Sad to see it end.

This semester has been a whirlwind! I've loved it, I've cursed it, I've moaned, I've smiled, but all around it has been a fantastic experience. I am going to be heartbroken when I leave my Kindergarteners. I have loved every moment of my time with them. Even the frustrating ones. It has been a challenge learning how to slow down my thinking and meet the needs of students who come in to school on SO many different levels, but it has made me a better teacher.

I think the best part about my placement has been learning in a responsive classroom environment. I have gotten some excellent training about techniques to use and my teacher language has improved 100 times from where I started in September. It seems natural to use phrases like: "Who can remind me...", "What is a safe way to do...", "Show me what ... looks like." These were not phrases that were not natural to me three months ago. Thank goodness for blogs like the Responsive Classroom website blog. It has helped me with numerous ideas.

I am anxious about next semester. I'm not as comfortable with 6th graders as I am with the little ones. Will they accept my crazy dancing and bad puns? Will they respect me? Will the responsive classroom techniques work on them?

In some ways, I think that responsive classroom teaching will be easier in 6th grade because the students will be used to it. It is not their first time encountering it. They've had it throughout their years at Lynbrook. Maybe because of that they'll actually respond better than my Kindergarteners who look at me like I have a third eye when I say "Look at all the colors in that picture!" I know they're thinking "Yeah. And?"

Either way, it will just be part 2 of my Kinderventures and I'm looking forward to the challenge. I will miss the smiling faces of my Kindergarteners immensely, and I'll be very sad when I leave, but I know that this next step will help to prepare me to deal with the extreme limits of my degree.