Literally.
With the bond work being done in our school this summer, we had to end the year on a much tighter note this year, packing every single thing into a box of some sort or shrink wrap and mark the stuff that couldn't be packed. In addition to all that, we had to take home any personal items, including any and all organizational supplies, games, or materials we've added to the classroom out of our own resources. I've changed grade levels twice in the last fifteen years, but I've never left the building, so I had no idea how much stuff I'd accumulated on my own.
The rest of my stuff now occupies Juan's room while he is gone for the summer, minus the guinea pigs (who went home with a student).
The timing worked out right, though, because as this year started coming to a close, I made the request to change grade levels. Not sure what it was, but as soon as I came back from Christmas break, I felt a growing discontentment with my current placement. I found myself watching the older students, observing their work, and just missing that level of instruction and interaction. The more Pre-K trainings I went to, the more I realized how much I wanted to teach something else.
We filled all of our open bilingual positions last year, and I was afraid that I'd missed my chance to be able to move to a higher grade. But I finally got the courage to be honest with my new principal and tell him that early childhood just is not my passion and that I truly missed teaching older kids. I told him that I'd taught 4th grade and 2nd grade before teaching Pre-K for the last five years, and that I'd be willing to take ANY open bilingual position next year.
Thankfully, he heard my plea for a change, but the only available option would be to follow my kids to kindergarten. I'd hoped for an older grade, but at least it got me up a level and gave me a whole day with one group of kids, rather than 44 kids each day for only 3 hours each class. He said if something else opened up over the summer, we could talk again, so I accepted it. I didn't tell my kids I would be their kindergarten teacher, though, just in case another grade level would open up. I still kept hoping, praying that God would put me right where I needed to be. As I packed up all my own materials to take home, I still kept all my second grade and fourth grade things, just in case.
Then the day before school let out, my wish came true. Next year I get to move back to second grade, a grade I truly love teaching. And since I've taught both bilingual Pre-K classes for the last five years, I get to teach a great group of kids that I already taught two years ago, a group whose parents already know me, trust me, and fully support me. I can't wait!
Teaching Pre-K has been a valuable lesson and experience for me that I will always be grateful for. It gave me more time at home with my family the whole time Juan David has been home with us, and it also helped me to see just where, when, and how learning starts. I can see where the gaps are and know better how to address them and fill them in as they continue in school. And I also learned that kids will rise to your level of expectation. I will admit that I had very low expectations of my first class of four-year-olds just due to ignorance about what they were capable of achieving. I rose those expectations every single year, and every single year, my kids strove to meet whatever expectation I had. I also learned how important structure and routine are for any age level. Without a solid structure and routine, even our best lessons and teaching opportunities can fail to reach our students.
I believe I will be a much better second grade teacher now than I was before I taught Pre-K, and I am so excited to have that chance again.
