YES! I officially have been a Pre-K Teacher for a month now and...
I love every minute of it and I love that I am able to say that about my career. There are 20 children in my classroom; all with different personalities, different ways of thinking, different cute phrases that they say everyday, different nicknames for me and they are all in different developmental spots/levels which makes my job challenging but worth while. I am called "Teacher", "Sawah", "Ms. Sawah", "Mama", "Mommy" and "New Teacher." I try to only go by Ms. Sarah because for some reason I don't like when children yell "TEACHER!" and automatically assume I will answer to that from way across the room, or even right beside them. So slowly but surely, I am trying to teach them to only call me Ms. Sarah. Plus the fact that many of the single and married mom's out there probably would not appreciate that their child is calling me the name that the child is supposed to be calling them. I can understand why this happens, and I truly can see why it happens, but it still doesn't make it less painful or awkward when parents walk in. Most of the children and families we serve at Capitol Campus Child Care Center are single and/or married parents that work for Washington State. So these parents, unfortunately, work ALL DAY and ALL YEAR. So we (the other Co-Teacher and myself) are with their children from about 6:45am-6:15pm. Many of the children are picked up between 5:30-6:00 pm, but that is still an extremely long time for 4 and 5 year olds to be away from their parents. So I am flattered and love/so appreciate the fact that I am not the "mean Teacher" or something else of that sort, but I am considered the caring, compassionate, loving, comforting teacher who they might accidentally replace my name with Mom, whoops! I will take it as a compliment on my part because I am working my way towards being the teacher who really impacts a child's life in more ways than one.
I want to be the Teacher who the child remembers years down the road as "the one who really cared about me, and made ME feel special in the classroom." I want to make an everlasting impact on a child by my actions and compassionate attitude, rather than what I am "teaching them", necessarily. I do believe that what I am teaching is strongly important, but I come to terms with the fact that what we, as Teachers, teach children and they might not always take most of that with them in the future, but they will always remember our attitude.
But I also stand strong in the fact that I am NOT a babysitter, and I also do not have the ability to replace a parent. I do not want to "parent" the children, I want to strive to impact the children in ways that they need before they enter Kindergarten, and possibly in caring, loving ways that they do not get at home with their parents. Before the children in my class enter Kindergarten, I want them to be socially, physically, and emotionally capable of being in a classroom and following all of the "rules" that they will receive later in life. I want children to be able to share, and use their words when they are being picked on or left out of a play time experience with other children. I want to teach children to learn through play, and provide them with the materials needed to do that. I don't like tons of rules and "don'ts" to be implied in my classroom. Rather than yelling at a child and telling them "Don't do that! You know better than that!", I want to sit down with them, on their eye level and explain why things can be dangerous, or why that kind of behavior is not necessary, or why that would hurt people's feelings...etc. etc. I want to scaffold the children through their day to day interactions, and help them along the way to be successful. I want to form that close knit, trusting, comforting bond with each and every child within my classroom, and strive to make each child feel important and valued.
I've always enjoyed learning about Early Childhood Education, why it is important for children before they enter public school. Which might be a tid bit of why I majored in this area :). But I also recently went to a work conference in Renton, WA called "The Ooey Gooey Lady." She was phenomenal. I can't exactly tell you why because she is one of those public speakers that you MUST see in person because of her mannerism and over the top exciting attitude; she is someone you must see for yourself. She was absolutely hilarious, but also so truthful and real about the stories she was telling about Early Childhood school programs. She told real life stories that almost every Teacher in the room could relate to, and that made it even more attention grabbing. She had me crying because I was laughing so hard, but also crying because of the tender hearted stories she would share about her experience as a Teacher. She also gave great new ooey gooey recipes for Teachers to use in the classroom that consisted of shaving cream and glue, baby oil, flour, food coloring, play dough, and much more hands on learning recipes for the sensory table. These are things that you can mix together and make this great sensory experience for children to touch, feel and explore with small boundaries. I LOVE and believe in the fact that children learn through play and exploration. They need open ended materials that they can just observe and discover their own way of playing. Children don't need a Teacher to be watching over their shoulder and telling them what not to do all the time. They need the chance to learn on their own, and if we give them the materials to do so, and give them an environment that they can be successful in, than they will be just fine!
So this lady...Lisa Murphy, is called the "Ooey Gooey" lady! She has been in Early Childhood Education for OVER 20 years, and she is a great resource. PLEASE LOOK HER UP! She has a blog and Facebook.
So overall I have been loving my new job, it was definitely a blessing from God that I even got this job. I was unsure about whether I wanted to move away from home, or stay at home for another year or so to help out around the house and be with my family who I love more than anything. I prayed and prayed about what to do, and some of the jobs I had applied to out of state, I did not receive the jobs, and than this job opportunity came up out of the blue and I instantly got a working interview set up! I love the Director, she is sweet and caring and you can truly tell that she loves all the families who attend Capitol Campus. She wants to have a close, open relationship with everybody who walks in through those doors and that is something I admire. I work with two other Teachers; the other Teacher has been with the program for about 16 years. The Teacher Assistant has been working for the program for not even a year, but she attended Capitol Campus as a kid! She is only 19, but is a huge help when it comes to assisting me and setting up for the day! Obviously you can see that the turn-over rate for this center is so low. Most of the ladies I work with have been with the program for 10-15 years, which is so incredible! Must be a good place to work :)
The ratio in the classroom is 1-10. So every 10 kids in the classroom need to have at least 1 Teacher with them. Sometimes I agree on this number, but sometimes a little more help would always be appreciated (as well as a higher pay, but I won't get into that topic right now about teachers and their low income!). The children that I am working with have had 4 Teachers this year....I make Teacher #4. So you can instantly assume that they have not had the consistency in their life at school, and it shows in their attitudes and behavior. These kids have had different Teachers come and go, and probably all sorts of new rules that come and go with that Teacher. It breaks my heart when a child asks me.."Are you here to stay?" "Are you going to be our Teacher and stay with us?" And with that follows..."I love you Ms. Sawah." This really tugs on my heart that these children need consistency and it's not fair for a Teacher to leave in the middle of the school year!
I am going to stay with the program for awhile, depending on how things go at home and what comes up in my life! I am taking my life one day at a time, because that is all I can do. I NEVER thought I would move home after college to be with my family, but that was not the plan God had for me. These last couple of years at home have been the hardest, toughest, most life changing experiences...but it has brought me closer to my family, to my close dear friends, and also to God. So I wouldn't change it for the world. Who knows what will happen in the next few months, or even the next year...but I know I am where I am supposed to be and teaching children who need me in their life!
For now......I am going to just keep swimming through life (I love Finding Nemo! One of the best movies ever made. My sister, mom, and I die laughing when we watch that movie.)
