Kindergarten Specials-Rotation #1

This year we have two School Counselors. I did flips from excitement when I heard the news. I was stoked that the students would finally get as much help and attention as they deserve now that we are splitting the caseload of a little over 1,000 K-5th grade students between the two of us.

I was a little less excited to also find out that this year we were also on the kindergarten rotation schedule. The running joke is that teaching kindergarten is like herding cats, only harder.

I had no
idea what I was getting myself into.

I will be
the first to admit, besides what I have learned from teaching my guidance
lessons, I have zero classroom experience. I was a little intimated to say the
least; 50 minutes is a long time to spend with 23 “situations”.

In the
past, when I’ve taught kindergarten guidance lessons, the teacher was in the
room to provide much needed reinforcements. As part of the specials rotation,
the teacher leaves and has 50 child free minutes of freedom to eat, drink, make
copies, grade, set up for the next activity and use the bathroom all as
separate events instead of cramming them all into the multitasking nightmare us
working in the school system call a lunch break.

This year, I was on
my own. The night before my first kindergarten special, I said a little prayer
to the teaching gods that no one would get hurt or run away while on my watch
and that the Principal would steer clear of that wing of the school.

The next day, I
gave myself a pep talk as I headed towards my first classroom of the rotation.

With my supplies
ready to go and a healthy skeptism that this was going to go perfectly, I
entered the classroom.

11:00 a.m. “Hi Mrs.
Bell! We’re so excited to see you!” said the woman who teaches these little
cuties full time. “We just finished math, they may need a brain break for a
bit. I’m already logged into GoNoodle, see you at 11:50! Good luck!”

She couldn’t get
out of that room fast enough.

Here I am, standing
in front of 23 five-year-olds. I wasn’t going to let them smell my fear. I
introduced myself like I’ve been teaching kindergarten for years and put on GoNoodle
before they had a chance to rebel.

They were jumping
around giggling like it was the most fun they had ever had in their lives.

I may survive this.
Then the real adventure began. I had to start teaching.

11:05 a.m. I asked
them what it means to be a good friend and wrote their answers on the
smartboard. I mostly just wanted to write on the smartboard, those things are
really cool.

11:10 a.m I asked
them all to join me on the carpet as I sat in the most comfortable rocking
chair I’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting in. It was as if it were perfectly
crafted just for me. I had to ask four enthusiastic little girls to back up
about half a dozen times because I felt like I was going to kick them. It is my
goal in life to never be on the news for a teaching related incident; the press
would have a field day if they knew I kicked a five year old because the
rocking chair was so comfortable I couldn’t contain myself from rocking much
like a five year old would.

I showed them the
book “The Invisible Boy” by Trudy Ludwig.

The Invisible Boy

I asked what they noticed about the
boy on the cover. Their heads swirled with reasons why someone might feel or be
invisible. The most interesting guess was that it must have rained too hard on
him and washed away his colors. I like that kid, he’s a thinker.

11:15 a.m. The air
was thick with intensity. They were glued to my every word as I read this book.
They cared so deeply for this invisible little boy they had never met before.

“Someone be his
friend!” one little girl yelled with a look of sheer panic.

The same kid I’ve
corrected twice for poking his neighbors yelled, “How can kids be so mean?”

I don’t know little
boy, I just don’t know.

11:20 a.m. The book
just posed the most philosophical question these kids have ever heard and I
literally heard their minds being blown. “Which is worse being laughed at or
being invisible.”

A tidal wave of
emotion almost broke loose answering this question.

11:25 a.m Thank
goodness this little boy from the book is starting to make friends and get his
colors back. Two little girls were about to have a meltdown because they wanted
to hug him and bring him back to life. Never would I have thought these little
guys could feel so deep for a black and white character.

When the book was
over I asked their opinions about the story. It was much more insightful than I
expected. “If you are friends and nice then people won’t feel like they are
invisible. So just always be nice.”

These kids know
more than most adults.

11:30 a.m GoNoodle
worked great before so I gave it a shot again. Brain break time!

This is seriously
the silliest thing I’ve ever seen but to them it was nothing short of magical.

11:33 a.m. I asked
them to sit back down and that’s where it started to fall apart. Two boys did some
type of robot walk, one girl took the scenic route crawling under the desks and
another did cartwheels on her way back. “No one is hurt and the Principal
hasn’t come by, we’re good, we’re good.” I thought to myself.

I passed out this
activity sheet and asked them to draw a picture of what it means to be a good
friend.

Download here for free

11:35 a.m. They
were the picture of perfection, drawing calmly and quietly.

“I’d be friends with the invisible boy”

“I’d be friends with the boy too”

“I’m a good friend on the way to the bus. I help people find it.”

11:40 a.m. Abort
Mission! This took a drastic turn.

That one’s crying
because he has the crayon she wants, that one doesn’t like her picture that one
has a crayon in her nose and I don’t think that one was in this class when I
first got here. Somehow they are multiplying.

GoNoodle. For the
love of god someone put on GoNoodle!!!!

11:42 a.m. I just
found a kid’s yoga movie where the lady is acting like she is from Frozen and
the background is the queen’s castle.