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Kinders are funny and cute!

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  • Kinders are funny and cute!

    So I've chosen the term "Kindergarteners" as a general context for 4-5 year old students. In some states of Aussieland, Kindergarten is preschool. This refers to the actual first year of school.

    I currently have a class of students as part of my field placement (with their actual teacher). About 2/3 of the class are brand new (as in "starting school for the first time"). The remaining students are not. I also have one child with developmental delays and 2-3 other children with behavioural issues (one of whom we THINK is on the spectrum). Here's the rundown of the first week.

    -One of the students I've been silently nicknaming the class comedian, although he does it when appropriate and otherwise follows instructions. The other day he was talking about a dragon eating pizza during storytime (even though the story had NOTHING to do with dragons eating or food!). He also gave me a hug this morning when I came in late for playtime and has admitted that he wants to sit with me on occasion. The highlight though was his backpack...now most of the kidlets in my class have appropriately-sized backpacks for their height/age. He has an adult size backpack...which is almost as big as him! I pointed this out to my mentor teacher and she burst out laughing. (from the back all you can see is head, arms and lower legs)

    -A not-so-new kindergartener* is among the more highly developed students in the class. Yesterday she placed an order with the school canteen so I walked over with her. On the way I told her that I was ordering my lunch tomorrow (aka today) and she said she didn't believe me. Back in the classroom she told her friend that I was being "Naughty" for ordering lunch from the school canteen! (and yes teachers can do this)

    -Our child with developmental delays is what I call "semi-verbal"-that is, he has SOME speech, but otherwise sounds like Mini-Me from the Austin Powers films (this is the best way I can describe this btw). Today I had to take a photo of him for the staff to be aware of him**, so I pointed the camera at him and asked him to look at me. The second I did that, he looked at me, squinted his eyes and said "cheese." I had him do it again without squinting his eyes though, but he follows instructions SO well in the classroom. Our other child with possible ASD also had photos taken and was such a little poser for the camera-it was cute.

    -During maths exploration time, we gave the kids a bunch of maths resources (such as shapes, blocks, other counters etc.) and turned them loose in the classroom to explore. One of the more shy children proceeded to build a robot with a bunch of diamond pieces which was fine right up until he built the robot with long arms but short legs. (I should add that he did it by lining the pieces up point-to-point) He was quite giggly and cheery about it though. (he's made a few new friends) Poor guy did accidentally go into the wrong toilet this morning though

    -Little kid logic for trying to get past the "stop" sign on our class tent: use it as a hiding place for cushions and toys since they can't understand "STOP." (Surprisingly the two children I thought would have trouble with it have had no issues at all, the children that DO have issues with it are very flighty!)

    *-In previous years, you could start school the term after you turned five. This year they swapped to a single-intake system so only children who were born on or before a certain birthdate could attend school, the rest had to wait until next year.

    **-The school is a combined regular and special school, with the early years (K-2) in two separate buildings (one mainstream, one special) and the upper years (3-7) mixed together. We have an area of the school that is heavily fenced off for certain special ed children as their ONLY play area (the ones who abscond frequently) but other children can access it freely if they wish.
    Last edited by fireheart; 02-02-2014, 05:48 AM.
    The best professors are mad scientists! -Zoom

    Now queen of USSR-Land...

  • #2
    Quoth fireheart View Post
    ... heavily fenced off ...
    Ms. Fireheart, may we play in the cage today?
    I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
    Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
    Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

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    • #3
      Quoth dalesys View Post
      Ms. Fireheart, may we play in the cage today?
      -.- it's not like THAT...there is actually a playground and a sandpit (separate areas as some kids feel more secure in a smaller fenced-off area (they are given a choice) and some kids can't play with the sandpit for health reasons) in there and it's very brightly decorated. Plus they have tricycles in there...it's not unusual to see my group speeding around on them. In fact one of them did so...and almost sped right up a ramp until the teacher stopped him
      The best professors are mad scientists! -Zoom

      Now queen of USSR-Land...

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      • #4
        Quoth fireheart View Post
        Poor guy did accidentally go into the wrong toilet this morning though
        Aww. Poor kid.

        At their age is that cause for anything other than an impromptu basic biology lesson?



        Also: Fireheart? If I had kids, I'd give some serious consideration to moving to SA just to be sure you were their teacher. At this age, good teachers are important: and your give-a-damn matters more than your inexperience.
        Besides, inexperience cures itself.
        Seshat's self-help guide:
        1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
        2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
        3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
        4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

        "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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        • #5
          Quoth Seshat View Post
          Aww. Poor kid.

          At their age is that cause for anything other than an impromptu basic biology lesson?
          To be fair, the doors outside the classroom DON'T have signs on them saying which one's which. I found out by exploration and I've been guiding the newbies accordingly.

          As for this kid, I explained which one was which and had him point to them.


