Diary Of A First Year Kindergarten Teacher: First Entry

https://pixabay.com/en/school-books-apples-blackboard-2276269/

This is a fiction story about an inner-city school teacher's experiences. As a former public school teacher, I feel it's important for people to know what teachers and students go through on a daily basis.

Here is my interpretation:

Monday, August 24

Dear Diary,

I am so excited to start teaching at my new school John Quincy Adams Elementary. I really feel like I'm really going to make a difference teaching students in an inner-city school. 

Adams Elementary school is a large brick building, surrounded by concrete on all sides, where a black-topped parking lot and litter strewn schoolyard reside. 

As I pulled into my parking spot early this morning, I noticed two rusty basketball hoops posted on either side of the schoolyard, but no playground equipment or grass for the students to use for recreation.

            
A handful of other early arrivals greeted me warmly when I climbed out of my car. 

After a round of introductions, we all started emptying our cars of bags and plastic totes filled with newly purchased school supplies, anxious to start decorating our classrooms.

            
Large metal cages, bolted directly into the brick wall, encased the windows that seemed to be made of thick frosted glass. 

I'm guessing that these windows were originally installed to eliminate unwanted distractions, but they block out the sunlight, giving the building a closed-in, institutional kind of feel. 

I know it sounds dreary but I will not be deterred by these bleak urban surroundings.   

            
After thirteen years of teaching Pre-K, I am eager to apply my knowledge and experience at the Kindergarten level. 

I feel that my prior experience will give me an edge to really help educate these children.

I know the academic and social levels my former students had achieved by June of last school year. 

It stands to reason that many of the incoming Kindergarteners will be at the same level; if they're not I will know right away and begin designing interventions curtailed to their individual needs.

            
I went into work today to get a jumpstart on my classroom.  

To my dismay, the room had been cannibalized by other staff members when the previous teacher retired. 

The nice, long green tables that furnished the room in June when I interviewed for the position are gone, as well as the large group rug.

They appear to be across the hall in my grade partner's classroom. These vibrant additions make her classroom look bright and inviting. 

My rug has been replaced with a similar carpet that is both stained and dingy.

The tables in my room are rickety trapezoid-half-tables that need to be duck-taped together at the legs, otherwise the children will be able to pull them apart. 

That would be most infortuitous during instruction.

I shampooed the rug twice and after dumping out two bucketfuls of tar. I have every intention of doing it a third time tomorrow.

I found an abundance of mouse droppings on all the shelves and in the corners of the room and closet. 

I had to get rid of most of the chart paper because mice had urinated on it or chewed through it to make nests.

There was so much trash in one of the closets I started to feel like I was raking a pile of leaves, the trash came up to my mid-calf.

The room is a complete disaster. Except for some lined paper, a jumble of leveled-readers and some teacher manuals there are absolutely no supplies. 

My grade partner said it's hard to get supplies from the office, apparently they have it under lock and key.

I put in a requisition but I'm not hopeful. I've been with the district long enough to know that if I don't get the stuff I need myself, I won't get it at all.

I've made a list of the things I'm going to need:

https://pixabay.com/en/checklist-check-list-marker-2077024/

masking tape

duct tape

packaging tape

tape

cubby labels

rug for the library

computers

listening center

binders:  roll

              lesson plans

              reading groups

pens

Sharpie markers

markers

pencils

colored pencils

chart paper

book baskets

baskets for supplies

filing folders (to make student journals)

stapler

staples

paper fluid corrector

play-doh

dry-erase markers

erasers

borders

bulletin board paper

construction paper

pillows/seats for the library

resource books for homework

clear sheet protectors (for reusable activities)

Please comment below on supplies you have bought for your classroom or child for school.

Let's Just Play

https://stocksnap.io/photo/ABK28A4XIG

photographer David Schap

  

 Childhood obesity, bullying, mental-illness, behavior problems, social anxiety, school violence, technology addiction: one underlying factor that has been all but tossed to the wayside can help alleviate these ailing, juvenile predicaments--play.
       
Not the handheld-device kind of play, not the sedentary sport of sitting in front of the television with a headset on and a controller in your palm, the good old-fashioned, physical kind that requires a child's imagination and body stamina to perform.

https://unsplash.com/photos/tvc5imO5pXk?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText Robert Collins

While not a cure-all for every affliction plaguing our nation's youth, play is a sensible and therapeutic place to start when searching for a practical solution to the problems stated above.

Play is beneficial for many aspects of human interaction. It stimulates cognitive growth, problem solving, language development, interpersonal connections and it's just plain fun. 
        
As children, our hidden creative talents emerge and thrive through play and the self-expression it enables. 

Through play children are able to practice basic societal skills like negotiation and compromise. 

These two precursors to healthy human interaction are essential for adolescents and adults to function well in both private and public life.

            
A child who can play the role of mother or father during pretend play not only practices empathy for others, they also begin to develop successful parenting tools. 

The child who gets to reenact a stressful situation that left them feeling vulnerable, is able to vent their frustration and regain some semblance of control over their lives by re-writing the ending or working through the difficult details in a non-threatening way.      

https://unsplash.com/photos/EgB1uSU5tRA?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=credit Copy Text   Frank McKenna

The importance of play has been the cornerstone of child-development specialists and early childhood educators since the 19th century. 

The first kindergarten was started in Germany in 1837 by Friedrich Froebel.

A strong advocate for play he said, “A child who plays thoroughly and perseveringly, until physical fatigue forbids, will be a determined adult, capable of self-sacrifice both for his own welfare and that of others.”

Although there is overlap, there are many different types of play, each one enhancing a certain skill set crucial for well-rounded development. The various types of play include:

• Gross/Fine Motor
• Dramatic
• Constructive
• Games With Rules

Gross and Fine Motor Play utilize the large and small muscles in the body. 

A visit to the playground, riding a bike, and jumping rope are examples of gross motor play, whereas cutting with scissors, painting, and manipulating small items like interlocking toys, make use of fine motor skills. 

Dramatic Play is a social experience where children use their imaginations to create or re-create various scenarios. 

Through the use of language and creative thinking, they practice different roles, whether it be a doctor or a server, and the societal norms that pertain to that situation.

Constructive Play calls on children to use materials like building blocks and sand to construct things. 

In order to develop a well thought out plan and proper organization of the materials, it necessitates a longer attention span to complete. 

Games with Rules requires children to follow a specific set of rules in order for the game to be played effectively. 

More refined social and cognitive behaviors like self-control and concentration aid children in their ability to participate in these games with success.

Dr. Gary Landreth's quote sums up my point perfectly, "A child's play is his 'work', and the 'toys' are his words."

            
If we removed the electronic distractions, if we adjusted our educational curriculum to allow play in all classrooms and gave children the time to do their 'work', we would be fostering a generation of critical thinkers, who could tackle problems with purposeful intentions, that would lead to viable results for generations to come.  

Add https://pixabay.com/en/children-garden-autumn-hide-play-1879907/caption 

                                                               

Further sources for reading:

https://valueofdramaticplay.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/four-types-of-play/

https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/play-work-of-children/pl1/#.WftAfXYpDIU         

(https://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201305/0513_OPH_Elizbeth_Peabody.pdf)

http://www.tppmansfield.com/play.html

http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2014/play-is-a-childs-work