Lets Talk Boogers!!!

"I'm the real boogieman!!"

Tis the season!!!!  There is nothing I hate more than winter. Not because of the cold and the snow, although those are a thorn in my side, but because it brings the snot!!  Any person who works or has worked or even has children knows what I'm talking about. Its not the clear normal kind. No, we are talking the clumpy and sticky green kind. You know, the kind that hangs in a bubble right between the nostril and the upper lip. The kind of snot that requires ten tissues just to wipe safely away without it seeping through to your hands. The kind of snot that even The Licker (the child that constantly tries to lick the booger away instead of walking that two inches to get a tissue) can't remove with their tongue.

Teaching preschool, I have learned that there is nothing I can do about the booger epidemic. Four and five year olds have this ingrained notion that the tissue is the enemy. Its the boogieman (haha, no pun intended!) that evidently scares the crap out of them because they will use anything, sleeve, blanket, your favorite cardigan, to wipe their noses. Anything and everything EXCEPT for the one thing mechanically designed for the wiping of boogers!

Now, I am sure you must be wondering why I am devoting an entire post to the topic of snot. And although it probably would be a good segue into reminding you of the importance of hand washing, but if you work with kids you don't need the reminder since its probably one of the most repeated phrases of your day.  So, the only reason that I can give for a post on snot is that I wanted to vent a little! Since the title of this blog is Things I Learned in Preschool, I guess I should have learned a lesson and I guess I did. Here it is: As long as there are preschoolers, there will always be boogers! Hey, at least I don't have to deal with poop! Oooooh, wait, actually I do, but that's another post for another time.  Happy Nose Blowing, Preschool Peeps!!!

Lesson of the Day: Sometimes you just need to paint on the floor!!

"There is an artist in all of us...." -Unknown

Yesterday, I got a much needed lesson in flexibility. As a preschool teacher, its imperative that I be flexible. However, me being the control freak, type-A, planner that I am, I struggle with flexibility. As always my co-teacher and I had set plans for the activities of the day, and yesterday we were going to mitten paint as a go-along activity with our reading of the, "The Mitten"by Jan Brett. However, our students had other plans! One of the girls asked if she could start painting on a big piece of paper,  so I pulled out a long piece of butcher paper to cover the table, but it ended up being longer than the table and the end trailed on the floor. So, another little girl asked if we could just put it on the floor and paint it there. Since I couldn't think of one reasonable reason as to why we couldn't, I taped the paper to the floor and started passing out the paint brushes. Soon, other kids wanted to participate in painting on the floor and it quickly became a group activity! I taped another long sheet of butcher paper to the floor connecting it to the original piece since I love the idea of a cumulative team effort. Kids started grabbing things like stencils, roller paints, crayons, etc, from the art shelves began adding their own ideas to the huge mural. Soon we had one of the most beautiful creations that I had seen in a long time. It was a definite proud teacher moment. (after I stopped freaking out about the paint that was accidentally getting on the floor and carpet.) The kids had a blast with all the freedom and learned so much in the process. One child loved the fact that when he mixed yellow and red paint together he got orange. The pride that emanated from him was infectious. I was proud of him, too! They used different size paint brushes, glued pom-poms to the paper, they even painted over the stencils instead of just tracing them. Once the paper was covered I asked the kids what they wanted to do next, and I bet you can guess what their response was? Yup, you guessed it, they wanted to make another one. So we rolled up the mural, tossed in the trash and started a new one! We did this about three more times until the students lost interest! This was a totally child-lead activity and we all enjoyed every minute of it.



Not only did my students take a lot away from that activity, but I did too! I learned that sometimes the best experiences come from the simplest places. And a reminder that the world will still rotate on its axis, even if my daily lesson plans don't get accomplished!