          Also: Fireheart? If I had kids, I'd give some serious consideration to moving to SA just to be sure you were their teacher. At this age, good teachers are important: and your give-a-damn matters more than your inexperience.
          Besides, inexperience cures itself.
          Well I might be moving to Victoria....

          Also, we've found that because there's a lot of overlap with the Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum, I'm mostly up to speed anyway. Because of my work with OSHC programs as well, I'm giving serious thought to changing my specialty from working with hearing impaired children specifically to working with the early years (K-2). I'd LOVE the opportunity to work at Candlebark if I could as well. My main areas of interest are sensory impairments (hearing, speech and vision), gifted children and working with the early and middle years

          (Google Candlebark School. The headmaster is the guy who wrote Tomorrow When The War Began )
          Last edited by fireheart; 02-02-2014, 05:59 AM.
          The best professors are mad scientists! -Zoom

          Now queen of USSR-Land...

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          • #6
            Moments from today alone!

            -one of my more shy kids has opened up now. Today at the end of recess he was pulling down his hat and going "I can't see I can't see" to his friend nearby. He and another child then turned up the brim of their bucket hats and pretended to be sailors or pirates while they were waiting

            -one kid announced that he "ate" the bone during "doggie doggie who's got your bone" much to my amusement.

            -I also had a HUGE "awwww" moment from some of my kids today. When we walk back to class, the children frequently partner one another. While this has led to the occasional tiff over who is partnered with who, I wound up having TWO kids at the same time wanting to partner me (one who I think has a slight hearing impairment as well) and walk back with me (both were boys)
            Last edited by fireheart; 02-03-2014, 10:51 AM.
            The best professors are mad scientists! -Zoom

            Now queen of USSR-Land...

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            • #7
              did anyone else misread the title and expect a D&D story?

              (edit) i misread Kinders and Kenders
              Last edited by DaDairyDruid; 02-03-2014, 02:41 PM.
              Lister: This is Crazy. Why are we talking about going to bed with Wilma Flintstone?
              Cat: You're right. We're Nuts! This is an insane conversation....
              Lister: She'll never leave Fred and we know it.

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              • #8
                Quoth DaDairyDruid View Post
                did anyone else misread the title and expect a D&D story?
                Que?

                Although now I have this little image of my kids dressed up as the 7 dwarves...
                The best professors are mad scientists! -Zoom

                Now queen of USSR-Land...

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                • #9
                  I had a very cute moment today. A couple actually:

                  Background: one of my kids moved classes today so now she's in a combined class with other kids her age, compared to the newer class of kindergarteners.

                  -The cute moment came at the end of recess where the kids line up. The three classes that are in my block line up outside the staffroom and we walk them back to class. The class that my student moved into left, so one of my kids went and chased after her, thinking she was in the wrong class! When I caught up with him, he explained that he was worried that she wasn't lining up with the rest of the class and he didn't want her to get into trouble!

                  -Moment #2 came from one of my other kids. He's currently being assessed however the diagnosis is more or less on the autism spectrum (he's semi-verbal). As a result, we tend to find any positive we can, especially for his mother (who is struggling to accept said diagnosis, believes it's social/emotional problems and has social workers on her back because of his tendency to abscond). He wound up more or less copying one of the other students today ALL day...right up to the point where he didn't want to hold my hand because he wanted to hold the hand of said student! (he has a tendency to abscond, but around this particular student, he's quiet as hell!)

                  We did not have a good day however, as we now have a running total of FOUR of our children being placed into the fenced-off area:

                  -One with global developmental delays (who will ring the bell at the end of recess and lunch and waits at the gate for us to come and get him )
                  -One who we've more-or-less confirmed to be on the autism spectrum, but still waiting for actual confirmation.
                  -One who has some sensory issues, but also apparently has had a somewhat traumatic home life. (She will cover her face at loud noises and hide under the table if she's told off...we're starting to think that it's a combination of hypersensitivity and home issues)
                  -One new kindergartener (all of the kids listed here are new ones I might add) who simply marches to the beat of her own drum...not in a good way. By this I mean that she will continually lose things (so far this week she's lost her hat TWICE, her lunchbox once and her SOCK(!)) and does not follow instructions. We've since found out that mum has the same problem that we do (following instructions), so I'm beginning to suspect that she suffers from a case of "Attention Deficit...oooh shiny" or that she has a hearing impairment. (her speech is not that great either)

                  The last three are in there due to their tendency to bolt..the school is heavily fenced (for both safety reasons and graffiti-related reasons), but those three will bolt if given a chance and the last two do not follow instructions or understand the concept of "two bells=line up!" (the other kids do)
                  Last edited by fireheart; 02-07-2014, 09:26 AM.
                  The best professors are mad scientists! -Zoom

                  Now queen of USSR-Land...

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