This week began to test my patience while working with such a young age group. I have never worked with kindergartners before, and this was quite the challenge. My particular class had not been disciplined well throughout the year as well, and with summer so close by the children were acting out. My teacher found controlling them a challenge, and this week I would have the class to myself for a period of time throughout the day. We had a schedule between myself, the TA, and the teacher allowing for us each to have lunch duty or recess duty or a day off. I had recess duty twice times a week, lunch duty once, and a day off. Getting them to and from the cafeteria to the playground was a much easier task than getting them inside from recess to the classroom and through quiet time. One day coming inside the children were loud, out of line, hitting each other, and not listening when I rang the chime (a discipline technique to gain their eyes and attention). I had to have them sit with their heads on the desk for a few minutes before they could start quiet time. What I found most rewarding was after asking them why they had to sit with their heads on the desk, they all responded with the right answers. When I asked what they could do better next time, they came up with some great ideas. I found this extremely encouraging because I gained the response I was looking for. I somehow felt I had gotten through to the class a bit.
This week I've also really started to get into the swing of things. I've now mastered where all of the specials are located, and I can navigate myself through the cafeteria line correctly. I'm also starting to build a relationship with my TA, Tanya. I feel I can turn to her with questions or concerns. Building these partnerships in the workplace are extremely important and its nice to have someone to turn to for advice as she has been a teacher's assistant at Marymount for 2 years now so she still has recently made adjustments to the school. What I have found very interesting about Marymount is they have a high turnover rate, meaning their teachers usually only stay for a few years. This is mainly due to the fact that they hire teachers from English speaking countries, and when you live in Italy you do not need to pay taxes for your first two years there. Many of the teachers take advantage of this situation. I imagine that must be a challenge for the children though seeing as there might not be consistency within the administration of the school.
This week also brought about closer relationships with the children. I love talking to them and hearing what they have to say, and as kindergartners they are somewhat clingy to me as a helper in their class. It is fun to interact with them throughout different subjects. They are split into three different groups for math, reading, and writing depending on their level. I work one of the stations while the TA and teacher work the other two. It's nice to work with them in small groups to see a bit clearer where they need support. I've learned how to adjust my teaching style to each group because some need more guidance than others, especially when it comes to writing.
This week I believe what I took away was how a teacher needs to be adaptable to different learning styles and levels, constantly keeping in mind what you can do to get a lesson or a point across to small or big groups of students effectively.
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