Lesson of the Day: The Preschool Teacher and the Fashionista

A couple of weeks ago I got a cruel reminder of why a preschool teacher cannot be a fashionista, or as I once heard a "teachionista." Lesson learned: Don't look pretty at preschool!
Now anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to get dressed up! I curl my hair, and apply make-up religiously, even if I am only going to the grocery store. (Hey, you will never know who you will run into, and you know if you look like junk you will see everyone you know, so I make it a point to be prepared.) Anyway, one of the reasons I dress up is because I always feel great when I'm in cute and comfy clothes and look nice, and if there is any place you want to feel great its at work, right? In theory yes, in reality its WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

It was Tuesday, I will never forget that day! It started like the rest. I woke up, showered and made my coffee (first cup of the day). I looked at my lesson plans for the day and didn't see any extremely messy activities scheduled for the day, a rarity in our classroom. So I picked out my new gray cardigan that I got a great deal on and that I just knew the girls at work would compliment on it. I was super excited because 1.) Gray is a great color for me  2.) This was a really cute, really expensive cardigan that I got a great deal on! So I throw it on with a white tank (another no-no) and a pair of jeans and start what I am sure is going to be a glorious day! Once at work, I see the choice of a white tank top was, quite frankly, a stupid one because in taking a drink of my coffee (second cup of the day) it drips on me and and leaves lovely light brown spots on my white top. Thankfully, it missed the cardigan from heaven. So the next few hours progress nicely, until I hear the dreaded words I had hoped not to hear today, "Brandy can we paint at the easel?" Now, in my classroom we try to stick to the philosophy, "Say 'Yes' when you can, and 'No' when you have to." Since my wardrobe probably isn't a suitable reason to refuse, I begrudgingly oblige my students and even decide to have some of them to help me get the paints from the art room (third mistake of the day). In the art room I pass out paints to eager helping hands and grab a couple bottles for myself to carry, when all of a sudden I hear the words, "uh oh!" squeak out of the mouth of one of the sweetest and cutest kids ever, and turn in time to see a jug of blue tempra paint splatter the floor, the wall and my beautiful gray, expensive-but-got-a-great-deal-on cardigan. Son of a nutcracker!!! As a human being my first inclination is to freak out and scream, but the mature, adult, teacher in me reminded me, thankfully, that is was an accident. This little boy, who is now looking up at me with fearful eyes, didn't not wake up that morning with a premeditated plan to drop that paint and ruin my new sweater. So, I bit back the frustration and assured the cutie that it wasn't a big deal, and that accidents happen. I quickly wiped up the mess the best I could, and lead the kids back to our classroom. I tried not to be grumpy, but I couldn't help it. I had blue paint on my sweater, and although it is supposed to be washable, my years of working with tempra paint has taught me that blue and red are the least likely to wash out of clothing!! I spend the rest of the day trying to put on my happy pants and remind myself that things, i.e, clothes, don't matter. People matter! If I had reacted the way instinctively wanted to that day, I would have really hurt that child's feelings and ruined my relationship with him (afterall early education is primarily about student-teacher relationships). Especially this child who is very sensitive. So I guess you could say I learned two lessons that day.

*Oh, in case you're wondering I was able to get the paint off. I went home and immediately sprayed it with stain remover and dumped a ton of Tide on it, took it to the laundromat and did a happy dance when I pulled the cardigan out and it was paint free.

Merry Christmas!!!

One of the biggest changes I endured in making the switch from kindergarten to preschool is the absence of a long Christmas break! I didn't even get Christmas eve off this year because it fell on a Monday. And tomorrow, I go back to work.  Now most of my students have had a four day weekend with families, obscene amounts of sugar, new toys and very little amounts of sleep! In short, tomorrow is going to be hell!! The question is, how will I deal with twelve very grumpy, sleep deprived, sugar crashing three, four and five year olds? Well, since partaking of liquor is frowned upon during school hours, I will just have to put my happy pants on and make the best of it. After years of dealing with the week after Christmas vacation, I know exactly what to expect and what not to expect on the day after Christmas break or in my case, day off!

What to expect...

• Toys From Home: Now, even though my preschool may has a "no toys from home" policy, I will not be surprised to see that at least half of my students will bring in at least one toy they got from Santa. Leading to them wanting to play with them during play time. I will gently explain to them why it is not a good idea and reminding them of the "no toys from home" rule. To which I will get the response, "But my mom said I could!" And right there I have lost the battle because, I can't go against mom! So I pull out the no fail idea that I often use in a situation like this. I get right down in the students face and in my most secretive voice I say, "Oh Jenny, that sure is a beautiful toy, you must really love it a lot!" Jenny nods sweetly. Then I say, "I bet you would be sad if something happened to it." Jenny nods again. "Well then you should let me take toy to the office where it can be safe. I wouldn't want one of your friends to try to hurt it!" I promise it works!
• Crying: As I said above, my students will come back to school overtired and nursing a sugar hangover causing them to be very sensitive. So I need to definitely pull on my both my patient pants and my sympathy pants. Lots of hugs and good set of listening ears will be necessary here. *This is a great opportunity to strengthen relationships with my students.

