A peak at our week

Okay.... this is not Kindergarten. This is my little rocker. Academy has "spirit week" this week to get ready for the test. My little Punky is ready to "rock the OCCT!"

Later she ditched the pants and really looked
like an 80's rocker, boots and all!  

I am still working on the Easter Egg word game or games. I finished the Easter Egg math game. It's not very sophisticated but I think it will work for us. The players roll the dice with the + or - sign and fill in the place for it between the eggs. The players then crack open an egg. They will put the numbers they find in the egg in the oval shapes. The students have to determine where to put the numbers. If they rolled subtraction (the minus sign), they will need to put the larger number first, so that is why they roll for the + or - sign first.

Working with students can be exhausting. Especially when you don't see them making the sort of progress you hope for. But there is no greater feeling of satisfaction than when the magic starts to happen. Today I was working with a group of students on blending words. I felt the magic.  There was also "joy in the journey" today. It felt like the joy of Kindergarten was back as we worked, laughed and had a great time learning. Ahhhh.... I love Kindergarten! 

I love this little person. I love all the little people in my class. But this guy has kept me hopping all year and in the last two weeks his miracle has started to happen. He has started to call me by my name, and he's starting to show affection to me and remorse over things he shouldn't have done. AND... (drum roll please) He is starting to blend his sounds into words! Whoot! 

Today struck me with the mushy stuff of just how much I love these guys. Ironically this thought struck me when I was "on patrol" in the boys bathroom.  Some of my guys have been wreaking havoc for our custodian and require monitoring. So I go in the boys bathroom and watch. Some days I think about how I know I will cry at the conclusion of my first year of teaching but some days I think that I am not so attached and I will say goodbye, wish students well, and drive happily back to my beloved cottage in Kansas. Today the reality crashed through my pretty little fairy tale. I realized how much I care for these kids and how personal their education is to me and how I desperately want/need them to succeed. They are my Kinders and I am heavily invested in them. I have a feeling I will cry like baby when I have to let thise little ones go for the last time. I only hope I can hold my tears until they walk off happily with their families excitedly anticipating the next year. I am so grateful for everything this year. I know there is SO much TO LEARN STILL. But I have learned so much this year.