Well, I survived my first week of kindergarten! Only a few minor glitches:
I lost kids 3 times. One kinder likes to howl like a wolf during circle time. Another isn't quite yet toilet-trained so he's coming to school in pull-ups. A third likes to go up behind people and blow on their necks "because they get sweaty." One of my first-graders cried all of one morning and left a tear-stain as big as a silver dollar on my white shirt.
27 kids in all so far, and I've gotten a new kindergartner a day for the last 3 days. The straight kinder classes are full at 31, so every new student registered will be coming to me...
My 13 kinders go home at 11:00, and then I have a truly adorable group of first-graders for the afternoon. Every single one of the 14 first-graders is either: 1) just learning
English, 2) in speech therapy, 3) learning disabled or 4) all 3. Several of them still don't know their numbers to 10 after a full year of kinder.
I can honestly say that I have never worked so hard in all my 20 years of teaching. For 2.5% less money than last year.
If the rest of the states are anything like California, the biggest victims of the crappy economy are school-age children.