners’ too!

Today one of the assistants was getting the kids undressed after recess, and was trying to hurry as we were supposed to go listen to the choir. The three year old she was helping wasn’t able to get his snowpants off by himself (she had snugged them up tight before he went out!) so she had lifted him up a little and pulled on his snowpants. I turned around just to see his bare bum hanging out- his snowpants had also pulled off his pants and underpants on the way. He thought it was absolutely hilarious, and we thought it was a little funny too.

Oh the fun! This week we will be making some new dinosaur themed snacks (my way of planning a healthy snack for a picky kid- involve them in the planning and making the entire way!) and get to enjoy some time in the library, finger painting and 'clean mud.' More on that next time!

Thanks for reading!

Sports Day and Professionalism

It is already March and I haven’t updated in much too long again. At least my Mom misses my posts!

The last month has been filled with superintendent visits, peer observations, talking to doctors, speech pathologists, behavior consultants, occupational therapists, and some subbing. I’m finally getting to know a few more of the Jr. High students, and they don’t seem to mind me subbing too much. They do spend way too much time trying to make me feel awkward (at which they are quite proficient) though I figure if I can make them feel a little awkward too then I’m still good!

I have been planning a Sports Day for the school, and am really looking forward to bringing some friends out to give the kids a chance to ask questions, try out and just be exposed to some different sports than they’d regularly see in a small town (volleyball/basketball). The teachers are excited, and I know the kids will be intrigued to see high performance athletes from wrestling, gymnastics, parkour, football, wushu and those training for cirque-du-soleil. It should be a fun day that I hope will benefit everyone in some way! It’ll also be neat to see K-12 kids working together for a day.

This post might be a little shorter than usual, mostly because this month has been a challenging one in many ways. It has been very tough to be professional at points, and has been difficult to understand the social systems that are put in place to care for children. There are quite a few foster children in my area, and it is so hard to understand that many times, these children don’t have an idea of what “Mom” or “Dad” is meant to include. It is just a word for them. To see survival instincts kick in on a three-year old is pretty heartbreaking. One little guy knew he was going to another place for the night, and circled the classroom packing his bag full with any food he could find, as he wasn’t sure the next time he would get to eat.

That’s about all I’ve got for now. I feel pretty lucky to have family and friends and consistency in my life, and I suppose all I can try to do for these little guys is show them the same care and consistency that I’m so fortunate to have! 

A Short Update!

I thought I should write a quick note as today was a pretty good day.

On Monday mornings the kids sit down with one assistant and tell her about their weekends. I thought it would be a good way for the kids to get to know the other adults in the room, and to put everyone on the same level (I don't know how I would manage without the assistants in the room- some days it feels like they do more than I do- and it seems that often, classroom assistants really aren't appreciated as much as they should be). Anyways, one little guy was sitting beside her and had a small paper in his hand. I was watching from the other side of the circle, and getting our newest little one settled on an activity. Another assistant beside me began to laugh, and I turned to see the little guy using the piece of paper to simulate shaving his face, very seriously, then his neck, then turned to the assistant beside him and began "shaving" her neck and face as well. It didn't help that we had the giggles by then, and it sure didn't help when another boy noted, "Miss C. has a moustache!" Then, because it got a few laughs, "Miss K. does too!"

We noted later that we both felt a little defensive and self-conscious, then realized how funny it was.

Our newest little guy had a great day, and so did another boy who has been having a tough time settling in lately (also great that the behaviour consultant was in to see him on a great day too).

The best part of the day began during our center time. As I've mentioned before, there are a few children in the class who are just learning english. They are not exposed to it at home, and often, parents don't speak english or read- in english or their first language. This makes it tricky to get permission forms, notices and special event notices out, but we've all managed so far!

One little boy in our class comes from a home where english is not spoken regularly. In fact, we hadn't heard him speak AT ALL, in english or german, except for spelling his name a handful of times. In fact, he had a hard time getting on the bus in the mornings, and for a long time would not even go to the bathroom at school (though we've been working on that with his sister, who has been wonderful). This little guy has a face that hides all expression most of the time, and he either nods 'yes' or 'no', or just stares when asked a question. We've been worried about him, but didn't want to push too hard in case that caused more anxiety than ever.

Today I was in the hallway playing with a girl on our movement center (I bought a mini trampoline for the hallway!) when an assistant called me over. She whispered, "he's talking!" and we watched from a few tables away as the other assistant had the little boy name colors, shapes and letters- all in english. Keep in mind that we hadn't really heard his voice at all, even in his first language much at this point, and only his name spelled out in english about 5 times.

I think all of us had tears in our eyes- this was pretty huge. For the rest of the day, this little boy came out of his shell, and would answer to the adults in the room using words when asked, and even made faces, played and even joked to one of the assistants to "stand up!" when she was crouching down to get the ball during free play. I hope this was the first of many great days for him- it sure made our day/month/year fantastic!

Other than moustaches and talking kids, today I also caught a little girl singing, "Get Low" (a Lil'Jon song, Mom and Dad, you wouldn't like it) and was told that I was the 'best teacher ever' for making the kids snacks out of celery sticks (the fishing rod), cheese whiz (the bait) and goldfish crackers (the fish to catch)!

All in all, a pretty good day. I'm subbing high school tomorrow, so I'd better get my grown-up clothes out, and math reviews started!