Still in the class of four year olds. The Cricket Classroom. This was the classroom in which I learned how much I really loved teaching, a year ago. It's a lot different now. The students are different. The way we learn is different. But I still love it.
Don't let my work face fool you. It's just really hard. I could laugh at this kids all day long. They are HILARIOUS. They're just on the brink of understanding, but they're far enough away that it's hilarious.
Also, notice that wall behind me? I have so many pictures with that wall behind me. That's because right now I'm in my boring class. Well, one of three boring classes. But this is the only boring class that's at 7:30 am and lasts for 3 hours. Hence... blog time.
So here's an example of that brink of understanding thing. Two little girls did a really great job cleaning up. They went the extra mile. There were these little scraps of paper all over the floor from these cut-out collages that they created. Normally, I'd sweep up all these scraps, but these two little girls were set on staying over there to pick them all up. It didn't matter how much I said "Thank you, you did a great job! Go sit down for circle time!" They'd reply with "That's ok. We want to clean up the rest."
Eventually they did go sit down for circle time, and my co-worker made a point of telling them how glad she was that they cleaned up so well.
"Great job you two! Gold stars for both of you!"
Uh oh. We don't HAVE gold stars. This was clearly just a phrase, they weren't really getting gold stars. An idiom, so to speak. But four year olds don't understand idioms. The two little girls were just tickled pink to be receiving praise, they could care less about stickers. But the rest of the class?
"How come they get gold stars?" Asked my favorite preschooler to converse with, D.
"It's nothing, never mind," said my co-worker.
"I want a gold star! Can we have gold stars too?" asked D.
"There are no gold stars, it's just a phrase!"
D's face shifted. He wasn't sure what he was about to say but he said it anyways. "Can we have a phrase too?"
My coworker and I just doubled up laughing. I turned around and shrunk down behind a shelf. You see, they're not supposed to see us laugh at them. Co-worker, however, was out in front of all of them. Sitting in a chair. No shelf to hide behind. She buried her head in her hands and laughed as silently as she could.
The students just stared at their teachers awkwardly.
"ARE YOU CRYING?!" asked L, directing his question at my co-worker who's face was hidden and shoulders were heaving from laughter.
More laughing.
Eventually we recovered ourselves and brushed the tears from our eyes. Maybe we were crying after all.
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