My First Year in Kindergarten

After teaching second grade for eight years, I requested to be moved to kindergarten. It was a bold and scary request, but it's also one that I am SO happy I made. I have just finished my first year in kindergarten, and I can say without a doubt that it was my best, most favorite year of my career. Shifting from second grade to kindergarten was a huge change though, and I learned a lot.

10 Things I Learned Teaching Kindergarten

1. Trying to have kindergarteners walk in a stright line the first week of school is like herding cats. 

2. Everyone picks their boogers. No one tries to be discreet as they do it. 

3. There are 52 letters in the alphabet, not 26. Just because a child recognizes an uppercase letter surely does not mean they know its lowercase partner. 

4. Kindergarteners love to sing and will happily sing about every standard imaginable-- counting by 5s, baby animals, colors, days of the week, and 3D shapes. Many days I channeled my inner Fraulein Maria. 

5. There is no whole group testing. Get used to giving individual assessments ALL THE TIME.

6. Kindegarteners have no understanding that telling a friend the answer is cheating. They believe they are being kind and helping.This is sweet the first 35 times. After that, not so much. 

7. Kindergartners get excited about everything. It's their most adorable and refreshing quality. 

8. There are bathroom incidents that are not for the faint of heart. 

9. Students must be instructed to come out of the bathroom with their clothes on in the same way they went in. This skill takes weeks of practice. 

10. Teaching math is just like this video. No joke. No exagerration. Watch this link, and then go hug a teacher! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdxEAt91D7k