Really Little Kids

What I thought would be one of the hardest days to get through turned out to be quite fun!  My call (at 6:05am) was for a kindergarten aid.  Currently, my biggest fears are kindergartners and 8th graders (the youngest and the oldest).  I fear the little ones because they're just balls of energy waiting to be released, triggered into screaming or running or crying by any little thing (for example: one kid today almost started crying because there was no longer frost on the ground during recess).  Thank goodness I was just a sub for the aid and the teacher was in the classroom all day.

No surprise here: being an aid is really nice.  I didn't have to teach anything.  Mostly I just guided kids in the right direction, made sure they were listening, kept them on task during activities, and generally enjoyed myself.  I even got to take them to gym class - what a riot!  I can't remember a thing from kindergarten and apparently gym class is all about running, skipping, and throwing bean bags.  Super fun!  I also had to monitor them at lunch.  This means opening milk cartons, opening string cheese, opening Tupperware, opening apple sauce containers, and opening any other kind of food holder you can think of.  They even get to color at lunch time when they're done eating.  What a life!

The teacher was super nice and grateful to have me.  Most of the time when her aid is out she doesn't get a substitute so she loved having a helping hand.  It is really interesting switching schools so often and learning every time where the bathrooms are, where the cafeteria is, what the specific hallway rules are, etc.  Hopefully I'll get to most of the schools in the first few weeks and get a sense of each one's rules and regs.  At least I didn't get lost on my way to the school today and had plenty of time to chat with the teacher.

What did I learn today?  The little ones aren't scary.  Reminders like "keep your hands still" and "face forward" go a long way when keeping kids in line.  Young kids will love you right away and even draw you a picture (showing the two of you holding hands under the sun) on your first day.  Adorable!