First Monday of week 2. Not as easy as the first. Centers are no longer grasping all of their attention. They want to wander. I need to find what they love and teach to it. They love cars, sensory, books, puzzles, and the writing center. They love that little writing table. Pencils and paper and they are happy campers.

I'm hoping to introduce these large blocks to them this week sometime. I'm not sure if they are ready though. Maye I'll opt for the foam smaller blocks instead. They have been pulling them off the shelf during circle time a lot.

Learning how to line up outside is going better than I had expected. I'm proud of them so far!

I'm going to miss our summer days on the playground. Here come the jackets and snow pants!!!

Alas my first few days have happened.

Day 1: Complete success. I only 11 timid little angels. They explored the classroom quietly, feet always walking, and handing never hurting. There was barley a peep. I enjoyed every second of it realizing that this too will pass. We explored with legos (not one of them touched them), play dough (huge hit), crayons and paper, and the little people house (huge hit!).

I'm doing my best to observe their likes and dislikes. So far they are not a fan of legos, I feel they may be too interested in the other more new materials.

First day of school sucesses. Have TONS of songs ready to go :) My kids are very musical so far, I'm quite pleased about this.

Day 2: 14 smiling toddlers entered my classroom today. They were feeling a bit more confident and began to seek out their limits more frequently. I am ready for this to be happening for the next several weeks. Today they discovered the cars. Happy kids! I have mainly boys - and they are all car LOVING boys.

Exciting surprise today on the play ground. Our neighboring businesses are re-doing their parking lot and have several dump trucks and diggers. my boys were glued to the fence watching with jaws dropped and wonder in their eyes.

Here I sit about to leave for day 3. Prepared with new activities, songs in my head, and a smile on my face. Looking forward to when my assistant and I get a system down and she becomes more comfortable in the classroom. I wish the same for my students.

Be firm, friendly, and consistent. Model the behaviors you wish to see. REMAIN CALM!

The low down

I graduated college in May of 2010, all of 3 months ago. After sending out 40 some applications, I received my very first (and very only) call for an interview! I was elated, beyond excited, shaking in my shoes, jumping with joy. After a round of interviews, and a terrifying in class observation of me teaching a lesson so a room full of 4 year olds I have never met before, I got a call during a workshop at school offering me a job. I had a month left to go before graduation, so I felt that I was doing pretty good for myself.



I graduated on a Friday, began working the following Monday. Begin phase "real life".

After two month of being an assistant in the 2 and 3 year old classroom, the lead in the classroom went on vacation and I was asked to step up and be the lead while she was gone. I was suddenly thrown into a teaching position I had zero REAL experience for. It was a trying 3 weeks. Needless to say, I cried a lot and considered if I was in the right profession.

On my last day on being the fill in lead teacher, my boss called me into her office and offered me the lead teaching spot for my classroom for the upcoming fall. My current lead teacher would be moving to the classroom next door! I wasn't sure how to react. I was so taken back that I almost walked out of her office while she was talking.

Could I handle it, the last few weeks have been so hard, am I ready, will I have any sort of social life at all, will I be a good teacher, will I be able to control my class? After sleepless nights of thinking it through, and many words of guidance from my mother - I fearlessly took the job.

I am no longer overwhelmed with stress, now I'm excited :) I'm planning my room arrangement, making circle time charts, tweaking the schedule, buying new things for my classroom. I am having a blast.

So here I go. First year of teaching...