The “I Know How To Teach Reading” Outfit

It is 11:51 pm on Thursday night, my knee is hot and swollen, and here are tonight’s top stories.

For the past week or so, our school has been busting with kinder-2nd grade enrollments for this upcoming school year.  I was told in June I was teaching 2nd.  Soon after, I was asked if I would be willing to teach kindergarten, should we need another kinder.

About two weeks ago, I went into the building and started prepping my room for second graders and by the end of the day, I was told I would be teaching a kinder-1st multi age combo.  Which sounded easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey and not at all like an impossible challenge.

Leading up to open house, and watching our enrollment numbers, eveyone was sure the district would decide we needed another teacher hired, and that would even out our K-2 numbers a bit and give us some wiggle room, because, Reader, we were all busting at the seams.  Our poor principal was on the phone often with the district advocating and trying, but things were set to stay the same.  At 2:00 on Wednesday, we were all given our class lists and had two hours to get ready to welcome our new students and families into our classrooms for “Back to School” night.

Since this is not my first rodeo, I wore junky shorts and a t-shirt to school and brought fancy, “I am a professional and know how to teach your child to read” clothes to change into.  My “I know how to teach reading” outfit insisted I needed black sandals instead of my every day casual sandals, but alas, the puppy brothers ate my awesome black sandals.  So I texted Hadley from school and she went to the mall for me to find “I know how to teach reading” black sandals, and she found some and she bought them and she brought them and she even brought me my favorite comfort coffee drink:  Big Train Vanilla Chai with Nonfat Milk Hot.  So, three cheers for Hadley.

I took my class list and alphabetized and attempted to get as organized and welcoming as I could, and at 4pm, the doors were open and the whole building erupted with the joyous sounds of teachers and students being reunited after a long summer.  I am not sure if you are aware of this, but we teachers have the best job in the whole wide world.

I welcomed new families, helped the kids put their supplies away, passed out information, and pleaded with parents to sign up for the Remind messaging app.  Parents were confused and not sure what a kindergarten/first grade combo class was and asked me what exactly this all meant.

I decided to NOT share the new joke I had come up with, which was:

“I like my classrooms like I like my pizza:  Combination style.”

And did my best to instill confidence in the hopeful parents that I, the gal in the “I know how to teach reading” outfit knew what she was doing and would make sure my kinders were taught kindergarten skills and my firsties were taught first grader skills.

Several former students from over the years came into my room to give me hugs, as they had missed me since I was at eSchool last year, and my heart was full and I tried not to tear up and keep looking like I knew how to teach kindergarten and first grade reading at the very same time.

I left school and went home.  The boys felt fussy that I had no dinner ready for them, and I felt fussy that I am the only person in this house who can ever see dust.  So,we had leftovers and called it a night.

Thursday.  Today.

Today, I went to school and tried to sort out some things from Open House the night before and had a few training to attend at the school.  I was all finished with meetings by about 11:30am, checked with the office to make sure I was still teaching a kinder-first combo, and went to start entering all my new families emails in into my email contact list.

And then I was told to wait on labeling anything because we had a new kindergartener register and I might need to switch to a straight kindergarten class.

And then myself, the other two Kinder-Teacher-Babes, and the admin sat down and redid the kindergarten lists to spread out kinders amongst three classes.

Around 1pm, our kind counselor went and got pizza for us stressed out Kinder Teachers and we ate our stress.  And it was delicious.

Meanwhile, there was stress going on in the upper grade hallway because an intermediate teacher had accepted a job in a different district right before open house the night before.  So that classroom was bare, sad, and teacherless, so all of us teachers had a “Let’s Try And Make this Room Happy” party and pulled out extra bulletin board borders and decorations and got that room all happy for the sub who will start the year in that room.  And I want to know how I can get everyone to come and set up my room in  a half hour next summer and forget all this working on my room for hours business.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to us, the district is crunching numbers and decided to eliminate a classroom at a different school and have that poor teacher move to our school the weekend before school was to begin.  Which sounds relaxing.  We were told that teacher has only taught kindergarten and will only teach kindergarten, and, long story short, at about 4pm, I was told I was teaching 2nd grade.

I am truly fine to teach whatever kinder-2nd, but I was so hopeful that I would not have to tear down my classroom and relocate, since I was in a first floor room, which is where we like the kinderbabies.  I was told I could stay.  I was given a new class list of kids who I most certainly did not meet the night before, (and who had themselves met a different teacher the night before), and started to switch gears to change my room up to a second grade looking room.

Mother and her sister, Candi, came and brought me fountain Diet Soda and helped me with some labeling and sorting.  And that is just plain nice.

I got home at 7.  David had pizza and wine ready.  HD was proud of himself for doing all  the laundry in the house, even though he left all the clean laundry on my bed to be folded, because, “Mom, doing laundry is so easy.  I don’t know why you complain.  But I didn’t fold because I hate that part.”  And David folded the laundry while I told him about my day, iced my knee, and filled my tummy with comfort pizza for the second time that day.  I was asleep by 8:30, but woke up around 11:30 with pretty bad knee pain and here I am blogging and wishing my fairy godmother would bring me some ice.  But so far, she is not.

I really have nothing else to say.  I am not upset, but I feel very unprepared for the year and am hoping nothing else will change at this point.  And I think now I will end this post and go get some ice.

Later, Dudes.