Last week I was told I would be moving to Kindergarent in the fall. I have been teaching Head Start (preschool3/4) for 7 years and consider myself a confident teacher. Over the years I have attained many behavior/classroom management techniques that help to make my classroom run smoothly. The one thing that makes me feel insecure about the move is that I will no longer have a full aid in my class and will have to manage 20+ students alone. Any words of wisdom to help me build my confidence would be appreciated.
If you have taught pre-school you will be fine with kindergarten. Just make sure you have a set schedule. The students learn the rules the first few weeks and over plan because you won't have someone there to run and make and extra copy of this or that. I am lucky and have a full time aide in my kindergarten class.
It's my first year, and I teach 20+ kids with no aid, so you can surely do it! I don't know if I can offer a lot of good advice, since I don't know what it's like any other way, but I guess you just have to be really prepared. There are moments when it is really difficult, such as when someone has an accident, gets hurt, or throws up, but everything just works out. I try to emphasize to my students that they are there to help one-another (NOT just the "high" kids helping the "low" kids). If they missed a direction, ask a friend. If they need a shoe tied, ask a friend. Things run pretty smoothly in my classroom because they all know the expectations and the routines.
I have spent my entire career in K, but I have always heard that moving up a grade is much easier than moving down a grade. If you have taught Prek for 7 years I think you will be fine. I think the hardest part for new K teachers is realizing that little kids aren't always "cute." I am sure after 7 years you already know that! I have never had an aide so I can only dream what having one would be like, but I think Drivign pigeon is absolutely right when she says you have to teach the kids to help each other. I will be honest and tell you that september can be rough because the kids aren't as independent. The first few days I always wish that I had my old class back because they were so independent when they left me in June. For you, however, you should see a big difference in the abilities between your 3/4 year olds to starting a year off with 5 year olds. You may think your in heaven! Good Luck next year!
Thank you so much for your wisdom and encouragement. I posted a reply about an hour ago but I don't know where it went??? Anyway I appreciate your help, classroom management was something I feel college hardly focused on. I know I can do this! I will; over plan, have students help one another (good moto), and be very prepared to set the rules/independence the first month of school. I have also found on another post three books that may be helpful to me, Cooperative Discipline, Tools for Teaching, and Teaching with Love & Logic. thank you, thank you, thank you. I feel better now.
I think the most important thing starting a kindergarten year (which you probably do already with preschool) is modeling behavior. I spend most of the time the first few weeks of school laying a procedures. One year I even showed them how many times to push down the lever on the paper towel dispenser! There were several kids who had not been exposed to much. They seemed to be misbehaving but just had no clue how school worked. Anything I wanted them to do independently we practiced and built up to. Like have them sit quietly at their seats for 5 minutes to start with, practice lining up quietly, coming to the rug without knocking other people over... You'll be great!
Good suggestions melissa. I agree, show them how to do the routines. I would suggest more details about the bathroom. These big toilets and toilet paper dispensers might be new to them.
