The school year is over and yet I'm sad and excited at the same time. I spent nine months molding, influencing, and caring for these little people. I've watched as one child got thrown into the foster care system and another one come to me already deep in the system. Many times I've had to hold back my frustrations for the child with the drug addicted parents. And sometimes I haven't held back those frustrations. I have also listened as many of my Spanish-speaking kids sit there and read a Kindergarten-level book to me as though English was their first language. I have seen these kids write sentences when at the beginning of the school year they could barely write their names!
With the day-to-day struggles of having students who may understand 75% of the things you say due to language barriers it's worth it when he/she successfully reads a decodable book. With the day-to-day struggles of having students with behavioral problems because of the chaotic environment they call "home" it's worth it when he/she finishes an activity.
A lot of times when I tell people what grade I teach my response is usually met with a shocked look on their faces. Whether it's the thought of having to deal with 20 five year olds or the fact that I choose to deal with 20 five year olds I don't know. What I do know is that I can't think of any other grade that has this much impact on a child. Ultimately a Kindergarten teacher is a child's first official schoolteacher. Their Kindergarten teacher is the one who not only teaches him/her how to read some, write some, and occasionally do some addition and subtraction. He/she is the person who shows the child how to be a student, a citizen, and in many ways, a person. He/she is the person who may be the first stable person that this child may have had in a long time. He/she is the person who shows the child what a teacher is suppose to be like. As important as every other grade level teacher may be, the Kindergarten teacher is the person who sets the tone for the child. As daunting of a task as this is, I gladly and wholeheartedly accept this role. I am so ready for next year.
