I feel really nervous for this year-more nervous than I was last year. It is only my second year and I feel like my students were just amazing last year. By the end of the year they were reading so well (only 1 was below a level D!), writing 3 pages at journaling time, and they knew the routines so well. They were my little babies turned "big kids" and I feel like I don't even want a different class. I'm nervous to go back to kids that don't even know how to write their own names. I'm nervous that I won't do as well this year. I'm nervous that I won't put as much effort in this year, because last year I spent every last minute (and dollar) on school and I really think it helped make my students successful. How hard is it to start all over again with a new batch of kids that are a whole year behind the kids who just left you?
It's like riding a bicycle, really. It'll all come back to you and once you meet the kids and see where they are, you'll be off and running. I think the hardest thing for me is remembering how the kids were at the end of last year and having to tell myself that I can't have the same expectations for this group in the fall. I have to learn about them and get to know them and then start upping the ante, if you will and increasing their challenges.
My mom and I were just talking about that last night. It can be hard to adjust all over again each year. I have to keep reminding myself that every year is a clean slate, each class has it's own personaility, and each child is different. My first year was awesome...much like yours. The next year was great too. Then this past year was a completely different story. It was a tough year but I learned to most. This may sound lame, but I compare each new year and class to a new book. Each book has a different author, characters and completely different introduction.
It can be hard, you think "didn't I just do all of this?" but the rewards are great! Keep remembering what your kiddos were able to do at the end of last year... this group will be able to do it too, with work. Year two and beyond get easier and you will not to put in as much time as you did the first year. There is always work that will need to be done, but as long as you kept some of the things from last year, it will be less work the next year. Money also doesn't go out as fast as you have some things from the year before. My first year in kindergarten I spent around $800 on room items... now I add to my collection, but not nearly as much! It will be fine and it will be rewarding!
Yes, it will be hard, it will feel like they don't know anything. But at the end of next year you will look back and know how far they have come and do it all again and again because we really are laying the foundation for all other learning! Kindergarten is the hardest grade, but also the most rewarding :2up:
I always have the problem of remembering my class at the end of the year when they are so self-sufficient and capable. I always say that God gives kindergarten teachers amnesia over the summer so that we come back in the fall. My other problem at the beginning of the year is exhaustion-I am SO tired for the first few weeks-argg.:yawn:
I feel the same way you do and am almost dreading this class because I know last year's class was a once-in-a-lifetime group of kids. Besides you usually have several behavior problems one year and the next is smooth sailing-so I'm due for those behavior issues again. I like the amnesia comment. I always forget how hard it is until I ask them to line up for the restroom that 1st day and they look at you like you're speaking Chinese. You get used to your "well-trained" class and them knowing the routines and structure. Everything has to be explained in detail - even how close a glue bottle or a marker. But it is worth it. A month later they will already be more self-sufficient and by the end of the year you won't even remember the patience you had to have the 1st week.
I also like kindgergarten31's amnesia comment. It is kind of like labor, you forget the bad part because of the end result. Even after all these years I find the first week I am kind of in shock at how immature they are and about half way through the year I think I must have been nuts, they are all great. The only year I didn't feel that was last year because 21 of 24 had either had me before and parents decided to wait a year before kindgergarten, or were younger siblings so they were used to being around me so everyone was on the same page from the very beginning. This year I have 20 so far and 3/4 are new names and faces so I am nervous but I am sure it will be fine as it always is.
I am always shocked at how hard the beginning of the school year is. I always forgot just how far the kids the previous year had come, how they'd matured and how they'd grown academically. I make the mistake at least once a year of just telling my new class, "let's line up!" Then, when I see their blank faces, I remember that I have to teach them what that means. However, it gets better, and if you work really hard with "training" the kids, it gets better faster. By October, I feel I can finally breathe, and by November, I'm actually relaxed again! Kim
This is the part that the upper grade teachers just don't get. They have no clue what kindergarten teachers go thru the first weeks of school. They CAN say 'line-up' and the children actually know what they're talking about!
Does anyone else have nightmares the week before school starts that you've forgotten the songs, can't remember what to do, aren't prepared (even though you are), etc.? My husband says it is the grown-up version of omg, I think I forgot a final.
Yes. I've even had a dream about how I came to school 3 days into the school year and the substitute that was in my class brainwashed the kids. She kept telling the kids that I was some horrible mean witch with a big nose and wild hair. Now that was SCARY!!
since I have been away from Kindergarten for a few years, I am sure that I will be in TOTAL shell shock the first month of schooL!! My second grade class this year also, was TOTALLY amazing and smart, so I will really be missing them. One thing that helps, is that my daughter is entering Kindergarten, so I am just thinking that the kids will perhaps be like her frame of reference
I worry about this at about this time every summer. You get your children so far and then send them off and start with a whole new group... it's scary! Baby steps and you will definitely see results!!
I went through that last year. I kept having nightmares that the kids were just out of control and I couldn't get them in order. It's so weird setting up my classroom. There are certain things I couldn't put out and posters I couldn't put up yet, because they wouldn't be ready for them. It's so weird!
I always have nightmares where I oversleep the first day of school. Because of that, I can barely sleep the night before the first day of school - literally, I'll fall asleep at 4 AM only to have to wake at 5:30. I think it's different, and worse, for me because the first 3 days of school, we have parent-teacher introductory conferences and I always find those difficult and intimidating. Kim
This will be my 10th year teaching Kindergarten. Each year in June I think about how I love the kids and that next year Icouldn't possibly feel the same way about a new group but I always do! The first few weeks are hard... always having to repeat everything and having the patience to be upbeat and consistent wears you down. But the benefits start coming in October and by November it's easy going except if you are having the year for problems (it is true, there is a pattern of great, good, okay and bad!) We have a program called Kinderstart here where the next year Kindergartens come in for 5-6 sessions with me (my regular K's stay home) during the year so the children do know me and that helps a lot- it also gives us time to get plans in place for children that need extra help. Have a great year, I'm sure in June you'll be wondering if you love next years class as much as this one!
Besides K, I have taught 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I am always amazed how young the children are at the beginning of the school year. I try to remind myself that 1st graders are really late K, 2nd are really late 1st etc. It helps me to put it into that perspective.
