I have been assigned to a kindergarten classroom at Kinloch Park Elementary School with Ms. Jay. My first experience there wasn't a good one when I was initially turned away. When I went back a second time I was able to get into the classroom and meet the teacher. Ms. Jay seemed great and very excited to have me there.While she was very involved in helping me and getting to know me, she was not that involved with her students. While we were talking she mentioned numerous times how "exhausting" teaching was, understandable in a kindergarten classroom, but maybe shouldn't have said it in front of the kids. She kept asking me if I was sure this was what I really wanted to do, alluding to switching my major. The whole an hour and a half I was there that day she didn't teach any form of lesson, just had them repeatedly write sentences on that were on the board.
She had told me that in kindergarten they need to know how to read and write, otherwise they were to be held back. She told me she was planning on holding five back. The classroom is an inclusion classroom with 5 ESE students of 18. She told me that they either have ADHD, speech disabilities, or are developmentally delayed. I wasn't able to tell the first time I was there, but the second time it became more clear. Those students did not receive any specific accommodations, in fact no lesson at all was even being taught. I went on a day where there retention and referrals forms were due, so Ms. Jay was on the computer the whole time doing that. While we were talking a student who was new to her classroom the day before came up to talk to her. While he was speaking she told me he was going to need to be referred or retained as well because "you can just tell" in front of him. I don't think she assessed his situation well, she had only known him one day and when I asked where he moved from she had no idea.
I noticed that Ms. Jay seemed overwhelmed the second time I went. I kept asking if there was anything I could do to help and most of the time she kept saying, "No, I'm sorry, it's never usually like this." She had the kids playing with blocks and eventually they got bored of it, after an hour. At that point I suggested to Ms. Jay that I should read them a story so they weren't as loud so she could get her work done. She agreed so I picked a book and came up with an activity to do when they were done. During the activity she had left me alone in the room with them for around fifteen minutes. I didn't notice at first and didn't think it was an issue. Then once the kids started finishing the activity they wanted to know what they should do next, I just kept making things up for them to do. Unfortunately, there was a severe language barrier between the kids and I. Many of them don't speak a word of English and unfortunately for me, I don't speak a word of Spanish. I couldn't understand what the kids were asking and I would ask them if they spoke English and they would shake their heads no. At that point, a student who spoke both English and Spanish would jump in and translate. By the time Ms. Jay came back all the kids were done with the initial activity and she threw in a video.
In conclusion, I believe that Ms. Jay does really seem to care about the kids, she tells them all that they need to show "Miss Sami" (me) how smart she knows they are, but she is unfortunately burnt out. She mentioned a few times that this was not how it was when she started teaching and all these kids do is test. I understand her frustration, but I think maybe if she made more of an effort with her lesson plans she would be getting the results she needs. Hopefully next time won't be as hectic and there will be more learning involved, if not I'll be prepared with a story and an activity for them instead!
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