  

  "But my mom said I could bring it to school!"

 What not to expect...

•  Getting anything accomplished: I have lesson plans for tomorrow and the rest of the week, but I am pretty sure that I will not get through anything I have planned. And I am alright with that. The kids will dictate how the day goes, I will offer them the activities I have planned but I will not expect them to participate. I will also not expect to have an official circle time, choosing rather to invite them to listen to a story if they want to. There will be, weather allowing, lots of outside play!

I will follow our daily schedule in that everything will happen in the same order as it always does, but the overall theme of the day will be  Free Play! Most importantly, I know my attitude will set the tone for the day so I will claim the quote "It doesn't matter if you feel it, make them feel it!" Meaning that even though I may be wishing I was on a week long break, I will not show it. I will make my students feel like I want to be at school. That I am happy to be at school and hopefully if I am good enough they, too, will be happy to be at school and have good day!

A Teacher's Love.....

We are familiar with the concept of a parents love...the unconditional, often blind, everlasting love that only a parent can have for their child. As teachers we are often expected to have a similar love for our students, blind and unconditional. However, unlike the parents whose genetics made the child who they are, a teachers love is a conscious choice. A choice that isn't always easy. Whether we want to admit it or not, the truth is there are students that will come into our lives as teachers that are easy to love and those that are...not so easy. Every teacher knows and has had that child. That child whom, you swear to God, makes it their daily mission to make you lose your freaking mind. In college we learn how to teach children how to read or how to help them grow socially and emotionally. What we are not taught is how to love the child that we, have to remind five hundred times a day that hands are not for hitting, or the one that says "No!" to everything. We are not taught how to love the one that smells and is very neglected. The one that you know needs as many hugs as you can give them but you have to hold your breath in order to do so.
So the question is...how do you love this child? How do you love the unlovable? You know this child needs love the most but you can't figure out how to give it to them because this is the child who pushes all your buttons and frankly irritates the hell out of you. The truth is that I don't know how. After nearly seven years in education, I'm ashamed to admit that I still struggle with this daily. The best advice that I have ever received on the subject is this: find one thing about that child that you do like. Maybe its their hair or their artistic ability, but focus on that quality and compliment them on it every day. Start looking for other strengths because they do have them, they always have, they were just overshadowed by their challenging factors. Your feelings will not change overnight, but gradually you will see the child as they truly are and not as you defined them.
A teacher's love is special! And although it is often not blind or unconditional, it is life changing. New studies say that the relationship between a four year old and their teacher can determine things such as, whether or not the child will graduate from high school, or whether or not the child will be in a jail. Our love for our students sets the basis for our relationship with them and our relationship with them determines their success in life. WOW! Talk about pressure. The President may carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, but teachers carry the future of the world on theirs. This, too, is something they don't teach us in college.

Posting With Purpose

My purpose for this blog is two-fold. First, I wanted a place to share the hilarious things that see, hear and learn everyday as a preschool teacher. And second, I wanted a place to discuss the challenges and rewards of being apart of one of the most important professions in society today.

Everyday, my wonderful co-teacher and I spend our days planning open-ended art activities, find cooking and sensory activities that are peanut,dairy and gluten free. We also clean up pee and puke, and are constantly asking children to "Please, take your hands out of your pants!" We hear our names yelled and wined at least two hundred and fifty-three times a day (just an estimate) There are days we go home and cry and/or drink. There are times when we go home and frantically search the classifieds for a new job, wondering why the hell we didn't major in data entry or truck driving, but everyday we come back to our classroom and give our best to our students because they need us. For some children, we are the only constant in their life. For some we give the only hug or smile they will receive that day. And for most we are simply the first teacher they will have. I have wonderful memories of my first teacher, I want my students to have wonderful memories of me.

Yes, teachers are underpaid, under appreciated and over-qualified, but we did not spend years building our portfolios and going into loan debt for the money and accolades. We do it because we want to make a difference. Cliche? Maybe, but if you saw my paycheck you would see that its definitely not the money.

So, why do I teach preschool? Follow my blog and find out!